The General Growth Properties Bankruptcy and the Future of Securitizations
Do the recent rulings in the General Growth Properties bankruptcy spell doom for equipment debt securitizations? Not necessarily so, according to the recent rulings of Southern District of New York Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in the $27 billion General Growth Properties Chapter 11 bankruptcy — at least with respect to the issue of substantive consolidation.
Features
Third Circuit Upholds Online Gambling Ban
Internet gambling proponents suffered a major setback when a federal appeals court refused to strike down a 2006 law in which Congress banned all Internet gambling transactions that would be illegal in the gambler's state.
Copyright Claims Dismissed over Seinfeld Cookbook
Missy Chase Lapine, author of <i>The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals</i>, has come up empty in her claims against Jerry Seinfeld and his wife, Jessica. Lapine had sued Jessica, author of the book <i>Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food</i>, for copyright and trademark infringement. But Manhattan federal district court Judge Laura Swain threw those claims out, finding that there were sufficient differences between the two books.
Features
'Unlicensed Agent' Defense Won't Stop Suit By Manager
The New York Supreme Court, New York County, denied a motion to dismiss a complaint by a personal manager who seeks unpaid commissions from artists he managed.
Jury Finds Against Film Producers In Bribery Case
A pair of Beverly Hills film producers have been found guilty of conspiring to bribe a former Thai government official to obtain contracts that provided for, among other things, control of the annual Bangkok International Film Festival, the Justice Department said.
Features
Radio Personality Must Pay for Lawyer's Services
The Appellate Court of Illinois, First District, affirmed a quantum meruit award based on contract-negotiation representation that attorney Todd Musburger provided to talk show personality Gary Meier.
Strategies for Maximizing Campaigns for Movie Merchandise
The billions of dollars in movie merchandising profits reflect the incredible value of intellectual property. If a film is, for example, adapted from a book, or ' more commonly for merchandising in recent years ' a comic book or graphic novel, a movie studio must first obtain rights, either through assignment or more commonly licensing, from the literary work's author or owner. However, that does not mean the studio can begin production of action figures the next day.
Law Firm Intelligence: Working on a Shoestring
Despite the economy, researchers and analysts must remain on top of new developments in the field so that our firms remain competitive. Luckily, there are many excellent, free or low cost professional development opportunities available. You just have to know where to look.
The Place to Network: Pro Bono Networking
In recent years, the pro bono tradition has continued to flourish, a reflection of the true dedication that attorneys have to making a difference in their communities.
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- 'Customary Operations' or A Vacant Building?Many times, courts are faced with the question of whether a loss location is 'vacant' under a commercial property policy when trying to determine if the building owner or lessee is conducting customary operations. This article explores various decisions across the United States as to what is considered 'customary operations,' thereby rendering the property 'vacant.'Read More ›
- Reining in the Inequitable Conduct DefenseResponding to views from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and elsewhere about the unintended consequences of the current inequitable conduct doctrine, a divided <i>en banc</i> Federal Circuit decision issued on May 25, 2011 adjusted the standard of the materiality element to make this defense harder to establish.Read More ›
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- Authorship and Copyright In Hybrid AI-Human Collaborative WorksThe United States Copyright Office recently issued a letter ruling on the copyrightability of Kristina Kashtanova's comic book-like work, Zarya of the Dawn. The Kashtanova ruling indicates that the Copyright Office's determination of copyrightability of works involving use of AI will rely on whether the author is able to control and foresee with some measure of predictability the output of the authorial processRead More ›
- Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTsA federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.Read More ›