In a July issue of The National Law Journal, there was a lead article titled, "Firms Ask Partners to Pony Up." That article sparked questions from clients of our firm, Altman Weil, Inc., regarding law firm capital structures. This article pulls together a number of the issues we have been dealing with recently.

Book Publishing/Personal Jurisdiction<br>Copyrights/Wills and Estates<br>Film Tax Shelters/Disclosures to Investor

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COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/BANKRUPTCY DISCHARGE<br>COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/TV SHOW TREATMENT<br>COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/VENUE TRANSFER

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Despite a long history of case law relating to mergers, one area remains unclear, especially in the entertainment industry: the effect of mergers on intellectual property licensing agreements. Recent case law contributes to this uncertainty and suggests that certain precautions may be necessary to preserve valuable IP licensing rights. Importantly, entertainment companies should anticipate these issues from the outset and careful consideration should be given when first negotiating a license agreement.

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The recent ruling in <i>Io Group Inc. v. Veoh Networks Inc.</i> has been widely heralded as a win for online service providers in the legal maelstrom surrounding social media. Veoh is an Internet TV platform similar to YouTube that hosts user uploaded content. When clips from adult movies owned by Io Group appeared on Veoh's network, Io brought a copyright infringement suit, rather than issuing DMCA notices to Veoh requesting that its content be removed. Io lost its case.

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided that a federal district court in Florida had personal jurisdiction over a Tennessee-based personal manager who used the indicia of a Florida musician on his Web site.

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Vocal groups from the 1950s don't just fade away ' they splinter into separate acts that go on to fight over which is a true descendant of the original. In the U.S. and Canada, there are no fewer than 10 groups performing as The Drifters, or some minor variation. To help fans separate bona fide artists from pretenders, New Jersey and 26 other states have passed the "Truth in Music Act," forbidding performers to advertise themselves as affiliated with a recording group unless they demonstrate the connection by specified means.

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The new $700 billion U.S. financial bailout bill included some tax zingers to buy off House of Representative votes. One such zinger was an extension and amendment to Internal Revenue Code Sec. 181, which now provides a deduction for the first $15 million of the cost of certain films produced in the U.S. This article summarizes Sec. 181, including the impact of the Amendment and the IRS Temporary Regulations issued last year.