LJN Newsletters

RIGHTS IN BAND NAMES/MARVELETTES DISPUTE
FILM DISTRIBUTION/RIGHTS LIMITATIONS

CA Filing Time Is Applied to Malpractice Suit in WA Federal Court
No Selective Waiver of Attorney/Client Privilege Allowed in Superman Litigation

In May 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit considered a photographer's case against television companies over alleged infringement of his image of a notorious imposter who called himself Clark Rockefeller.

For a class of older television writers suing studios, networks and talent agencies for age discrimination, a $70 million settlement reached in 2010 was a happy ending. For the writers' lawyers, though, it was only the opening act in a story line that might seem clich' to some of their clients ' a fight over money.

Strategic disqualification is a tactic in which a recognized expert is interviewed by a prospective client to determine where the expert stands on a particular fact pattern. But the client's attorney may not be really interested in the actual expertise of the witness elect, nor is the lawyer interested in whether or not the witness will opine in the client's favor. This attorney has only one agenda: to create the appearance of a relationship substantial enough so the opposing counsel can't also consult with the expert.

The newly enacted federal JOBS Act of 2012 (H.R. 3606; http://bit.ly/JfRRg2) impacts independent film financing by loosening the restrictions on companies ("issuers") raising capital via securities offerings that are exempt from registration with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC).

Who's doing what; who's going where.

Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.