TRO Bid in Arts Case Results in COVID-19 Rebuke from Judge
May 01, 2020
At this moment in COVID-19 time, if your case involved stopping the sale of counterfeit unicorn products on the Internet, sorry, that wouldn't be an emergency. That was the message from U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger, in a decision denying a request for a temporary restraining order filed on behalf of Art Ask Agency, the exclusive licensee for the fantasy art of British artist Anne Stokes, who is popular among the Dungeons and Dragons crowd.
UMG Defense Lawyers Discuss Ruling in Artists' Suit Over Warehouse Fire
May 01, 2020
In April, a U.S. District Judge tossed a six-count, $100 million-complaint against Universal Music Group that was filed after a 2008 warehouse fire that reportedly destroyed master recordings. The class action was originally brought by or on behalf of recording artists. After the ruling, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partners Scott Edelman and Deborah Stein and associate Nathaniel Bach, who served as defense counsel in the litigation, discussed the case.
Bit Parts
May 01, 2020
Copyright Termination Claims Found Timely, But Loan-Out Companies Can't Terminate Copyright Assignments
Judge Unhappy With Damon Dash's Trial Behavior
New York Federal Court Sees No Copyright Infringement or False Endorsement in Use of Mural in Film
Swedish Music Industry Views: Part Two
April 01, 2020
Part Two of a Two Part Article
This article discusses, among other things, the Swedish music industry perspective on the European Union's Copyright Directive, the growth of multi-country music licensing hubs and the impact of Brexit.
Kozinski Angle In 9th Circuit's Led Zeppelin Ruling
April 01, 2020
Defendants Led Zeppelin and its music labels were the winners in the copyright decision by the Ninth Circuit over the song "Stairway to Heaven." But the estate of songwriter Randy Wolfe (p/k/a California) wasn't the only one who got the short end. Among the collateral damage from the ruling was a 2002 precedent written by former Chief Judge Alex Kozinski that endorsed the so-called "inverse-ratio" rule.
"Potentially Monumental" Ninth Circuit En Banc Decision in Infringement Case Over Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven"
April 01, 2020
For the past five years, the copyright bar and the music industry have carefully followed the many twists and turns of the potentially monumental infringement case that asserted that the opening of the iconic Led Zeppelin song "Stairway to Heaven" was copied from the introduction of a little-known 1967 instrumental "Taurus," written by the late Randy California. In March 2020, a unanimous en banc panel of the entire Ninth Circuit affirmed portions of a prior three-judge appellate ruling that "Stairway" did not infringe the Spirit song — and in the process resolved some thorny issues involving substantial similarity and copyright scope that will be important for future litigants
Kozinski Angle In 9th Circuit's Led Zeppelin Ruling
April 01, 2020
Defendants Led Zeppelin and its music labels were the winners in the copyright decision by the Ninth Circuit over the song "Stairway to Heaven." But the estate of songwriter Randy Wolfe (p/k/a California) wasn't the only one who got the short end. Among the collateral damage from the ruling was a 2002 precedent written by former Chief Judge Alex Kozinski that endorsed the so-called "inverse-ratio" rule.
CASE Act Explained
April 01, 2020
The Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement Act is a proposed congressional amendment to the current copyright statute that would create an alternative dispute resolution program for copyright small claims and other legal proceedings.
