Court Battles over Digital Television Distribution
Aereo Inc.'s pitch is this: With one of its tiny antennas, no bigger than a dime, viewers can watch television through the Internet. But this is erupting into a litigation nightmare for broadcasters. Appeals are pending in two federal courts over this type of technology, and at least one of the cases could well reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
No Fair Use Seen In Artworks About Sid Vicious
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California decided that artworks based on a photograph of the late, infamous Sex Pistols band member Sid Vicious weren't copyright fair uses.
Can Executives and Producers Be Employees <i>and</i> Independent Contractors?
What studio executive has not also wanted to be a producer? Many start down the producer road even while continuing to serve as executives. In its own way, the IRS has just made this path a little easier.
Features
Newegg Scores in Federal e-Commerce Patent Case
After six years of litigation, the online retailer Newegg Inc. has delivered a major blow to Soverain Software LLC, which has raked in tens of millions of dollars asserting patents related to e-commerce. Siding with Newegg in a 25-page decision issued on January 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated three of Soverain's patents on obviousness grounds.
Integrating Trans-Atlantic Internet Medical Law
Technological developments such as videoconferencing, the Internet, store-and-forward imaging, streaming media and terrestrial and wireless communications have caused rapid changes in how electronic transmission of patient information ' <i>i.e.</i>, telemedicine ' is conducted. So, too, have legal developments in America and Europe.
Features
Transmission Claims Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Given the allure of robust remedies in federal court, companies routinely plead CFAA unauthorized access claims ' in addition to state law causes of action for misappropriation and breach of contract ' against former employees who seek a competitive edge through the use of information misappropriated from their former employer's computer network.
Columns & Departments
News Briefs
Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.
Features
CA Ruling Backs e-Tailers
The California Supreme Court ruled 4-3 on Feb. 4 that the Legislature never intended to apply the Song-Beverly Credit Card Act of 1971 to e-commerce, meaning that retailers can take addresses and telephone numbers when conducting remote credit card transactions.
Court Watch
Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.
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- 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 ›
- 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 ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.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 ›