Features

Can Consumer Products Be 'Expressive Works'?
In a case that may have significant implications for the ability of mark holders to enforce their marks against many types of products, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is now considering whether consumer products such as sneakers can be considered "expressive works" to which First Amendment protections can apply.
Columns & Departments
IP News
Trademarks and Free Expression In the Ninth Circuit
Features

New Decisions In Disputes Over Titles Reinforce 'High Bar' In Proving Public Was 'Explicitly Misled'
When it comes to expressive content, disputes over trademark rights in titles of creative works are commonly fought under the federal Lanham Act. Many of these battles play out in courts in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has well-developed legal guidelines on the subject — many of them from lawsuits that have arisen in the entertainment industry.
Features

Conn. Fed. Court Distinguishes Funny Girl Lyrics Royalty Rights from Copyright
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut sided with the family of a production company executive in finding that the wife of late Broadway lyricist Bob Merrill had no right, under §304(c) of the U.S. Copyright Act, to cancel a more than 50-year-old royalty agreement between the executive and Merrill.
Features

Texas App. Court's Ruling in Suit By Band Member's Lawyer
A.B. Quintanilla III, founding member and leader of the Latin music group Kumbia Kings, prevailed on appeal in a dispute with a Texas attorney who claimed Quintanilla conspired to cut the lawyer out of his alleged share of a settlement.
Features

Another Appellate Court Vacates A Bankruptcy Court Contempt Judgment
The Southern District of New York vacated a bankruptcy court's judgment holding a debtor's business competitor "in contempt for violation of the [Bankruptcy Code's] automatic stay … and assessing sanctions" of $19.2 million.
Features

Questions About Fox Corp. CLO Bar Licensing
The chief legal officer of Fox Corp. since 2018 didn't become licensed in California until this summer, a delay one law professor described as a "big screw up" that might expose his communications with fellow Fox executives to public disclosure in the multibillion-dollar defamation litigation brought by two voting companies.
Features

District Court Rules on Ripeness of Claim Under RLUIPA
When does a RLUIPA claim become ripe? A federal district court in the Southern District of New York dismissed a RLUIPA claim as unripe, borrowing ripeness doctrine from the takings context and declining to apply a "futility exception" to the requirement that a landowner obtain a final decision before proceeding to federal court.
Columns & Departments
Fresh Filings
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
Features

Successor Liability Claims Constitute a 'Property Interest' for Purposes of a 363 Sale In Bankruptcy
In In re Norrenberns Foods, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Illinois had occasion to rule on a creditor's objection to the sale of a debtor's assets.
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