Features

Second Circuit Interprets 'Executed By the Author' In Copyright Act's §203 Grant Termination Provision
Composers of pre-1978 works often assigned both the initial and renewal copyright terms in their works when signing songwriter agreements with music publishers. But what happens when a grant of the copyright renewal term of a pre-1978 work has been made post-1977?
Features

Components of Legal Work On NFTs
With a significant amount of NFT activity arising from the entertainment and sports industries comes an inevitable need for legal services. But taking advantage of this economic growth is no simple matter for entertainment, media and sports lawyers. It requires an understanding not just of NFT transactions, but also of data security, intellectual property, public policy, and a whole raft of regulatory and compliance issues.
Features

A Primer on Landlord Exculpatory Provisions In Leases
Keystone Specialty Services Co. v. Ebaugh Practitioners should take note that depending on the jurisdiction, a well-drafted exculpatory clause may afford additional protections to a commercial landlord, even from its own negligent acts.
Features

Trademark Oppositions and Coexistence Agreements
There are frequent battles over trademark rights in the entertainment industry. Trademark publication can be an anxious part of the federal application process, with fear of aggressive opposition and costly proceedings looming in the background. But many trademark oppositions, whether they are only threatened or actually filed, afford the applicant a discussion with an opposer that can ultimately be helpful in nonobvious ways.
Features

'Executed By the Author' In Copyright Act's §203 Grant Termination Provision Interpreted By Second Circuit
Composers of pre-1978 works often assigned both the initial and renewal copyright terms in their works when signing songwriter agreements with music publishers. But what happens when a grant of the copyright renewal term of a pre-1978 work has been made post-1977?
Features

Preferred Equity In Peril?
Two Recent Cases Shed Light on Potential Risks to Preferred Equity Holders in Chapter 11 Preferred equity is a varied and flexible instrument, but, in practice, it typically has a limited number of common features. One feature is that it is entitled to a "liquidation preference" ahead of common stock. Whether the liquidation preference of preferred equity entitles preferred shareholders to priority over common shareholders in a Chapter 11 reorganization is a question that figured prominently in two recent high profile cases.
Features

Seventh Circuit Bars Bad Faith Asset Buyer Protection
"Good-faith purchasers enjoy strong protection under [Bankruptcy Code] §363(m)," but the silent asset buyer ("B") with "actual and constructive knowledge of a competing interest" lacks "good faith," held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Features

Supreme Court Addresses Municipal Sign Regulations, Again
In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court applied strict scrutiny to a sign regulation as it related to directional signs placed by a local congregation that held services at different locations each week. The Court took another look at the issue of strict scrutiny relating to "off-premises" signs in the case of City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising , in which the majority concluded that strict scrutiny should not apply to determining whether the off-premises sign regulations at issue violated the First Amendment.
Columns & Departments
Players On the Move
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
Features

The Stenography Shortage Is Impacting Client Service: What's the Future of Court Reporting?
In the court reporting market, technology has matured to match or exceed stenography's stronghold on speed and accuracy and, as such, is poised to disrupt the market.
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- Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright LawsThis article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.Read More ›
- Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.Read More ›
- The Article 8 Opt InThe Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.Read More ›
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