Courthouse Steps
November 29, 2005
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Staying Up To Speed In A Fast-Changing e-World
November 29, 2005
Survey figures reveal a high level of awareness within the business world of the potential liabilities created by the massive volume of electronic data that enterprises generate. The data also confirm that companies realize this is a rapidly evolving area of the law in which it is essential to keep policies up-to-date and integrated into normal business operations. <br>What has brought about this recent surge in activity?
GC's New Discovery Role
November 29, 2005
One of the most common complaints from corporations today is that the cost of discovery is simply too high, making compliance with regulatory rules and litigation requests extraordinarily challenging ' and at times even crippling. But corporations can control these skyrocketing costs by taking a more active role in managing and preparing for discovery.
New Rules For Electronic Evidence: The Case For The Defense
November 29, 2005
Last month, we featured the first half of "New Rules For Electronic Evidence ' The Case For The Defense." The first part covered the topics of early discussion of electronic evidence, before the case begins, and meet and confer. For a brief discussion on managing a case, dealing with evolving case strategy, some ramifications of the sophisticated technology involved in electronic discovery, and more, we offer Part Two of the article.
Can The Grokster Settlement Close The File-Sharing Pandora's Box?
November 29, 2005
Last month, Grokster apparently gave up. The P2P filing-sharing service Nov. 7 filed documents with a Los Angeles federal court reporting that it had reached a settlement in its lengthy legal case with the nation's largest record companies, motion picture studios and music publishers, as represented by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). <br>This decision leads many experts to believe that a distributor of P2P technology with a legitimate intent not to infringe others' rights would not be liable for a third-party infringing use of the technology. But despite that perhaps being the case, the Court failed to create a bright-line test to help identify a "clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement" which, as Justice Breyer stated in his concurring opinion and as discussed in this article, could have a chilling effect on others creating or advancing file-swapping and other possibly legitimate technologies. Future litigations will necessarily turn on a case-by-case basis not as to the nature of the technology but potentially on the distributors' business plans.
Open To Liability
November 29, 2005
Open-source software is a boon to computer programmers: by sharing the source code for freely released software, anyone (with the skill) can modify it for his or her, or that person's business', own needs. And, as attorneys and business people are aware, the no-longer nascent and quickly growing movement for open-source software has this business-boon tool finding its way into many companies' programming departments. <br>It's also finding its way into their lawyers' offices, because the licensing requirements of most open-source software are creating new concerns, and new work, for lawyers serving the tech industry.
Internet Ticket Sales
November 29, 2005
Generally, Internet ticket providers are in the business of buying and selling tickets to such events above the face value of the ticket. Some people have equated such Internet ticket providers with ticket scalpers, and claim that they are acting unlawfully. In particular, some state anti-scalping laws have been applied to Internet ticketing transactions, resulting in criminal and civil sanctions. But the application of proper Internet notices and appropriate Web site access limitations may render such state anti-scalping laws moot.
The Chinese Restaurant Menu And Yogi Berra Approach To e-Commerce Contracting
November 29, 2005
e-commerce contracts don't always follow the rules of traditional drafting. Although e-commerce has existed for several years, few attorneys or firms have large bodies of forms from which to draw for drafting e-commerce contracts. Even a leading online contract-forms site, www.onecle.com, which extracts forms from SEC filings, doesn't have a category for e-commerce contracts. (Searching that site by company, however, quickly identifies several e-commerce companies' actual contracts.) <br>The absence of "standard" e-commerce forms should not be surprising to anyone involved in the development of online business over the last decade. The hallmark of e-commerce has been innovation, as entrepreneurs try, and then discard, new business models at a furious pace in their quest for dominance of a new landscape. As a result, many e-commerce contracts are sui generis ' they don't follow a model. Each deal has unique aspects, which must be considered separately and covered by one or more agreements. If the drafter wants to protect his or her interests adequately, then the form of a traditional agreement should not dictate the content of an e-commerce contract.
