Features
<B><I>Online Exclusive:</b></i> <b>House Rejects Facebook Password Amendment</b>
The U.S. House of Representatives rejected a proposed amendment to the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012 (H.R. 3309) that would have allowed the FCC to prevent employers from asking for social networking passwords from prospective employees.
Features
Can an Employee Steal Social Media Influence?
As employment disputes commonly involve communications between or among employees, management and customers, it should come as no surprise that social media's role in workplace disputes has drastically increased in the last year. This article discusses recent social media cases and makes recommendations for what employers can do to better protect confidential information and trade secrets.
Features
Counsel Concerns
Law Firm's Push for Sale of George Clinton Copyrights, to Pay for Legal Fees, Will Remain in Western District of Washington<br>Motion by Nina Simone's Former Husband, to Disqualify Counsel in Estate Litigation, Is Denied
Features
Does the CDA Bar State IP Claims?
It is clear that there is no immunity under the Communications Decency Act of 1996 for copyright, patent and trademark law. What remains an open question ' and the subject of conflicting judicial interpretations ' is whether state intellectual property claims such as appropriation of rights of publicity are barred.
Features
Random House Suit Brings Renewed Push For 'E-Book' Rights in Older Contracts
The e-book format continues to be a growing force in book publishing. Worldwide sales are predicted to reach nearly $10 billion by 2016 ' compared to $3.2 billion in 2011. Current publishing agreements offered by book publishers unambiguously transfer electronic rights as well as print rights. But whether licenses granted by authors in older book publishing agreements can be construed to embrace this new technology is a major question for the industry. The answer will determine whether traditional publishers, or authors and the digital startups that some of them now choose to license to, will control e-book publishing of lucrative classic titles. This
Features
CAA and TV Writers Reach Accord in Age Discrimination Class Action Case
A class action filed by older television writers alleging widespread age discrimination by the Creative Artists Agency Inc. (CAA) settled recently, marking the end of related litigation against the major players in the entertainment industry.
Features
Fair Use Analysis Before Takedown Notice Is Asked for By Another Federal District
In 2009, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California startled copyright owners in ruling that, to comply with the "good faith" requirement the DMCA, content proprietors must conduct a fair-use copyright analysis of unlicensed online uses of their works prior to sending a takedown notice. Now a federal magistrate for the U.S. District Court for the District Montana has adopted the <i>Lenz</i> fair use rule.
Features
New York Will Be e-Commerce Case Forum, Not Florida As Terms Say
A Long Island resident who bought 50,000 pairs of tube socks from a Florida-based "closeout" merchandiser can pursue a claim against the supplier in New York court, a judge has ruled.
Features
Arbitration: One More Look at Its Virtues and Vices
For several years, I have felt like Hamlet when I ruminate on the subject of arbitration clauses: To include, or not to include, an arbitration clause in the franchise agreements I draft.
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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 ›
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