One controversy not on the Supreme Court's agenda when it begins its new term the first Monday in October is the legality of downloading MP3s. Too bad. Had it been, you could have downloaded the oral arguments in this popular audio file-sharing format
Until recently, it was generally believed that public relations and business concerns would prevent large copyright holders, such as record labels, from suing file sharers, who are also likely to be their consumers. Copyright owners have long avoided suing direct infringers for file-sharing due to obvious concerns: The cost and the negative publicity associated with filing multiple lawsuits against individual users would be overwhelming. However, this month, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed 261 civil complaints against people who have allegedly distributed copyrighted music on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.
In today's world, franchisors frequently design franchise contracts to govern relations with franchisees for several years. As a result, it is critically important that franchisors be permitted to set reasonable performance requirements, not only for the present, but periodically over the life of the agreement.
As franchisors begin to rely more heavily on the Internet for conducting business, whether for advertising purposes, for providing online services to customers and franchisees, or for engaging in e-commerce, more franchisors will inevitably become victims of the modern-day type of piracy known as cyberpiracy or cybersquatting - the act of registering a domain name that is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark of another for commercial gain.
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
It has been often said that Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code can be summarized as the "Three Rs," precisely "reorganize, restructure, and rehabilitate." In practicality, this includes steps such as "reducing headcount," (firing people, without the euphemism), streamlining operations, reordering debt, and so on. One of the most critical components of such lifesaving steps is the divestiture of assets, in plain English, selling off assets that are either unprofitable and unwanted burdens or those items that can fetch high prices that can add quickly to the cash reserves of a troubled company.
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Although the demand for software financing and leasing continues to grow at a tremendous rate, software financing and leasing remains one of the most challenging and least understood areas of leasing. The focus of this article is on the financing and leasing of 100% software, although there is some discussion of mixed leases of equipment and software. The goal is to provide lessors with a practical guide to the issues arising in a typical software financing or leasing transaction. The emphasis is on direct leases between a lessor and a lessee, as opposed to a vendor finance arrangement where the software licensor is also a party.
