Reduced sales of DVDs and increased piracy of filmed entertainment are affecting the profits of studios and other financiers of motion pictures. To lessen this impact, changes are being made in deal terms offered to creative talent ' such as actors and creative producers ' and new relationships are emerging among such talent, financiers and distributors of theatrical motion pictures.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") plans to issue generic top-level domain names ("gTLDs") beyond the current 21 top-level domain names ("TLDs") such as .com and .net. For the first time, trademark owners may use their marks as gTLDs; for example, .nike. The application process is complex, and trademark owners have no guarantee that they will secure gTLDs for their marks. e-Commerce providers, however, can use trademark-law strategy to gain advantages during the application process.
For the most part, courts do not allow either technological or statutory limitations on speech, but they do allow such limitations on electronic commerce, which causes, at the least, more steps to complete a transaction online to meet compliance requirements.
Science tells us that most of an iceberg is hidden beneath the surface of the ocean. e-Commerce law tells us the same thing about Web-site development: The "Web front" that shoppers see can be dwarfed by the hidden, or invisible, "back office" ' the contracts, negotiations and software that make e-commerce Web sites possible. Yet it is that back office that can be the difference between a profitable site and one, like a true iceberg, that is merely adrift and fraught with potential hazards.
Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.
A bankrupt insured, particularly one with significant mass tort liability and assets primarily restricted to its insurance policies, should pay close attention to coverage issues during the bankruptcy proceedings to minimize subsequent difficulties in securing insurance recovery.
Last month, the authors discussed "substantial conflicts of interest" in various cases involving an insured's right to select its own defense counsel. Part Two herein continues this discussion
How is loss allocated when bodily injury or property damage occurs in several successive policy periods? Can the insured choose the policy that it wishes to cover the loss, limiting itself to one deductible and forcing a single year''s primary (and excess) policy to respond?
Who's doing what; who's going where.
