Litigation

  • Expansion of Right of Publicity Continues To Create Tensions with First Amendment

    Broadly defined, the right of publicity is a person's right to control the commercial use of his or her identity. It has been over half a century since the term "right of publicity" was first coined by Judge Jerome Frank in 1953. Since that time, courts have been struggling to define the scope of the right of publicity protection, and to resolve the inherent conflicts between the right of publicity and the freedom of expression embodied in the First Amendment.

    February 24, 2010William Sloan Coats and Jennifer P. Gossain

  • Second Circuit: 502(d) Does Not Apply to Administrative Claims

    In ASM Capital, LP v. Ames Department Stores, Inc. the Second Circuit Court of Appeals (the "Second Circuit") held that ' 502(d) of the Bankruptcy Code, which disallows claims until the claimant has returned all voidable preferential payments and other voidable transfers from the debtor's estate, does not apply to disallow administrative claims under 503(b).

    February 23, 2010Marion M. Quirk

  • ConnectU Sued for Slice of $65M Facebook Deal

    A Boston software developer is suing the now-defunct social media site ConnectU, its founders, its law firm, Washington-based Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, and Scott Mosko, a Palo Alto, CA, partner at the firm, for allegedly cutting him out of Facebook's $65 million settlement with ConnectU's founders.

    January 29, 2010Sheri Qualters

  • Third Circuit Tackles Teen 'Sexting' As Child Pornography

    As the nation's first case involving criminal prosecutions of teenagers for "sexting" made its way to a federal appeals court in Philadelphia, all three judges seemed skeptical of the prosecutor's claim that child pornography laws are violated when a teen transmits a nude image of herself.

    January 29, 2010Shannon P. Duffy

  • Bit Parts

    Film Studio Wins Tax Credit Case
    One-Second Sample Isn't Automatic Copyright Infringement
    "Sham Affidavit" Rule Applied in Memorabilia Suit

    January 29, 2010Stan Soocher

  • Expert Witnesses

    The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California denied a motion to exclude the expert testimony of a witness who has worked in advertising and celebrity endorsements for more than three decades.

    January 29, 2010Stan Soocher

  • Representing Clients with Gambling Debts to Casinos

    As a young associate at McManis Faulkner & Morgan, Eric Sidebotham was put in charge of a $4-$6 million gaming dispute between a Silicon Valley executive and a New Jersey casino. Little did he know then that the negotiation skills and casino-related expert witness contacts he picked up at McManis Faulkner would help keep his own two-lawyer firm afloat through one of the deepest recessions in recent memory.

    January 29, 2010Petra Pasternak

  • NY Appellate Court Dismisses Star Trek Memorabilia Suit

    A Star Trek fan who claims he was humiliated after spending more than $24,000 on fake props at a Christie's auction has had his $7 million suit against the auction house zapped by the New York Appellate Division, 1st Department.

    January 29, 2010Noeleen G. Walder

  • Personal Jurisdiction Determined in Suit for Legal Services

    The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California determined, in a case transferred to it from a New York federal court, that the New York court properly exercised jurisdiction over California defendants, who had hired the plaintiff, a New York lawyer, for entertainment matters.

    January 29, 2010Stan Soocher