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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).

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