DMX Wins Battle over ASCAP for Direct Music Licensing
December 28, 2010
Last July, Muzak competitor DMX and its Weil, Gotshal & Manges lawyers won a licensing fee ruling against Broadcast Music Inc. that had the potential to revolutionize the background music industry. Now the revolution continues: U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York has ruled that DMX must pay ASCAP a fee of only $13.74 to license ASCAP music in each of the 95,000 stores, restaurants and other locations that DMX supplies with background music. ASCAP wanted DMX to pay almost $50 per location.
Film Production Deal Ruled Separate from Marital Agreement
December 28, 2010
Billionaire Ronald Perelman has to pay $4.3 million to a film company he formed with his ex-wife, Ellen Barkin, despite Perelman's claim that the actress' breach of the couple's separation agreement relieved him of his financial obligations to the company, the New York Appellate Division, First Department ruled.
Ninth Circuit Holds That Even Brats Deserve Equitable Treatment
December 20, 2010
Many companies require their employees to sign agreements that any inventions they create "during the course of their employment" will belong to the employer. A recent case decided by the Ninth Circuit, however, illustrates why companies should revisit such agreements in order to ensure that the ideas developed by their employees may not be exploited by those employees to the detriment of their employer.
Bit Parts
November 29, 2010
Independent Artist Has No Claim to Radio Airplay<br>Music-Royalty Conversion Claim Improperly Pleaded<br>Six-Month Suspension for Georgia Lawyer over File-Sharing Defense
Sony BMG Denied Stay of Download Royalties Suit
November 29, 2010
A magistrate for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York refused to stay a class action suit by BMG recording artists that is seeking 50% of net revenues the record label receives from digital download, ringtone and ringback sales.
Update on Litigations Over Comic Book Character Copyrights
November 29, 2010
In comic books, the good guys are usually the ones in tights ' red and blue are the most popular colors ' who put themselves in harm's way to save innocent lives, while the bad guys are the ones sulking in darkened lairs and dreaming up plans to take over the planet. In real-world legal battles over the intellectual property in comic books, the two sides aren't as easy to distinguish, and they're certainly not as colorful. But as the IP rights to comic book icons become the subject of ever more heated ' and lengthy ' disputes, maybe it's time that superhero litigation got its own comic book series.
How Copyright Was Secured for Mark Twain Autobiography
November 29, 2010
Copyright lawyers are wondering how the Mark Twain Foundation is claiming a copyright on the first volume of Mark Twain's newly released autobiography despite its publication a century after the author's death, far outside the normal protection window for an unpublished work.
Arbitration Clause Doesn't Cover Dispute Over Movie Payments
November 29, 2010
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York decided that a suit, alleging a distributor of made-for-TV-movies failed to pay amounts owed the films' producer, wasn't subject to an arbitration clause in the parties' distribution agreement.
