Entertainment and Sports Law

TexasBarCLE 28th Annual Entertainment Law Institute
Annual Entertainment, Sports & Media Law Institute

Following the “Brexit” vote by the United Kingdom signaling its intent to leave the European Union, there was a rush of speculation and guesswork about how EU trademark and design rights would be treated. What progress has been made and what obstacles remain to a smooth transition?

Lucasfilm Ltd. won a dispute over the rights to the card game that plays a pivotal, if small, role in the greater Star Wars galaxy.

In September, the European Parliament passed a new draft of the European Union (EU) Copyright Directive legislation championed by content creators and publishers, but decried by tech behemoths. The directive will have to go through more committee discussions and another parliamentary vote before it can become law, but this doesn't mean the polarizing legislation isn't already making in-house counsel nervous.

We asked University of Idaho College of Law Professor Annemarie Bridy, one of the forefront experts in both DMCA and automated notice sending, about out of control bots, DMCA takedowns' potential threat to freedom of speech and more.

A federal judge in Atlanta dismissed a complaint filed by four movie-production companies hoping to dodge liability for a fatal plane crash tied to the filming of the Tom Cruise picture American Made.

A rap video posted to Facebook crossed the line from artistic to threatening when its lyrics described violent acts, named two Pittsburgh police officers and suggested the rappers knew where those officers lived, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said in holding it was not protected by the First Amendment.

It seems fitting that a new movie that highlights racism and inequity in the American prison system is the first Hollywood production to apply a policy aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion both in front of and behind the camera.