Litigation

The significance of the U.S. Tax Court decision for celebrities and their estates is clear: Prior to now, as Tax Court Judge Mark V. Holmes noted: "We haven't had a case directly addressing the taxability of the image and likeness."

Maybe the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit should have been a little more patient.

In a split decision that closely examined what constitutes a person being considered a limited public figure for the purposes of defamation standards, the New York Appellate Division, First Department, ruled that acclaimed music producer Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald is neither a general nor a limited public figure for the purposes of his defamation suit against famed singer Kesha, who has claimed Gottwald drugged and sexually assaulted her.

The significance of the U.S. Tax Court decision for celebrities and their estates is clear: Prior to now, as Tax Court Judge Mark V. Holmes noted: "We haven't had a case directly addressing the taxability of the image and likeness."

In a rare ruling, the Cinemark movie theater chain won the chance to keep litigating against its insurance company, seeking losses under a $500 million policy for business interruption from COVID-19.

In two recent cases, the Second Circuit provided guidance as to the circumstances that may give rise to liability for counterfeiting, as distinct from mere infringement, and addressed liability for contributory infringement for counterfeiting.

In states where they are enforced, a properly drafted confession of judgment clause in a commercial lease can be one of the most valuable tools in a landlord's toolkit for enforcing its leases and preserving its remedies.

The Texas lawsuit alleged that the social video app and parent company ByteDance Ltd. copied software code, and deleted or altered copyright management information in the code, and then used the code in the app that has 175 million downloads.