Litigation

Analysis of two key cases, one involving asbestos, the other an intrauterine birth control device.

Florida Federal Court Confirms Denial of Song Administration Rights to Chic Co-Founder's Widow
Minnesota Right of Publicity Ruled Descendible in Prince Recordings Dispute
Original Housewives Producers' Fraud Claim Time-Barred, Though Contract Breach Claim Can Proceed
Ticketmaster.com Arbitration Clause Doesn't Apply to Potential Buyer on ticketexchangebyticketmaster.com

A look at two key rulings.

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.

Lawsuits against pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers often come in the form of class actions, and sometimes the settlement or award amount exceeds the identified class members' claim amounts. In such cases, the excess funds may be distributed to a cy pres recipient, but courts are starting to question such moves more thoroughly.

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.

New York City's 2001 ordinance regulating adult uses has been the subject of litigation for more than 15 years. In September, the Court of Appeals put an apparent end to the litigation by denying reargument of its June decision upholding the ordinance.