Features

'Asserted Truths' Doctrine Used to Decide Jersey Boys Copyright Dispute
In a recent decision, the Ninth Circuit held that materials taken from an autobiography of Tommy DeVito — an original member of The Four Seasons music group — and used in the Broadway musical Jersey Boys depicting the band's history and hits, comprised facts and other noncopyrightable expression.
Features

Update on How NDAs Can Impact Employee Sex, Harrassment Claims
Recent news regarding complaints of sexual harassment by several former female employees of the now-called Washington Football Team has renewed discussions on the impact of nondisclosure agreements in the settlement of workplace discrimination and harassment claims, which have increased in the entertainment industry in recent years.
Features

Inside Prosecutors' 5Dimes Deal for Offshore Online Sports Betting
Laura Varela was unaware that her husband, William Sean Creighton, was under investigation by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and prosecutors in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for his 5Dimes sports betting website until Creighton was kidnapped — and later found dead.
Features

Floor Area Bonuses Allowed for Mixed-Used Properties Under the Philadelphia Zoning Code
Part Two In a Series In this part of the series on "zoning" bonuses in the city of Philadelphia, we explore Floor Area Bonuses provided under the Mixed Incoming Housing, Green Building, and Underground Accessory Parking & Loading Bonuses.
Features

Commercial Real Estate Lenders Face Remedy or Relief Decision In COVID-19
Lenders in default scenarios face a choice of whether to exercise remedies and take over their collateral, or offer relief measures to their borrowers, either in the form of short-term forbearance or a permanent loan modification.
Features

To Embed, or Not to Embed, that is the Question
Would Shakespeare Post Hamlet on Instagram in 2020? Recent legal and procedural developments associated with the ubiquitous Instagram social media site have created significant practical and legal risks for both copyright owners and account holders.
Features

Judge's Ruling in Epic Games/Apple App Store Battle
Entertainment consumer icon Fortnite's pathway back to the App Store is in the hands of the video game developer, a California federal judge decided in the closely watched legal battle over the distribution of app content.
Features

Time Is Running Out On Restructuring Under New Subchapter V
The clock is ticking for small businesses to take advantage of a new way to restructure under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. New Subchapter V — part of the CARES Act — is set to expire early next year.
Features

Marking, Notice and Knowledge: What Patent Licensors Need to Know
A patentee should consider patent marking issues when negotiating a patent license, as well as during the term of the license. Otherwise, the patentee may find that its damages for patent infringement are limited due to its licensee's failure to mark.
Features

ESports Streaming Deal Part of Law Firm Practice Aims
It's a deal that provides a potential look into a future where esports, like traditional sports before them, provide a potentially lucrative practice area for firms that want to plant a flag in that plot.
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- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›