FILM PRODUCTION/ARBITRATION<br>RIGHTS IN BAND NAMES/LACHES

After its first two releases went gold, Miami rap-R&amp;B upstart Pretty Ricky claims one member ' Pleasure ' broke the rules by doing what music stars like Beyonce Knowles and Justin Timberlake have done in the past: going solo. The group's Fort Lauderdale, FL-based management company Bluestar Entertainment International is suing Pleasure, whose real name is Marcus Cooper, for performing outside the group.

Jan. 14, 2008 marked Eric Brunstad's seventh oral argument before the Supreme Court and it was a doozy, with justices hitting him harder than almost any lawyer in recent memory. The case was <i>Preston v. Ferrer</i>, an arbitration case that also has a modicum of celebrity appeal because of the identity of Brunstad's client. Brunstad was arguing on behalf of Alex Ferrer, a former Florida judge who stars in the syndicated 'Judge Alex' TV show in which, ironically enough, he arbitrates disputes between ordinary folks over issues like falling trees and damaged furniture.

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In the months before his death from cancer in 1991, Beaumont, TX, lawyer Rex Conrad Woodard helped Thomas Gaetano DeVito, an original member of the pop group the Four Seasons, write an autobiographical book, Woodard's widow alleges. Woodard died before the book could be published. Now, with the work allegedly partly the basis for the hit Broadway musical 'Jersey Boys,' Woodard's widow has sued DeVito for a share of income stemming from the work.

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The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that a breach-of-contract suit by the Allman Brothers Band (ABB) alleging royalty underpayments from Jan. 1, 2000 through Dec. 31, 2003, was barred by the limitations provision of the band's recording agreement.

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The value of athletes' personas and related indicia is a bedrock component of the sports industries. Merchandising and endorsement deals date back decades. But this tradition hasn't meant a smooth ride today. Disputes over athlete indicia are as common as those for entertainers. An examination of several court rulings from the past few weeks demonstrates common claims and defenses over licensed and unlicensed uses.

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Zebra Technologies Corporation's legal department has five attorneys, a director of patents and technology, a director of international trade compliance and three administrative assistants. In addition to the matters handled exclusively in-house, Zebra has more than 1,350 matters open at this time. We work with approximately 25 law firms that generate approximately 200 invoices per month. To assist in the management of these documents, we selected CT TyMetrix T360' to help us organize, manage and pay invoices.

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Not long ago, the pain of analyzing electronically stored information (ESI) for legal e-discovery, regulatory inquiries, and corporate investigations was hardly a blip on the radar screen. Fast forward to 2007, where e-discovery and its concomitant analysis has become a major component of any discovery request. This article takes a step back to evaluate whether efforts to streamline the analysis of ESI data have been effectively applied. My sense is that although the times have changed and methods of communication (Blackberrys, instant messaging, etc.) have become unquestionably more sophisticated, the e-discovery process has stagnated. The legal industry as a whole has been slow to keep up with change. As a result, it's getting harder to justify the cost and time that goes into the antiquated process many have grown accustomed to using.