Features

4 Takeways from EU Copyright Directive Vote
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.
Features

Issues in Using Bots to Send Takedown Notices
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.
Features

Fed. Ct. Dismisses Film Companies' GA Suit over Plane Crash
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 <i>American Made</i>.
Features

Are Allegations of Lack of Medical Necessity in False Claims Act Cases a Basis for Settlement or Trial?
<b><i>Lessons Learned from Recent Settlements and Decisions</b></i><p>Health care fraud and False Claims Act cases continue to generate a significant source of funds for the Federal Government.Although, when announcing its focus, the government listed treatment options are not always clear. What these settlements often have in common is that the underlying complaints allege that the services that were rendered and reimbursed lacked medical necessity.
Features

Rap Video That Named Officers Not Protected Free Speech
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.
Features

Transient Rental Ban Does Not Violate Fair Housing Act
In a recent decision, the Eastern District of New York dismissed a multi-pronged challenge to a local municipal ordinance that regulates rental of property on a short-term or transient basis.
Features

When Can a Landlord's Consent to Assignment be Reasonably Withheld?
Assignment provisions in a commercial lease often boil down to the following seemingly simple, but more often than not complex, standard: that the lease may only be assigned or the premises subleased with the landlord's consent, not to be unreasonably withheld. The following examples of case law illustrate how courts have construed this provision under various circumstances.
Features

Fair Use, First Sale and Marilyn Monroe
Recently, the Southern District of New York resolved a question that neither the Southern District nor the Second Circuit had ever squarely faced: Can the lawful owner of an art object create and post a photograph of that object in connection with the sale of the object through an online platform such as eBay, without the permission of the owner of copyright in the object?
Features

Defusing the UST Tax Bomb
<b><i>How Lenders and Debtors can Minimize UST Fees and Maximize Creditor Recoveries</b></i><p>As predicted in the first part of this article (May, 2018), the new United States Trustee (UST) fee has had a disproportionate effect on middle-market, high-velocity cash flow companies. The best solution is for Congress to revisit the fee structure and refine it to reflect the realities of particular cases and the actual burden on the UST.
Features

Warner Media Implements New Inclusion Policy
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.
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- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
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