Features
Pondering Updates To Copyright Law In Digital Era
With Congress considering copyright reform and digital streaming upending the music business, the U.S. Copyright Office has announced it is studying the effectiveness of the music-licensing system. In an effort to assist Congress, the Copyright Office said it is looking for public input on Copyright Act of 1976 provisions that established government-regulated music-licensing regimes.
Features
SESAC Faces Narrower Claim For Anti-Trust
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York refused to throw out part of an antitrust class action brought by television station owners against SESAC, the music licensing organization that represents about 20,000 composers. The ruling came just three months after a magistrate judge in Pennsylvania ruled that radio broadcasters are likely to prevail on similar claims against SESAC.
IP News
Federal Circuit: 'Universal Acceptance' of a Principal Does Not Overcome Language of Claims and Specification<br>Federal Circuit: Routine Mental Steps Carried Out By Computer Outside the Scope of Section 101 <br>Federal Circuit Retains De Novo Review of Claim Construction
Features
Sup. Ct. Rules Burden of Proof Remains with Patent Owner
The Supreme Court began 2014 by reversing the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's decision in <i>Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC,</i> holding that the burden of proof on infringement remains with the patent owner even when a licensee files a declaratory judgment suit seeking a judgment of no infringement.
Features
Corporations' 'Seismic Shift' to Private Exchanges
The first quarter of 2014 is over. The major provisions of the Affordable Care Act are now in full swing, save the occasional delay of certain mandates. Companies, both large and small, understand that this law is now a fixture of our legislative structure. It will be amended, tugged at, pulled at, changed, expanded, and contracted. The private marketplace plays a crucial role in the development of the law, as well as the resulting impact on employers.
Features
New Jersey Case Study
There has been a lack of consistency in malpractice cases where the plaintiff has settled with one or more defendants, and then goes to trial against other defendants. However, a recently published New Jersey Law Division case has brought a measure of consistency to this issue.
Features
Key Privacy Law Developments
Earlier this year, President Obama addressed the nation to outline steps he will take to rein in the surveillance activities of the National Security Agency. Obama noted that "challenges to our privacy do not come from government alone." The President's remarks were the culmination of a year in which consumer privacy issues have roared into the public narrative, and they underscore a theme that privacy lawyers had already sensed about their practice by the end of 2013: The tide is changing.
Features
How the Affordable Care Act Affects Divorce
On Oct. 1, 2013, Americans without health insurance were for the first time able to buy private insurance by choosing among different levels of plans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. How do these radical changes to health care law in the United States affect its citizens who are currently going through the divorce process or are recently divorced?
Features
Law Firms' Prime Data Security Threat Is Their Own Employees
From kill commands and encryption codes to government espionage and foreign hackers, law firm life is beginning to resemble the plot line of a spy thriller.
Features
New Jersey Manufacturers and Punitive Damages
As discussed in Part One of this article, New Jersey's Products Liability Act (Defective Product) (PLA), N.J. Stat. ' 2A:58C-5 (c) (2013), prevents injured plaintiffs seeking compensation from drug and device manufacturers from being awarded punitive damages. The statute, which in an earlier form was enacted in 2008, provides, in pertinent part:
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