Columns & Departments
Court Watch
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
Language-Based Knowledge Extraction Can Reform Document Review
An emerging market trend ' language-based knowledge extraction ' holds the promise of greater strategic insight, improved efficiencies and cost-saving advantages during document review. Knowledge extraction achieves the objective of identifying relevant documents and understanding what those documents actually say at the beginning of the review process as opposed to the end.
Counsel Concerns
Naming Non-Party Witness as Defendant Leads to Disqualification of Copyright Plaintiff's Counsel
Columns & Departments
Cameo Clips
Online Infringement/Class Action Issues<br>Trademark Infringement/Fictional Products<br>True-Life Depictions/In TV Programs
Depositions in Arbitration
This is the second in an ongoing series of articles that provide franchise attorneys with practical advice about conducting arbitrations.
Online Extra: Effie Film LLC Loses Attorney Fees Bid After Winning Copyright Suit
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied the Effie film production company's bid for attorney fees and costs in its declaratory action against author Eve Pomerance over the parties' scripts about relationships among three famous art-world figures.
Copyright Challenges In Use of Historical Facts for Productions
Historical facts are the essence of fictionalized 'true stories' as well as non-fiction historical accounts. But authors who dip into the bowl of history to prepare their own creative works must accept that facts are not protectible under copyright. This exclusion applies equally to the facts in a fictionalized or fictional narrative as well as to non-fiction history.
Third Cir. Embraces 'Transformative Use' As Defense Against Publicity Right Claim
In a case of first impression, a split panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit restored a cause of action by a former college football player who says his likeness was appropriated without his consent for use in a video game.
Features
Due Diligence Considerations in M&A Deals in Entertainment, Sports and Media Industries
For entertainment, sports and media (ESM) industries bidders ' and their counsel ' contemplating a merger-and-acquisition deal, last year's Delaware Supreme Court decision in <i>RAA Management LLC v. Savage Sport Holdings Inc.</i> highlighted the importance of assessing risk early in the due diligence process.
Features
FTC Warns Companies of Children's Privacy Violations
On May 15, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent letters to more than 90 businesses, informing them that they could potentially be in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) when changes to the law go into effect on July 1.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›