Stakes Rise As U.S. Supreme Court Hears Downloading Showdown
The Supreme Court appeared wary on March 29th of punishing peer-to-peer downloading services like Grokster for copyright violation, in spite of arguments by a lawyer for the recording and movie industries that they amount to "a gigantic infringement machine." <br>An hour of spirited oral arguments in the case <i>MGM Studios Inc. v. Grokster Ltd.</i>, played out before a courtroom packed with intellectual property lawyers and entertainment industry representatives.
Online Gambling Boom Comes With Tangle of Lawsuits
The booming world of online gambling has dealt lawyers a messy hand of legal challenges, spawning a host of lawsuits that target an industry poised to make nearly $10 billion this year ' up 40% from last year. <br>In California, a group of lawyers has filed a class action suit against a dozen search engines, including Yahoo and Google, for allegedly running ads that lead players to online gaming sites. The suit seeks to hold the search engines responsible for gambling losses.
Courthouse Steps
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Federal Tax Reform Includes Traps For Deferred Compensation Deals
Last October, President Bush signed into law the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004. This 2004 Tax Act amended nearly 600 sections of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), thereby making far-reaching changes to many areas of tax law. While the major focus of the 2004 Act was to provide tax relief for U.S. corporations repatriating earnings back to the United States, this new legislation also provided numerous revenue-raising provisions and tax cuts that affected corporate and individual taxpayers and special interest groups, from film producers to owners of sports teams.
Bit Parts
Recent developments in entertainment law.
Artist Liability for Audience Injuries
In today's concert scene, high-energy music is often accompanied by audience members who engage in such physical, and sometimes dangerous, activities as crowd surfing, moshing and stage diving. What happens when a member of the audience is injured as a result of such conduct by another concertgoer?
Business Entity for Touring
Regardless of which business form an artist selects to handle general music business matters, the touring artist should consider forming a separate business entity under which to conduct touring activities.
Insurance Issues for Touring Artists
Taking an artist's act on the road involves a variety of situations giving rise to potential liability distinct from those associated with general music business activity. Overland vehicle travel ' the norm for all but a handful of prominent national touring acts ' is only the most obvious example. The range of activities that take place in presenting a live show, even at the club level, offers a host of others. Thus, an artist's representative should ensure the following types of insurance policies are in place before a tour begins.