LJN Newsletters

The digital age and widespread, unauthorized Internet downloading have raised doubts about the strength of copyright protection. But the durability of entertainment content has nevertheless kept renewal interests in copyrights alive. It is often the children and spouses of deceased artists who are involved in fights over the economic promise of these copyright renewals.
Primary issues in cases claiming renewal-interest rights include the limitations period for filing a claim and how the renewal interests should be divided among an artist's heirs. Two recent cases demonstrate how these claims play out.

Forty years ago, it was next to impossible to tape or film a stage production on Broadway or Off-Broadway in New York City. The various unions hadn't crystallized their demands, but for the most part, they didn't want to see it done. The feeling was that any taping of a play would shorten the run.
But it was inevitable that arrangements would be made so that stage productions could be taped and filmed for archival purposes, for teaching purposes and for commercial presentations in other media. It was also inevitable that there would be a price to pay for this.

Comic-Book Characters/Profit Particpation
Merchandising Licenses/Scope Of Rights Granted

The Financial Accounting Standards Board met on Nov. 17, 2005 on the subject of the accounting impact of IRS settlements of Lease-In-Lease-Out ("LILO") and Lease-To-Service Contracts (aka "SILO"). To the surprise of the leasing industry, the FASB reached tentative conclusions that a change in the timing of cash flows requires a recalculation of the leveraged lease earnings and the lease classification should be re-examined. The recalculation of earnings results in a large, negative catch up adjustment and a positive adjustment to future earnings, but spread over the life of the lease. The lease classification issue should not be a problem.

In theory, a borrower's issuance of junior secured debt is a boon for its senior secured lender. The borrower obtains additional capital, and the claims of the junior lender against shared collateral, since "subordinated," don't diminish the senior lender's prospects for repayment. In practice, however, a senior secured lender should view proposed junior secured financing skeptically because the existence of such debt can become highly problematic for the senior lender. The key to protecting the senior lender lies in properly negotiating and documenting the intercreditor agreement with the junior lender to eliminate, or at least minimize, the myriad ways in which the junior lender's rights may, in practice, limit — or even trump — those of the senior lender.

Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.

Decisions rendered by different courts in Florida provide good news for equipment lessors doing business in this state. One case supports a lessor's early termination charges challenged in a class action, and another supports the structure of a computer equipment lease as not being subject to documentary stamp taxes.

I've already lost some of you. That's great. When I can turn off 25% of my readers with just the subtitle, I know that the rest of you will be getting some actual value and not just a bunch of regurgitated, freshman-year marketing pap. Here's the one-sentence version of the article for all of you out there with adult ADHD:
If your firm doesn't have at least one serious blogger for every major practice and industry group, you've got clients who are, at this minute, reading a competitor's blog.