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Features

Cameo Clips

Stan Soocher

COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP/INEFFECTIVE TRANSFER<br>FILM DISTRIBUTION/ADVANCE OBLIGATION

What Is an Athlete's Publicity Right in a Video Game?

Jeffrey Sullivan

Today's game designers and consumers demand a sports game experience that is as close to the real world, and real players, as possible. Game manufacturers have largely succeeded in delivering on this demand. But at least a handful of players are not happy with this situation.

Non-L.A. Firms Try L.A. Practices in Entertainment

Amanda Bronstad

Some non-Hollywood law firms have carved out limited entertainment practices based on their own areas of expertise, such as large corporate mergers or financing. But most avoid the entertainment world altogether.

Use on Foreign Web Site Is Not U.S. 'Publication'

Stan Soocher

In a ruling of first impression, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware decided that photographs published on a foreign Web site weren't simultaneously "published" in the United States. The photographer thus wasn't required to register the photographs with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to filing an infringement suit.

Features

Deals At Risk: Textron Opens Door to IRS Discovery of 'Tax Accrual Workpapers'

Anthony M. Sabino

SILOs underlie a confrontation between a taxpayer and the IRS in the new First Circuit case of <i>United States v. Textron Inc.</i> But that decision was not just about the legality or taxing of such leases. Rather, it has grave consequences on a far more sweeping issue: the inability of taxpayers to shield from disclosure so-called "tax accrual workpapers," documents typically prepared by in-house tax attorneys that set out in detail sensitive areas of tax liability.

Industry 'Custom and Practice' Not Enough to Create Binding Film Distribution Agreement

Stan Soocher

Film financing and film production can be long, slow processes. But deals for distribution rights may be struck up fast and furious, as seen from distribution interest in buzz movies at film festivals. This happened with Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, a film about a young African-American mother in Harlem that won both the grand jury prize and audience award in drama at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2009. Hurried negotiations for the film distribution rights to Push has led to multi-suit litigation ' and a recent Manhattan federal district court ruling that may help define when there's a binding distribution deal.

Movers & Shakers

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

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

Features

News Briefs

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.

Features

Court Watch

Alexander Tuneski

Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.

Media & Communications Corner: Every Law Firm Should Be a Media Company

Nicholas Gaffney

It's time to take a leap and leave behind your firm's entrenched identity as a legal services provider: to succeed, you must start thinking of your firm as a media company.

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