Bit Parts
December 01, 2003
Recent developments in entertainment law.
Courthouse Steps
December 01, 2003
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Livin' the Singles Life
December 01, 2003
Slow to start, authorized Internet downloads of individual sound recordings now exceed one million per week. For recording artists, this may mean a return to the heyday of singles sales experienced in the '50s, '60s and the disco era of the '70s, when singles were created to stand and sell on their own, with little or no relation to other tracks contained on an artist's album. A single in that era routinely consisted of a record with an A and B side, the sale of which rarely produced anything more for an artist than promotion for the artist's live performances. However, with increases in royalty rates and CD retail prices during the '80s and '90s, successful major label artists were able to negotiate provisions in their recording agreements allowing for greater advances and royalties from the production and sale of albums in CD form. Over the past few years, major labels, in large part, have discontinued the release of commercial singles in an effort to eliminate the cannibalization of higher-profit margin CD album sales. As a result, recording artists and their representatives are carefully watching the consumer change from purchasing albums in pre-recorded CD form to purchasing individual tracks from the Internet. Undoubtedly, a return to living the singles life could have severe financial ramifications for recording artists who have become accustomed to living the CD album life.
Decision of Note: <B>Song Sampling is Found <i>De Minimis</i></B>
December 01, 2003
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided that placing a sampling loop of a six-second, three-note segment from a musical composition into a new sound recording wasn't copyright infringement because the use was <i>de minimis</i>. <i>Newton v. Diamond</i>.
The Leasing Hotline
December 01, 2003
Highlights of the latest Commercial Leasing cases from around the country.
Trademark Exploitation on the Internet
December 01, 2003
While the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 15 U.S.C.S. '1051, adequately addresses the legal difficulties associated with bad faith registration of trademarked names by non-trademark holders, e-exploitation of trademarks is still a problem for trademark holders.
Music Industry Faces Dual Setbacks
December 01, 2003
Just as the reinvigorated Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed its third wave of lawsuits to thwart the trading of copyrighted music…
Adult Use Amendments Held Unconstitutional
November 30, 2003
<i>Ten's Cabaret, Inc. v. City of New York,</i> decided last month (NYLJ 9/16/03, p. 18, col. 1), represents the latest skirmish in the long-term battle between the City of New York and owners of adult establishments over the city's efforts to regulate the location (and ultimately the number) of adult uses in the city. In <i>Ten's Cabaret</i>, Justice York of New York County Supreme Court held that the city's 2001 amendment to its zoning resolution &mdash enacted to counteract evasion of the provisions in the then-existing ordinance &mdash failed to pass constitutional muster because the city had not conducted any studies to demonstrate the need for the amendment.
