Entertainment and Sports Law

In the 1976 Copyright Act, Congress inserted a termination right for authors or their successors for pre-January 1, 1978, assignments of copyrighted works. However, the legislators didn't directly address a key issue: how to determine termination rights for what are known as "gap grant" works — that is, those created post-1977 under copyright assignments made before then.

The COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc on the entertainment industry. Productions have been halted and distribution channels disrupted. In the midst of this pandemic, one big question for contracting parties is whether force majeure will excuse or postpone a party's obligations without liability.

Federal Judge Kathleen Williams recently analyzed the hit song "Despacito" in a copyright lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, when she found its writers had not copied an earlier Spanish song with the same name.

During a time when online marketing, virtual shopping and electronic communication are more widely used than ever, it is critically important for entertainment industry businesses to be highly aware of how they are using trademarks, the scope of a trademark owner's rights and the consequences of infringing them.

Online ticket reseller StubHub faces lawsuits over allegedly unrefunded event tickets in California, after a federal judicial panel ordered that similar cases from jurisdictions in multiple states be coordinated.

United States v. Napout The U.S. government's lead role in the prosecution of corruption within the Zurich-based FIFA may be a paradigmatic example of U.S. law enforcement acting as the world's policeman. If corruption is based on foreign executives violating their duties of loyalty to foreign private entities, how does that translate into a violation of U.S. criminal law? Does it matter that the conduct in which the foreign executive engaged — commercial bribery — may not be illegal under the law of the executive's home country?

A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.

Film Clips Included in Talent's Acting Reel Are a Copyright Fair Use Ninth Circuit Finds Judd/Weinstein Meeting Within Scope of California Sexual Harassment Statute Personal Manager's Lawsuit in New York Against Former In-House Counsel Can Move Forward