Songwriters Gain from Change in Tax Law
June 29, 2006
Tax-treatment and copyright-reversion issues are among the most complicated concerns songwriters and music publishers face. This article examines a recent change in federal tax law regarding the sale of musical compositions, as well as related tax and reversion issues.
Some Old Lessons For New Enterprises
June 28, 2006
e-Commerce firms have aggressively marketed themselves as the new kids on the block. They eagerly discard old ways of doing business, confident that their way of doing business ' online ' is better. It's an e-commerce article of faith that everyone can work more efficiently if he or she would only eliminate outdated practices that don't take advantage of the conveniences available online.<br>But maybe some supposedly 'old' laws and ways of doing business have survived ' for decades and centuries ' for reasons other than that the Internet had not yet been invented. Sometimes, the tried and true is sufficient for what's needed. The old way may work more reliably, and perhaps even better than, the new path offered by e-commerce.
Internet Privacy: Do You Know Who's Collecting Information About You?
June 15, 2006
While savvy users of the Internet may be aware of the multitude of ways that personal information can be monitored and collected on the Web, most users are likely oblivious to the information trail they leave behind. How many readers of this publication, a population plainly concerned with privacy issues, have read the privacy policies of their favorite Web sites? If you have not, you may be surprised to learn about the amount of information collected by even the most popular and mainstream sites. For example, when a user requests and views a Web page from Yahoo!, that request is logged on Yahoo!'s servers with information including the IP address of the computer that requested the page. Even if information is not purposely collected, just about everything a person does on the Web is stored somewhere for at least some period of time.
<b>Media & Communication Corner: </b>Inside <i>Crain's Chicago Business</i>
May 31, 2006
This month, Jaffe's insiders look into Crain's Chicago Business. This business magazine, with a circulation of over 50,000 readers and over 125,000 registered users, has served as a source of local business news and information to Chicago's most influential business and legal executives for more than a quarter century. Crain's Chicago has sister publications in Cleveland, Detroit, New York and Mexico. Each of the Crain's business publications operates distinctly in the sphere of its home city, yet they share a similar look and interest.
Clause & Effect <b>Time-Buy Telecast Deals/Renewal Options
May 31, 2006
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York found that a television-production company breached its obligation to in good faith negotiate a renewal option for a time-buy agreement for the airing of additional power-boat racing programs on the plaintiff's network. <i>Network Enterprises Inc. v. APBA Offshore Productions Inc.</i>
Right of Publicity
May 31, 2006
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Western Division, decided that right of publicity and misappropriation claims by an individual hired to be a fictional character were preempted by federal copyright law. <i>Stanford v. Caesars Entertainment Inc.</i>
<b><i>Commentary: </b></i>Inequity Is Seen In Film-Rights Reversion Process
May 31, 2006
I have a lot of trouble accepting something that makes no sense simply because an attorney trying to make a point in a deal says: 'It's always done that way,' or 'Everyone does it like this.' Attorneys preparing a film contract often use this 'irrational' rationale. I am referring to the reversion clause in a contract to acquire rights in a basic work, such as a novel for a film.
<b>Decision of Note: </b>Second Circuit Affirms Posters As Fair Use
May 31, 2006
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed that the inclusion, without a license, of thumbnail-size reproductions of concert posters of the Grateful Dead in a book on the band's history constituted copyright fair use. <i>Bill Graham Archives (BGA) v. Dorling Kindersley Ltd. (DK)</i>.
What Do You Want To Read?
May 31, 2006
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Artists Seek Greater Share From Label Of Revenues From Digital Downloads
May 31, 2006
Two highly successful rock groups from the 1970s and '80s recently commenced a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against their former record company, claiming a larger share of revenue derived from paid digital downloads of their recordings. <br>The essence of the plaintiffs' claim is that Sony is calculating the artists' shares of revenue from digital download sales through services such as iTunes, in the same manner that the label calculates royalties for physical sales of CDs through traditional retail outlets. The plaintiffs claim that these are not physical sales, but are instead sales of digital copies of recordings that have been licensed to music download providers by Sony, and the royalty rate payable for licensing income, which is much higher than for physical sales, should apply.
