Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
It's not uncommon for rights licensees in the entertainment industry to find themselves in a rights dispute when a licensor files for bankruptcy. Section 365(a) of the Bankruptcy Code allows a Chapter 11 debtor, subject to court approval, to assume or reject any executory contract. While a rejected contract leaves the non-debtor party with a pre-petition damages claim for breach of contract under §365(g), it does not allow it to compel the debtor to continue performing. However, under §365(n), if the contract at issue is one “under which the debtor is a licensor of a right to intellectual property,” the licensee may elect to “retain its rights … to such intellectual property,” thereby preserving its ability to continue using the licensed IP.
This IP exception was Congress's reaction to a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in which the court held that the term “executory contract” encompassed IP licenses and that, under §365(g), the effect of rejection was to terminate an IP license altogether. See, Lubrizol Enterprises v. Richmond Metal Finishers, 756 F.2d 1043 (4th Cir. 1985).
In conjunction with the enactment of §365(n)'s IP exception, Congress also amended §101(35A) to define intellectual property to include, among other things, trade secrets, designs, patent applications and protected works of authorship. Trademarks were purposefully left out, in order “to allow the development of equitable treatment of this situation by bankruptcy courts.” See, S. Rep. 100-505, 5.
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
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.
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 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.
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?