The first part of this article discussed the Delaware court's decision in In re Asbestos Litigation, the role of epidemiology in proving causation, and the interpretation of the Daubert decision by several courts. The conclusion examines the role of courts as gatekeepers.
Two appellate courts recently ruled that an individual who intentionally visited Web sites to view child pornography, but who did not intentionally save those images to his computer's hard drive, could not be convicted or punished for possessing images that were automatically saved due to the Web browser's cache functions. These rulings strike me as badly mistaken, for reasons that I shall explain further below.
In 1998, Congress passed the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), broadly expanding the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) enforcement powers in the Internet arena. Since then, states and the FTC have become more active in regulating the collection, use and security of consumer's personal information generally. However, the protection of children's personal information remains a top FTC enforcement goal, and the commission has become more aggressive in enforcement of COPPA each year. Companies that fail to proactively act to ensure COPPA compliance do so at the risk of seven-figure penalties.
This article provides Web site operators with suggestions on how to comply with the spirit of COPPA when legal obligations are not crystal clear, as in the case when the operator of the Web site in question believes that it can make a good faith effort to be a 'general audience' Web site, but has reason to believe that the site may attract visitors under the age of 13 and is unsure how the FTC will view and treat the site.
Anti-Piracy Statutes/Constitutionality
Copyright Infringement/Probative and Substantial Similarity
Copyright Infringement/Substantial Similarity
Trademarks/Right to Sue
Video-Game Laws/Constitutionality
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey preliminarily enjoined further distribution and ordered the recall of the book 'Legit Baller,' which features an allegedly unauthorized, prominent use of photographs of popular R&B singer/producer Marc Dorsey on its covers. But the court declined to order a recall of the defendant publisher's other books that included advertisements of 'Legit Baller.' Dorsey v. Black Pearl Books Inc.
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Celebrity Images/Trade-Dress Claims
Copyright Infringement/Joint-Authorship Claim
The Court of Appeal of California, Second District, Division 1, found an arbitration clause in a management agreement unenforceable under the California Talent Agencies Act. Ferrer v. Preston.
Estate planning is central to the post-mortem distribution and protection of an individual's assets. Celebrities have special estate-planning concerns that include intellectual-property valuations, how the valuations affect estate taxes and post-mortem administration of intellectual-property. In the following interview, conducted in Nashville by Entertainment Law & Finance Editor-in-Chief Stan Soocher, entertainment attorney Robert L. Sullivan discusses these and related estate-planning issues that affect artists. Sullivan is a partner in the Nashville office of Loeb & Loeb where his clients include songwriters, music-publishing companies, record companies and recording artists. He has 30-years of experience as an entertainment lawyer and serves as a trustee for the estate of Johnny Cash.
Recent court rulings in e-discovery.
