LJN Newsletters

  • Retroactive Licenses and Claim Settlements: The Law of Unintended Consequences

    It is fairly typical for an owner of intellectual property who has convinced an infringer to cease and desist the infringing activity to offer a retroactive license covering the period of past infringement as part of the settlement agreement. Granting a retroactive license to the direct infringer can be dangerous, however. Not only will the license forgive the direct infringement; it also will erase any possible inducement or contribution claim the patentee has against a third party. Because the retroactive license is unnecessary in most cases, before granting it a patentee should be very certain it has no inducement or contribution claims against third parties.

    June 29, 2006Ann G. Fort and Darcy L. Jones

  • Bit Parts

    Copyright Infringement/Attorney Fees
    Executive Compensation/Severance Pay
    Film Distribution/Net Profits

    June 29, 2006Stan Soocher

  • Courthouse Steps

    Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.

    June 29, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Counsel Concerns

    The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Five, affirmed the disqualification of a law firm from representing plaintiffs in litigation over the late singer Eva Cassidy.

    June 29, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Cameo Clips

    Recent cases in entertainment law.

    June 29, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Decision of Note: Copyright Law Preempts Singer's Publicity Claim

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that singer Debra Laws' state right-of-publicity claim over the use of her voice in a Jennifer Lopez sound recording and music video was preempted by federal copyright law. Laws v. Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

    June 29, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |

  • Songwriters Gain from Change in Tax Law

    Tax-treatment and copyright-reversion issues are among the most complicated concerns songwriters and music publishers face. This article examines a recent change in federal tax law regarding the sale of musical compositions, as well as related tax and reversion issues.

    June 29, 2006Denise Stevens, John Arao and John Beiter

  • Are Patent Cases Too Complex?

    It is unquestioned that technology is becoming more complex, building on what has come before. In 1965, Gordon Moore prophesized that the number of transistors on a chip would double about every 2 years. To put this in context, in 40 years, the number of transistors on a chip has risen from mere thousands to nearly 1 billion. See www.intel.com/technology/silicon/mooreslaw/. A corollary to Moore's law is that the price will necessarily decrease each generation, putting more computing power into consumers' hands at ever-lower costs. The technologies that allow more information to be packed into an ever-smaller space at lower costs are increasingly complex.

    June 28, 2006Benjamin Hershkowitz and Michael Schiffer

  • New Directions in Patenting Process Inventions

    35 U.S.C. §101 defines processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter as the categories of inventions that can be the subject matter of a patent. 35 U.S.C. §100(b) defines the term 'process' to mean 'process, art, or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.' Section 101 also requires that the subject matter sought to be patented be 'useful.'

    June 28, 2006David Varn

  • Supreme Court Chooses the Middle Ground in the eBay Case

    The landmark decision of the Supreme Court in MercExchange LLC v. eBay, 547 U.S. __ (2006), has left many inventors and patent owners disappointed, as the Supreme Court sided with eBay and set aside the prior decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ('CAFC'). A closer reading of the decision, however, seems to indicate a balanced approach that gave both sides something to brag about.

    June 28, 2006Alexander Poltorak