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Lessees increasingly challenge leases in bankruptcy proceedings or disputes with lessors. They assert and litigate the issue of whether a lease constitutes a disguised security arrangement instead of a true lease. This issue arises with respect to leases of equipment as well as software. The consequence of losing true lease status under state law can dramatically affect a lessor's legal rights and remedies and impair a lessor's economics. Despite this increased uncertainty, lessors can effectively structure and defend their lease transactions as true leases when armed with working knowledge of current judicial trends and applicable rules under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
The Supreme Court of California has denied a petition for review by Amaani Lyle but granted defendant Warner Brothers Television Productions' petition in a suit filed by Lyle, a writers' assistant, over the atmosphere in the writers' room of the TV series "Friends."
<i>This occasional column will cover issues in serving as a lawyer in the entertainment industry. </i><br>A law firm represents a film production company. But as organizing both the company and a film project proceed, the company fails to raise sufficient funds to complete the project. Later, the director, a costumer, a construction coordinator and a production designer hired to work on the movie file suit for payment of services rendered and goods supplies. The suit alleges fraud and conspiracy. The law firm and its principals are named as defendants in the action. Is the law firm liable in the case?
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that the district court erred in a "too mechanical" use of the "extrinsic" test by determining whether two song choruses were substantially similar through a measure-by-measure comparison of the melodies.
Game shows based on contestants giving answers to questions often use releases signed by contestants to build in leeway into how those questions may be structured. What if a question has a mostly correct, but not the absolutely correct, answer? In the case of the TV game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," Richard Rosner, a contestant presented with this type of question, filed suit after he was eliminated from the show.
In September 2002, the author published an article in <i>Entertainment Law & Finance</i> titled "Examining Arguments in Controversy Over Webcasting Royalty Rates." Since then, there have been major new developments. New rates have been set, although the controversy regarding prices to be paid by small webcasters is still being challenged. This article, with Part II appearing next month, provides background on the new rates, explains how they work and offers an overview of this new medium.
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The importance of profitability levers is compelling, but readers who sense some haziness about the subject should note that different authors conceptualize the levers differently.