After the U.S. Supreme Court came down with its last decision in June, Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union, PBS Newshour commentator Margaret Warner asked rhetorically: Why in the world was Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer in the dissent?
In what is poised to spark a debate of significant economic impact for the entertainment industry in the United States Supreme Court, a unanimous panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals recently ruled that Grokster, Ltd. and StreamCast Networks, Inc. ' distributors of the Morpheus program ' will live another day, as they do not infringe film and music copyrights by facilitating file-sharing over the Internet.
Cases of interest to the Internet law community.
Commercial Web Site Does Not Violate DMCA
Texan's Web Site Not Violative of ACPA
Feds Cracking Down On Cybercrime
Britain Fires Civil Servants At 'Ministry of Porn'
Federal Judge Rules Suit Is No 'Perfect 10'
Spike Lee Wins Cyber-squatting Case
VeriSign Suit Against ICANN Dismissed
California Bill Would Extend Privacy Protection To e-Mail
Stories abound as the popular search engine goes public.
American Bar Association Annual Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. Los Angeles, October 8-9. Will cover recent case rulings as well…
If you need information on product recalls, unsafe products, or would like publications on a variety of consumer-related topics, visit the Web site for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), www.cpsc.gov.
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
More often than not, bankruptcy filings lead to the sale of a business as a going concern. Such sales are frequently concluded prior to confirmation of a plan of reorganization by resort to Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code. Section 363 authorizes the sale of a bankrupt company "free and clear of any interest in such property." 11 U.S.C. '363(f). Product liability claims, though, can occur suddenly and seemingly at random long after the sale of the assets to the successor. The successful purchaser may have thought that the "free and clear" sale order was a legal barrier to successor liability. The prudent product liability practitioner knows otherwise.
In a litigated dispute, the court is the referee between the parties, and the lawyers will routinely submit matters for its official approval. Agreements between the parties — such as agreements regarding document confidentiality or settlement — are much more easily enforced if entered as court orders rather than left as private contracts. Consequently, it is standard practice to reduce such agreements to orders.
