Fourteen federal appellate judges spent more than two hours talking about high school pranks on June 3 as the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sat en banc to consider a pair of cutting-edge First Amendment cases brought by students who were suspended for ridiculing their principals on MySpace.

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A growing number of courts have addressed the validity of contracts purportedly created through Web-based transactions. While the judiciary has produced mixed results in this area, a few trends have emerged ' notwithstanding the nuances presented by online transactions.

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While insurance appraisal clauses are standard in many homeowners' policies, the manner in which they are utilized by insurers and policyholders — and the way in which they are interpreted by the courts — differs based upon the role an appraiser plays in interpreting causation.

Fred Astaire's Widow Is Denied TRO to Stop Tribute Awards<br>No Implied License or Work for Hire Is Found in Song's Spanish Translation<br>"Straight-Lining" Film Fees Allocation Breaches Implied Obligation

ACTOR EMPLOYMENT TIME/CONTRACT TERMINATION<br>TV-SHOW CREATION DISPUTE/DECLARATORY BID DENIED

Ever since the definitive appellate rulings in the Napster and Grokster cases, big entertainment companies have pretty much had their way with tech startups in copyright infringement battles ' for instance, the recent resounding win a group of record companies scored in New York federal district court against the file sharing service LimeWire, now perilously close to being shut down. But in June, there was news of a victory (albeit a small one) for the little guy.

Covington &amp; Burling might still be smarting from its loss before the Supreme Court in American Needle Inc. v. National Football League, 08-661, in which the NFL was denied antitrust immunity, but the firm ' longtime outside counsel to the National Football League ' now has another big legal battle on its hands. A complaint filed by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) is challenging the league's billion-dollar television contracts.

Civil rights and consumer organizations are backing Time Warner Cable's federal court effort to block subpoenas for the names and addresses of thousands of individuals who allegedly downloaded movies illegally. The subpoenas are the result of a litigation campaign by US Copyright Group, a Washington, DC-based venture launched by the intellectual property law boutique, Dunlap, Grubb &amp; Weaver.