Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%

Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.

Search


Accounting Firm Faces Default Judgment Over e-Database Discovery Responses
One of the Big Four accounting firms is facing the most severe sanction possible ' a default judgment ' because the company failed to produce in a timely fashion the data contained in different versions of its workpaper databases.
Bit Parts
Recent developments in entertainment law.
Fifth Circuit Rules in Battle Over Rap Phrase
As often happens in the hip-hop world, two rappers became embroiled in a dispute over who owned the rights to a song that utilized a popular phrase. And it took the musical ear of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to settle the matter.
<b>Counsel Concerns</b>Music Publisher's Defense Counsel To Stay in Case
The Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Four acknowledged that an entire firm can be disqualified when one of its attorneys formerly represented and may possess confidential information harmful to a former client who is now an adverse party in litigation. But the court of appeal emphasized that this wasn't so if "there was no opportunity for confidential information to be divulged."
Cameo Clips
Recent cases in entertainment law.
Courthouse Steps
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Clause & Effect
TV Program Hosts/Sales And Assignment Clauses <br>Film Option Agreements/Profit Participation Rights
Decision of Note: <b>Copyright Law Preempts Claims Against Kid Rock</b>
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the majority of state law claims against Kid Rock over music contracts the artist signed early in his career were preempted by federal copyright law.
Arbitration Update
Recent rulings affecting arbitration provisions and hearings in the entertainment industry.
Raising the Stakes in Copyright Litigation: The Availability of Punitive Damages
Many practitioners likely assume that the sole monetary remedies under the Copyright Act are those specified in Sec, 504 of the statute, namely the copyright owner's provable losses and/or the infringer's profits, or, alternatively, statutory damages (which, by statutory formula, include possible stepped-up awards in cases of willful infringement). It was thus with some significance, and perhaps surprise, that in <i>Blanch v. Koons</i>, a slender decision of only seven paragraphs, a federal district judge in New York rendered a decision that granted a motion to amend the complaint in a copyright case to allow the plaintiff to seek punitive damages (not simply enhanced statutory damages).

MOST POPULAR STORIES

  • Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
    There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
    Read More ›
  • Compliance Officers and Law Enforcement: Friends or Foes?
    <b><i>Part Two of a Two-Part Article</b></i><p>As we saw in Part One, regulators have recently shown a tendency to focus on compliance officers who they deem to have failed to ensure that the compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) programs that they oversee adequately prevented corporate wrongdoing, and there are several indications that regulators will continue to target compliance officers in 2018 in actions focused on Bank Secrecy Act/AML compliance.
    Read More ›
  • Artist Challenges Copyright Office Refusal to Register Award-Winning AI-Assisted Work
    Copyright law has long struggled to keep pace with advances in technology, and the debate around the copyrightability of AI-assisted works is no exception. At issue is the human authorship requirement: the principle that a work must have a human author to be eligible for copyright protection. While the Copyright Office has previously cited this "bedrock requirement of copyright" to reject registrations, recent decisions have focused on the role of human authorship in the context of AI.
    Read More ›