LJN Newsletters

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that radio stations weren't liable for airing commercials made by third parties that failed to obtain licenses to use the plaintiff's songs and sound recordings in the commercials.

Internet/Unauthorized Movie DistributionThe U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied summary judgment to both Paramount Pictures…

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

The trend in judicial resistance to statutes that regulate video-game content recently became clearer when federal district courts in Michigan, Illinois and California enjoined state statutes that deemed certain video-game content harmful to minors.

E-businesses, by forming networks of season ticket holders and contracting with entertainment venues, provide Internet customers with entry passes for concerts, sports and other spectator events. Generally, Internet ticket providers are in the business of buying and selling tickets to such events above face value. Some parties have equated such Internet ticket providers with ticket scalpers and claim they are acting unlawfully. In particular, some state anti-scalping laws have been applied to Internet ticketing transactions, resulting in both criminal and civil sanctions. However, the application of proper Internet notices and appropriate Web site access limitations may render such state anti-scalping laws moot.

The advent of digital-music delivery has brought about significant changes in both the format and distribution channels by which consumers receive music. Nonetheless, the fundamental role of distribution remains the same: to put product into the hands ' and today the computers and portable media devices ' of consumers.
Now, traditional offline distributors and a number of independent record labels have decided that digital distribution is an important component of their respective business models.
This article examines some of the interplay between the provisions of digital-distribution contracts and provisions contained in pre-existing contracts between offline distributors and independent record labels, and between independent record labels and artists.

Recent cases in entertainment law.

Two recent decisions — one by an Illinois state court and the other by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals — reveal that courts remain divided as to whether general liability policies provide coverage for fax-advertising claims under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). Generally, the TCPA prohibits, among other things, the use of fax machines or other devices to send "an unsolicited advertisement to a telephone facsimile machine." 47 U.S.C. §227(b)(3). The TCPA provides a private right of action by the recipients of such faxes to sue the senders. Id. Notably, under the TCPA, the recipient does not have to demonstrate any injury to prevail on its claim; the receipt of an unsolicited fax is sufficient to trigger liability under the statute.