Bit Parts

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a breach-of-fiduciary-duty suit in California state court by Al Jardine ' an original Beach Boys member and a director of the band's Brother Records Inc. (BRI) ' against BRI can proceed despite a related federal court ruling against Jardine over use of “The Beach Boys” trademark. Brother Records Inc. v. Jardine, 04-55096. The California Court of Appeal had decided that the federal ruling didn't present a res-judicata bar to Jardine's state suit. The federal appeals court noted: “Jardine's breach of fiduciary duty claim does not threaten the district court's continuing jurisdiction to enforce the injunction, which prohibits Jardine from using the Beach Boys trademark. Even if there was some question about the possibility of interference with the injunction, 'any doubts as to the propriety of a federal injunction against state court proceedings should be resolved in favor of permitting the state courts to … finally determine the controversy.'”

Contractual Wrong-doing/Statute of Limitations

The New York Appellate Division granted dismissal of a suit alleging that hip-hop mogul Sean Combs “menaced plaintiff with a baseball bat, while defendant [Kenneth] Meiselas, Combs's attorney, demanded that plaintiff sign an instrument forfeiting all interest in defendant Bad Boy Entertainment Inc.” Plaintiff Kirk Burrowes also claimed tortuous interference with his management agreement with artist Mary J. Blige. The appellate court noted that the tortious interference claim lacked sufficient facts and that the other causes of action were time-barred. The appellate court stated: “To the extent plaintiff alleges defendants made certain promises as late as 2001 that could toll the applicable limitations period, they were not in writing signed by defendants, as required by [N.Y.] General Obligations Law Sec. 17-101.” Burrowes v. Combs, 6654-6655.

Copyrights/Grant Terminations