Litigation

Late last year, the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion that the lawyer for the plaintiffs in the case says virtually eliminates sexual harassment claims in the federal courts for Georgia, Alabama and Florida.

Is there room in the legal market for a third high-end legal research service? That is the question as Bloomberg, a company known for its financial news, attempts to muscle in on the turf now occupied by Westlaw and LexisNexis. In December, it officially launched Bloomberg Law.

Complaint over Oral Agreement for TV-Network Work Is Dismissed
Rulings on Song License Termination and on Assignment Recordation
Suits Proceed over Use of College Athletes' Indicia

The proposed merger between Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Inc. won Justice Department approval in January 2010, following a year of negotiations. Steven Sletten of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher counseled Ticketmaster. In an interview, Sletten stated that he prepared his client to face a tough audience, both at the Justice Department and in the court of public opinion.

MUSIC COPYRIGHTS/INFRINGING 'WORKS'
TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT/RECORD LABEL NAMES
TV COMPENSATION CLAIMS/FEDERAL PREEMPTION
VIDEOGAME DEVELOPMENT/INJUNCTIVE RELIEF

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that a forum selection clause in a television broadcast agreement applied to a company within which the original signatory broadcaster later was merged.

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.

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).