Entertainment and Sports Law

The tax reform bill signed by President Trump at the end of 2017 has caused us to take a fresh look at many long-held assumptions about how to take into account income taxes in planning for the entertainment industry. At the same time, the California Supreme Court recently decided a case that has the potential to eviscerate loan-out corporations entirely. This article discusses loan-out corporations in light of these two important developments.

While thousands of films are made each year in the United States and Canada, less than 800 were theatrically released in 2017, with many exceptional films failing to obtain commercial distribution because of legal issues.

Jerry Lee Lewis Gets Extended Discovery Time in Management Litigation Against His Daughter
Three-Year Statute of Limitations Argument Doesn't Bar Claims to Copyright Renewal Terms
Ticketmaster Prevails With “Striking Compatibility” Claim in Copyright Suit Over Ticket Bots

Broadcasters around the globe know that Americans want access to digital content and that they often ignore who provides it to them. For business reasons, tax reasons or to try to avoid liability under copyright law, many of these broadcasters intentionally do not set up operations in the United States. However, when these broadcasters transmit content for which they do not have authorization, they may be in violation of the copyright holder's rights.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed a district court's award of attorney fees to Sony Corp. under §505 of the Copyright Act for winning a ruling that a lawsuit over a Sony Music songwriting contest should be sent to arbitration.

The hotly disputed legal issue between the majority and dissent in the recent, highly-publicized “Blurred Lines” decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concerned whether Marvin Gaye's 1976 hit song “Got to Give it Up” was entitled to “broad” or “thin” copyright protection.

Pop musicians may be running out of creative space. And this problem is being exacerbated by the behaviors of what we might call the “legacy” interests — parties who own copyright interests in already-created songs but who won't be making any new music.

A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge's ruling in May approved the $310 million sale of The Weinstein Co.'s television and film assets to Dallas-based Lantern Capital Partners. The development was the latest blow to women who had hoped to recover against the company for abuses suffered at the hands of company co-founder Harvey Weinstein.