Career Journal
January 31, 2007
Law firm marketing departments continue to grow at a rapid rate. In 2006, we placed 37 marketing business development and public relations professionals into law firms, compared with 24 just a year earlier. What are firms looking for today when they decide to hire a new director? What do directors seek when they decide to make a move? To gain further insight into these questions, we interviewed one CMO and two Executive Directors who recently hired, or are about to embark on hiring, a new director. In addition, we interviewed two seasoned directors to determine what convinced them to make a move and decide that this would be the 'right' position for them.
<b>Decision of Note: </b>Webcasts Receive TV Copyright Treatment
January 31, 2007
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, decided that an unauthorized link to live Webcasts of the plaintiff's SFX Motor Sports Supercross motorcycle races constituted a displayed copy or performance of those copyrightable works.
Music Publisher Concerns over Viral-Video Sites
January 31, 2007
The Internet has presented numerous challenges to the music industry. Unlicensed digital downloading has been at the top of the list for several years. More recently, the use of music on viral-video Web sites has produced a new set of challenges. Three of the four major record labels have struck content deals with mega-viral-video site YouTube, as have two of the three major TV networks. But music publishers haven't been involved in significant direct viral-video-site negotiations. In the following interview, conducted by Entertainment Law & Finance Editor-in-Chief Stan Soocher, Keith C. Hauprich, Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs for Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc., discusses music-publishing concerns in the viral-video age. As General Counsel for one of the world's largest independent music publishers, Hauprich's responsibilities include coordinating relationships with outside counsel, overseeing the due-diligence process and playing an integral role in finding new business opportunities for the company.
Editor's Note
January 31, 2007
A note from Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Anne "Betiyan" Tursi.
What Leasing Counsel Need to Know About Arbitration
January 31, 2007
Two years ago, Good Corp. (located in California) and Bad Corp. (located in Pennsylvania) entered into a leasing contract for some medical equipment. The agreement had an arbitration clause that stated that Good Corp. and Bad Corp. would arbitrate any disputes arising out of the agreement. They did not bother to spend time thinking about the details of the arbitration.
Clarity Ahead for Enforcing Jurisdiction Clauses in the EU?
January 31, 2007
In a recent development that will likely be of interest to lessors and other parties conducting business in Europe, the American Bar Association has urged the U.S. government to sign, ratify, and implement the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (the 'Choice of Court Convention'). The Choice of Court Convention accomplishes many goals that have long been sought by the United States. Most importantly, it provides a mechanism for the recognition of certain judgments rendered by U.S. courts, namely judgments resolving a dispute arising out of a commercial agreement that was submitted pursuant to an exclusive choice of court agreement. (See American Bar Association, Recommendation adopted by the House of Delegates (Aug. 7-8, 2006), at <i>www.abanet.org/intlaw/policy/investment/hcca0806.pdf.</i>)
e-Lawyering Is Not For the Faint-Hearted
January 31, 2007
Today, the pervasive role that technology has assumed in business and legal practice, as more and more of our daily lives are lived online, provides a more fundamental challenge to how attorneys practice business law. In an age when 'paper file' has become an anachronism and an oxymoron, business law and the way it is practiced have required more than just tinkering with particular rules.
Who You Gonna Call? Ghostwriters!
January 31, 2007
One of the best ways for a lawyer to show clients and prospects that he or she has 'the right stuff' is to write stuff ' for legal trades, B2B publications, consumer magazines and, of course, all those content-hungry Web sites. Every legal marketer knows this ' a nd so do most lawyers. The problem is that many attorneys are too busy doing paid work to perform this marketing must, while others may be phobic about writing for a publication (a fear similar to that of public speaking), or simply lack a talent for writing or the know-how to structure an article that motivates businesspeople or consumers to pick up the phone. While partners with associates at their beck and call may be able to palm off the task, all too often associates are too busy trying to meet their quota of billable hours, or pro bono work, or too wet behind the ears to produce something that a partner would want to put under his or her name. So what to do?
