Litigation

There was much harmony along with a few discordant notes as an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit took up the copyright case involving Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."

In an environment of aggressive federal prosecution and regulation both businesses and public officials are challenged to identify the permissible line between proper financial transactions — things like campaign contributions and business entertainment — and unlawful payments. And, in what the First Circuit called a "novel theory of Hobbs Act extortion," public officials now have to struggle with the scope of permissible advocacy — when does advocacy for constituents become extortion?

The decision in Brammer v. Violent Hues sheds some light on when re-posting will be a "fair use" and when it will give rise to liability.

The ownership of intellectual property rights can be at the core of legal disputes involving pop culture icons. Considering the goodwill, effort and money spent in building a brand, character or commercial impression, it is not surprising that parties to intellectual property agreements find themselves revisiting their arrangements over time. That is what is happening in two recent federal lawsuits, one in New York involving a beloved figure in Philadelphia sports and the other in California focused on the Old Spice cologne commercial jingle.

Any Cannabis-Related Business or Any Business In a Relationship With One Will Likely Find Itself Barred from the Door of the Federal Bankruptcy Courts The ability to file a federal bankruptcy case is an important resource for struggling businesses. It is particularly important to start-up businesses in an emerging field, such as the production and marketing of cannabis-related products. It is precisely this resource, however, that is currently being denied to cannabis-related businesses.

Part One of a Two-Part Article In its recently ended October Term 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court decided several notable criminal law decisions that will have a meaningful impact on white-collar practitioners' work and, importantly, offer clues regarding the movement of the criminal law in subsequent terms. In this two-part article, we review several of the key decisions and consider their implications, both for practitioners in this area and for Court-watchers interested in future Court decisions.

In Kuzmich et al. v 50 Murray Street Acquisition LLC, the Court of Appeals held that apartments in buildings receiving tax benefits under Real Property Tax Law (RPTL §421-g) are not eligible for luxury deregulation under the Rent Stabilization Law (RSL), unlike most other rent-stabilized apartments.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board released a new set of lease accounting standards, ASC 842, which went into effect earlier this year. Most significantly, publicly traded companies are now obligated to list all leases of 12 months or longer on their balance sheets as both assets and liabilities. Large private companies will follow suit in 2020.