Online Promotions and Marketing
This final part addresses issues that affect not only those types of promotions, but also other types of online marketing and promotional activities; namely, the enforceability of online agreements and terms of use, consumer privacy and data security, the use of third-party Web sites and online services, commercial e-mails and special concerns relating to children.
Lack of Logo Placement At Center of Ruling Over Meat Loaf Album Packaging
To build visibility for its brand, a record label or production company will want its logo included on products containing its master recordings manufactured and distributed by third parties. This will be addressed in the agreement between the label or production company and manufacturer/distributor. The failure to include the logo may raise a host of issues, from the breadth of the logo-placement obligation ' such as whether it includes Internet downloads ' to the proper theory on which to base any damages and just which album-sales figures are subject to evidentiary discovery. A recent ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ' in a long-running dispute between Cleveland International Records and Sony Music Entertainment ' illustrated how these issues may be argued and decided.
A Primer on Foreign Language e-Discovery
While e-discovery may be Greek to many, it is those documents written in Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian that cause much of the trouble for companies ' bricks-and-mortar and 'e' alike ' when documents must be collected, reviewed, redacted and presented.
DNA in Civil Cases
The future of DNA evidence in civil cases is now upon us. DNA evidence is the most powerful forensic tool available to litigants today. During this decade and beyond, gene expression data developed in connection with the mapping of the human genome will provide causation proof in toxic tort cases and workers' compensation claims that epidemiology studies cannot match. Corporations and their insurance carriers are beginning to reap the financial benefits of toxicogenomic science, which tells them at an early stage whether a toxic exposure has caused an injury to a claimant.
The Ephedra Bankruptcy Cases and the Twinlab Global Settlement Model
It began a little over four years ago, in late September 2003, with a simple but urgent telephone call from pioneering ephedra plaintiffs' attorney Anne Andrews (of Orange County, CA-based Andrews & Thornton) to one of the authors. The caller asked about the impact of the then-recently filed bankruptcy of TwinLab, an ephedra weight-loss product manufacturer and a significant player in the food and vitamin supplement industry, on that company's products liability insurance policies. Four major ephedra manufacturer bankruptcies later, the situation ended on Sept. 25, 2007, when the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California entered an order in the ephedra-related Chapter 11 bankruptcy case of Metabolife International ...
Vehicle Tracking Surveillance
In our era of fast-paced technological development, you may know that a GPS-enabled cell phone could allow you to trace your teenager's steps, but did you know that you could track your schnauzer through his GPS-enabled dog collar? Inventive product designers are finding new ways for us to enjoy the government-run Global Positioning System all the time.
Case Notes
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
Recalled Mattel Toys: Class Action Suits Seek Medical Monitoring
Two Pennsylvania law firms have filed class action suits against toy company Mattel Inc. The suits were filed in an effort to compel Mattel, the importer of millions of Chinese-made toys that have been recalled recently due to lead paint and small magnets, to pay for lead testing for children who may have been affected by the toys.
Fee Contracts: Failure to Include Language Costs Millions
The saga of a Texas product liability law firm can serve as a lesson to other firms in Texas, and perhaps, throughout the nation. In September, an arbitration panel ordered John M. O'Quinn's firm to pay a class of 3,450 former breast implant clients nearly $42 million because the fee contracts did not include language permitting the firm to charge for general expenses.
Texas Asbestos Reform: The New Quantitative Standard
Because of the devastating impact asbestos litigation has had on U.S. companies, courts and legislatures have finally begun to retake control of asbestos litigation. On June 8, 2007, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in <i>Borg-Warner Corporation v. Flores</i>, marking the latest step in Texas' transition away from easy asbestos verdicts for plaintiffs.
