The big news in the fantasy sports arena this past summer was the announcement that competitors FanDuel and DraftKings, which make up more than 90% of the online market, would end their merger bid following the Federal Trade Commission's filing of an antitrust lawsuit against the companies. Now, there's good news for FanDuel and DraftKings on a different front, involving the use of athletes' personality components.
Several of the same concepts that are in agreements between performing artists and managers also apply to agreements between authors and literary representatives.
In the context of a copyright case, a defendant's prior bad acts and prior conduct are more useful to a plaintiff than is typical in civil litigation. In many instances, copyright infringement lawsuits are brought against defendants who have been sued before for infringement, or related misconduct, or who have been the subject of allegations or informal complaints, or who simply have experience in copyright matters.
Lawyers for Marvin Gaye's heirs and recording artists Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke were singing past each other in court in October. But it wasn't clear which side was making the most headway with the appellate court.
For most global entertainment and media companies, the need to think about how to protect intellectual property in China is an inevitable reality. For a few years, there have been indications that China is willing to be more protective of IP owners' rights. But recent events signal there's still work to be done. These developments highlight that, despite small gains, protecting intellectual property in China can still be a major headache for companies and in-house attorneys.
No Trademark Protection for Dirty Dancing Phrase Used in Financial Services Ad
TexasBarCLE 27th Annual Entertainment Law Institute
Copyright Society of the South Copyright Year in Review
Nashville Bar Annual Entertainment, Sports & Media Law Institute
Because there are so many new digital channels for possible intellectual property infringement, knowledge of the various mechanisms available to combat the issue is vital to enabling entertainment industry owners to protect their brand.
In 2016, Frederik Colting and Melisa Medina planned to launch a series of 50 children's books, each book summarizing a great novel. They called their colorfully illustrated summaries KinderGuides. In January 2017, the owners of the copyrights to the novels filed a copyright infringement suit against Colting and Medina, resulting in a useful tale for lawyers who advise publishers on either side of such a dispute.
The company that licenses the brand for Miami's Ultra Music Festival won a key appellate dispute against the estate of co-founder Alex Omes. Florida's Court of Appeal, Third District, has ruled that Omes' brother, Carlos, will not be appointed president of Ultra Enterprises Inc. and will have to accept the court's valuation of Alex Omes' shares, which was about 2% of what Alex Omes argued it should be.
