Litigation

  • Seeking Quick Relief for Trademark Claims on Social Media Sites

    Policing and enforcing trademark rights in social media requires a brand owner to reexamine some of the basic premises about infringement. It is black letter law that trademark maintenance requires a trademark owner to maintain control over the quality of the goods and services associated with its mark. In the infringement context, this has generally been interpreted as an obligation to prevent any uses that are inconsistent with the brand's image. However, social media has altered this fundamental assumption.

    June 02, 2014Stephen W. Feingold

  • Are Search Engine Results Protected Speech?

    Search-engine results have become the lodestar of the Web for most users. Whether the user constructs a narrowly-tailored query designed to exclude inapplicable results, or a broad search designed as an introduction to a given topic, the algorithmic apparatus fueling search engines will usually produce pertinent information. As a matter of fact, this article on search results was in part fueled by using results acquired from a search engine.

    June 02, 2014Richard Raysman and Peter Brown

  • Construction Contracts and Project Management

    Whether designing and constructing a new retail center, a tenant finish-out or a renovation project, retail real estate developers, property managers and tenants interact with construction contracts, contractors, architects and other construction industry professionals on a regular basis. Those interactions may include lengthy, sophisticated contracts, very basic contracts or no written contract at all. This article addresses some of these common issues from the perspective of protecting the owner of the project.

    June 02, 2014Daniel Goodwin, Roger Fitzgibbon

  • Analysis of Sup. Ct. Raging Bull Ruling

    Authors and other creators of copyrighted works scored a major victory in May when the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a significant barrier to recovering damages for copyright infringement.

    June 02, 2014Marcia Coyle

  • M&A Shareholder Litigation

    One practical aspect of disclosure-only settlements that has received little attention is the practice of providing lengthy individual mailed notice of the disclosure-only settlement to class members, which results in additional (and largely unnecessary) costs that, depending on the number of beneficial owners requiring notice, can exceed tens of thousands of dollars.

    May 02, 2014Veronica Rend?n and James Thomas

  • What Should the Filing Time Be for Common Law Copyright Infringement Suits?

    Rights in pre-Feb. 15, 1972, sound recordings ' which are protected by state law, rather than federal copyright law ' are hotly litigated in the digital music era. On April 17, for example, major record labels sued the music-streaming service Pandora in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan. The suit alleges common-law copyright infringement and unfair competition from Pandora's use of pre-1972 recordings.

    May 02, 2014Stan Soocher

  • Cameo Clips

    Actor's Agreement Gave Merchandising Rights to Production Company
    E-Book of English Translation of Novel Isn't Derivate Work

    May 02, 2014Stan Soocher

  • Case Briefs

    In-depth analysis of key rulings.

    May 02, 2014ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • The Debate About Actors' Ownership of Film Roles

    The April issue of Entertainment Law & Finance reported on a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit involving the Internet video Innocence of Muslims. That article discussed the court's "secret" takedown order and the court's view on copyright ownership of acting roles in movies. The article that follows provides further analysis of the copyright ownership issue in the case.

    May 02, 2014Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

  • What Do You Want The Arbitration Award to Say?

    After a bitterly contested four-day arbitration hearing in which attorney Bob represented the franchisor, the sole arbitrator awarded the claimant everything it had sought in this fight between franchisor and franchisee. It was a devastating loss for Bob and his client. However, there was good news as far as Bob was concerned. Why? The arbitrator did not explain the reasoning for her award.

    May 02, 2014Charles F. Forer