Client's RICO Claim Against Lawyer Is Dismissed<br>Malpractice Suit Lacks Proximate Cause

Recent rulings of interest to you and your practice.

In late 2007, Activision CEO Robert Kotick, the jolly-looking entrepreneur known as one of the smartest and toughest in the business, approached Vivendi Games, which published World of Warcraft through its subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment Inc. Kotick made an offer for Blizzard, but Vivendi countered by suggesting that the two companies merge ' with Kotick at the helm. The merger, which was completed in July 2008, created a publicly traded company, Activision Blizzard Inc., that is the most impressive video game business in the world ' running neck-and-neck in revenues with longtime leader Electronic Arts Inc. ' and surpassing it in profits.

With the costs of defending employment discrimination lawsuits continuing to escalate, employers continue to search for alternatives. One alternative is a method of resolving disputes without involving the judicial system: arbitration.

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The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that The Rolling Stones' tour management company didn't breach the exclusivity terms of an agreement for use of Stones intellectual properties in conjunction with the planned development of a limited-edition Blackberry smartphone

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The first part of this article discussed several different contexts in which changing technology is affecting the workplace and presenting new, and sometimes unique, challenges to Human Resources professionals. The conclusion herein discusses ways to protect a company's assets.

The Copyright Act of 1976 reflects a balance of the competing interests of copyright holders and those wishing to build on their existing works. As to composers of music, on one hand it secures to copyright holders the exclusive rights of exploitation in the manners prescribed by Sec. 106. On the other hand, the Act recognizes that new creation is often rooted in existing works, and therefore allows a new artist to borrow from existing works in appropriate circumstances without fear of being labeled an infringer. For over a century, one such "carve-out" from the exclusive rights secured to copyright owners has been the compulsory license in and to musical works, codified at 17 U.S.C. Sec. 115. Yet certain of Sec. 115's parameters have never been clearly defined.

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Congress recently enacted the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 to clarify its intent as to who is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Here's how to comply.