Features
In the Marketplace
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Lease Project Possible Stalemate
The latest FASB/IASB Lease Accounting Project meetings on Feb. 28 and 29 had as objectives to change the lessee cost pattern to better reflect the economics (straight-line) and to see if that decision would mean changes to lessor accounting methods that had already been decided.
Cameo Clips
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS<br>FILM ACQUISITIONS/RIGHTS RESERVATIONS
Viacom's Lawyers In the YouTube DMCA Litigation
Paul Smith of the Washington, DC, office of Jenner & Block wasn't supposed to be the one standing before a panel of appellate judges last October, trying to convince the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to revive Viacom's $1 billion infringement suit against YouTube and Google.
Features
Five-Factor Test Applied To Subpoenas Seeking File Sharer Identities
Internet service providers have to disclose the names of their subscribers who are accused of using a file-sharing site to copy a pornographic movie, a federal judge ruled in a copyright infringement suit.
How Restoring U.S. Protection to Foreign Copyrights Affects Media Uses
Golan's potential fallout, namely, increased pressure on Congress to enact reforms for "orphan works," which are older and more obscure works with minimal commercial value that have copyright owners who are difficult or impossible to track down.
Features
The Business of Branding: Is New Media Still 'New'?
Responsive web design, startup incubators and mobile payments are three progressive products and services that aren't necessarily "new" media, but can be considered new enhancements that aid growth, advancement and understanding.
C&J Vantage Leasing Co. v. Wolfe: One Year Later
In March 2011, the Iowa Supreme Court sent ripples of concern, if not terror, throughout the equipment lease finance industry with an unprecedented decision refusing to afford finance lease status to a contract between a finance company and a commercial end user, notwithstanding the fact that the parties had expressly agreed to such treatment in their written documents. Fortunately, while the <i>C&J Vantage</i> opinion may have closed a door for equipment finance companies, it opened a window. The decision's mischief-making potential is mitigated by another holding in the same opinion.
Features
<b>Decision of Note</b> Statute of Fraud Bars Agency Counterclaim
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the statute of frauds barred a counterclaim alleging breach of an oral agency agreement by songwriter/performer Akon to pay the agency commissions and reimbursement of the musician's travel expenses.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- 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 ›