Features
'Vanicorn' Lawsuit Filed over Pixar, Disney Film
A unicorn-loving tattoo artist alleges that Pixar and Disney have tricked her into letting them use her "Vanicorn" in the upcoming film Onward. Her suit accuses the companies of copyright infringement, and violations of state and federal laws protecting artwork.
Features
Case Study: Swedish Music Industry Views as European Union Countries Work on Drafting Home Laws for Enacting EU Copyright Directive
This article is Part One of a two-part article. Part Two will appear in our March 2020 issue. This article examines the Copyright Directive and music-industry structure issues through the lens of Sweden, which has both a robust music business and a strong technology sector, two divergent perspectives in the development of the directive.
Features
New Lawsuit Over Meek Mill Documentary
A former Philadelphia police officer has alleged she was defamed in an episode of Free Meek, the documentary series that was made available on Amazon Prime last year.
Features
Legal Perspective On Major League Baseball Scandal
Two Major League Baseball in-house lawyers, both former prosecutors, led the investigation into the Houston Astros cheating scandal.
Features
Jury Award in 'Walking Dead' Stuntman Fatality Suit
A Gwinnett County, GA, jury awarded $8.6 million to the family of a stuntman killed during the production of a Walking Dead TV-series episode in 2017.
Columns & Departments
Bit Parts
California Court of Appeal Finds Film Producer's Anti-SLAPP Free Speech Argument Is Valid Against Lawsuit By Investor No Implied Covenant to File Song Cue Sheets for Foreign Broadcast
Features
How Judges Are Interpreting Supreme Court's Copyright 'Registration' Ruling
In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, under 17 U.S.C. §411(a), "registration occurs, and a copyright claimant may commence an infringement suit, when the Copyright Office registers a copyright" — that is, acts on a registration application, rather than when an applicant delivers the registration materials to the Copyright Office.
Features
What Would End of Film Studio Consent Decrees Mean?
In November, the DOJ asked a federal district court to terminate the Paramount Consent Decrees, a set of rules governing major film studios for the last 70 years. In effect, these rules prohibited movie studios from owning downstream movie theaters and banned a variety of vertical agreements, such as block booking — the practice of bundling multiple films into one theater license.
Features
Counsel Concerns: 3rd Circuit Decides Lawyers' Dispute over Video Game Litigation Client
A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of a Philadelphia lawyer's suit alleging that Los Angeles litigation boutique Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht acted in bad faith by failing to follow through with a $160,000 settlement in a dispute over attorney fees.
Features
IP Issues and Esports Athletes
A new esports-centric survey released by the law firm of Foley & Lardner projects that esports revenues will climb above the $1 billion mark this year. But the increased stakes and growing sophistication of the industry will likely not be without their headaches.
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