A recent Illinois Appellate Court decision should lead to increased underwriting and due diligence inquiries by purchasers (and title insurers) of shopping center outparcels (that is smaller parcels at the center's perimeter that the shopping center owner intends to sell or lease for high-traffic uses) and may redefine appropriate inquiry notice throughout the retail industry. In Murray's Discount Auto Stores, Inc. v. USRP Texas, L.P. and First American Bank, Case No. 1-02-3434, the Appellate Court of Illinois, First Judicial District, held that the purchaser of a shopping center outparcel had knowledge of facts sufficient to put it on inquiry notice as to the existence of a no-build restriction contained in an unrecorded lease at adjacent shopping center property. In so doing, the appellate court sent a loud and clear message that shopping center easement rights and restrictions will be exalted at the expense of buyers who fail to take additional due diligence inquires that may be warranted under the circumstances.
- July 28, 2006D. Albert Daspin
On April 20, 2005, President Bush signed into law the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, which significantly changed the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. While various aspects of the new law give landlords greater rights in tenant bankruptcies, the law is not all good for landlords. The benefits of the new law for commercial landlords have been written about extensively, including an analysis of the new provisions setting definitive deadlines for a tenant to assume or reject a lease under the Bankruptcy Code. What has not been highlighted is that if a commercial tenant files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, a landlord's space could be tied up for 120 days or more, instead of 60 days or more under the old law. (This article does not address the special rules and protections for landlords of residential properties and is devoted to a discussion of the provisions regarding commercial properties.)
July 28, 2006Trent L. RosenthalCopyright Infringement/Content Deletions
Copyright Renewal Rights/Vesting
Recording Contracts/Personal Jurisdiction
Songwriting-Fraud Claims/Statute of LimitationsJuly 27, 2006Stan SoocherRecently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
July 27, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied attorney fees to Fox Entertainment despite a stipulated dismissal with prejudice of a copyright suit against the company.
July 27, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |The New York Court of Appeals has answered several certified questions sent to it by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in a contingency-fee dispute between former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ed King and his former litigator Lawrence Fox.
July 27, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a motion by MGM Pictures to join Universal Music Group and its affiliated companies as defense parties in a suit against MGM over the alleged use of a sample of The Kinks' 1960s hit song 'You Really Got Me.'
July 27, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |Big Firms Move Into L.A.
Silicon Valley Firms Pursue Hollywood ClientsJuly 27, 2006Kellie Schmitt and Xenia P. KobylarzManagement Contracts/Talent Agencies Act
Right of Publicity/Predominate-Use TestJuly 27, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that a co-publishing agreement between two companies that the 'mysterious and extravagantly garbed street performer' Louis 'Moondog' Hardin signed in assent didn't convey the renewal rights in Hardin's songs.
July 27, 2006ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |