In the last year ' particularly in the last 6 months ' a growing number of defendants have refused to settle music industry suits, challenging what they allege are groundless lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The Court of Appeals of Georgia, Fourth Division, found that a local rap artist wasn't a public figure for purposes of a defamation suit over comments made about him on a local radio station.
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
By 2004, mastertones were the hot new thing. They had replaced polyphonic ringtones (multipitched tunes), which had replaced monophonic ringtones. Mastertones were compressed snippets of studio-recorded music. In order to offer them to the public, ringtone content aggregators needed to obtain both publishing clearance and permission from those who held the rights to the recordings. That meant negotiating with record companies.
Three years ago, the closest most lawyers at Jenner & Block came to the entertainment industry were the compact discs its partners bought or the movies its associates rented. But now, Jenner & Block has been tapped to solidify the industry's role on the Web, edging out law firms with longer histories representing publishing and production companies. Add that to Jenner & Block's recent victory as lead Supreme Court counsel in MGM Studios v. Grokster, and the firm is quickly shaping up as a prominent player in the expanding industry.
Highlights of the latest insurance cases from around the country.
The media is rife with references to high-profile corporate scandals. Although the fate of those responsible for corporate misconduct is well publicized, the innocent corporate officials impacted by such scandals are rarely mentioned. In an effort to protect directors and officers, corporations allocate significant capital to buying directors' and officers' ("D&O") liability insurance. However, in today's environment of increasing numbers of corporate scandals, even innocent directors and officers sometimes find themselves stripped of the very protection such policies are meant to afford by insurance companies seeking to avoid large exposures. Allegations of corporate fraud have lead insurance companies to invoke exclusionary provisions and increasingly to seek the remedy of rescission. Although procuring D&O insurance coverage reflects a corporation's realization of and appreciation for the risk faced by directors and officers, corporations must ensure that the policies they purchase actually provide the protection sought. This article examines recent trends in court decisions regarding D&O insurance in cases of corporate fraud and suggests methods by which corporations can attempt to maximize the protection provided by their D&O policies, particularly for innocent corporate officials.
By virtually any measure, Hurricane Katrina ranks as one of the worst natural disasters in American history. It will surely be months if not years before the full toll of the storm and its aftermath, including long-term effects on the Gulf Coast, are known. It is equally sure that Hurricane Katrina will spawn an array of disputes concerning insurance coverage for losses or damage caused by the storm. Indeed, barely 2 weeks after the hurricane hit land, at least two major insurance coverage lawsuits, one in Mississippi and one in Louisiana, had already been filed.
