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Developments of Note
Recording Industry Makes New Royalty Deal with Noncommercial Webcasters
On June 3, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that it reached a deal with noncommercial Webcasters, such as college, nonprofit and religious radio stations, on the royalty rates that must be paid to broadcast copyrighted music over the Internet. The agreement follows similar deals that the recording industry struck earlier this year with large and small commercial Webcasters, and as with those deals, many questions about fairness and profitability remain.
Under the terms of the agreement, noncommercial Webcasters that average less than 200 listeners an hour must pay between $250 and $500 as a flat annual fee for Webcasting rights, and stations exceeding that audience must pay a small per song fee for each listener above 200.
First Online Law School Grads Pass Bar Exam
Six members of the first graduating class of Concord Law School passed the California bar in May, making them the first lawyers with Internet-based degrees. The online-only Concord Law School ' with its streamed audio and video lectures and e-mail or chat room interactions ' is not approved by the American Bar Association, but it is accredited by the California Bureau of Private Post-Secondary and Vocational Education, making its graduates eligible to take the California bar and practice law in that state no matter where their virtual education occurred. Concord was launched in 1998 by Kaplan, the test preparation company, and now has an enrollment of nearly 1,200 students.
European Union to Start Collecting VAT from U.S. Dot-Coms
Effective July 1, the EU began collecting value-added tax (VAT) on 'digital sales' ' including downloads, ISP subscriptions and online auction transactions ' made by U.S. and other non-European companies. For years, U.S. e-commerce companies have been exempt from this tax while their European counterparts have not. Now, U.S. companies face a choice: either set up a centralized office in one EU country and pay that country's tax rate, or operate without a European headquarters and pay the tax rate of the country where the customer lives ' ranging from a low of 12% in Madiera to a high of 25% in Sweden.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Removing Restrictive Covenants In New York
In Rockwell v. Despart, the New York Supreme Court, Third Department, recently revisited a recurring question: When may a landowner seek judicial removal of a covenant restricting use of her land?