Video-Game Biz Is Growth Area For Law Firms
In 2003, the video-game industry generated $7 billion in sales. The continued success of this industry has created opportunities for law firms to expand their services into the video-game field. For example, being on top of developments in the video-game industry is a priority for San Francisco's Morrison & Foerster. The firm recently formalized a 25-lawyer video-game practice in response to its ever-increasing business with the industry.
Courthouse Steps
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Decision of Note: <b>Copyright Damages Based on Each Work</b>
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decided that, under 17 U.S.C. Sec. 504(c), statutory copyright damages for a single defendant should be based on the amount of works infringed, rather than the amount of infringements of those works. <i>Venegas-Hernandez v. Sonolux Records.</i>
The Experience Gap
As the economy improves and deals begin to flow into Silicon Valley anew, firms are again relying on mid-level corporate associates to do a lot of the work. Trouble is, 3 years of deal drought have left many of those associates short on the experience necessary to handle the tasks.
FMLA Exceeding Intentions Of Congress
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), signed into law by President Clinton in 1993, was designed to balance the demands of the workplace with the personal and economic needs of families and to promote the national interest by preserving the stability of families. <br>However, in the 11 years since the FMLA was enacted, evolving results from U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations, court decisions, fluid medical guidelines and a changing workplace have created impediments to an employer's ability to operate its business reasonably-in ways that Congress did not intend.
An Alternative Fee <i>Meal</i>odrama
A witty, punny tale with a moral ' partners and general counsel are after the same thing: Quality legal work at lower cost, with profitability (and a good meal).
Are Instant Messages Discoverable?
e-Mail has certainly changed the way businesses communicate, and many commentators predict that instant messaging is poised to bring about the next corporate-communications revolution, an event that raises numerous questions for today's corporations.
Plan Now, Or Pay Later
Week after week, month after month, warnings flood e-commerce, and brick-and-mortar enterprises, about the technology we all have come to depend on at home and at work. New threats from viruses, hackers or just bug-filled software make the cliche, "Can't live with it, can't live without it" an increasingly accurate descriptor of our high-tech world. <br>But could we really live for long without our computers? Instead, long before anyone worried about the virus of the day, businesses planned against disaster to avoid any type of disruption to the many devices we rely on.
