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Features

Seventh, Ninth Court Rulings Expand and Tighten Reach of Federal Video Privacy Protection Act Image

Seventh, Ninth Court Rulings Expand and Tighten Reach of Federal Video Privacy Protection Act

Stan Soocher

The VPPA may be nearly four-decades old and video-rental stores largely a thing of the past, but the rise of online content, streaming services and ancillary activities has brought with it frequent litigation based on the VPPA. The key challenge in these litigations is how to interpret the VPPA’s 1980s terms in light of today’s digital advances.

Features

Talent Manager’s Fraud Claim, Over Buyout of His Share of Company Formed With Client, Is Struck Down Image

Talent Manager’s Fraud Claim, Over Buyout of His Share of Company Formed With Client, Is Struck Down

Stan Soocher

It isn’t unusual for talent managers and artists they manage to cofound and operate businesses together. Sometimes, though, the talent manager may claim the artist has violated the manager’s rights via the joint-business entity.

Features

Sports and TV Industries Antitrust Litigations Update Image

Sports and TV Industries Antitrust Litigations Update

Stan Soocher

Sports leagues and competitions’ market clout and the increasing consolidation of sports content-streaming companies have recently spawned several civil antitrust actions aimed at reining in these market powers.

Features

Federal Court Considers Blurry Lines Between Artist's Consultant and Business Manager Image

Federal Court Considers Blurry Lines Between Artist's Consultant and Business Manager

Stan Soocher

What happens when a business manager gets involved in a dispute with one of the artist’s other advisers? A recent example is the litigation between the longtime business manager for rapper Nelly and a longtime consultant who has provided a range of services to the artist that include marketing and promotion, managing Nelly’s touring business, and seeking endorsement deals.

Features

Fifth Circuit Rejects Majority 'Independent Economic Value' Test for Infringement Damages Image

Fifth Circuit Rejects Majority 'Independent Economic Value' Test for Infringement Damages

Stan Soocher

Most of the federal circuit courts that have addressed what qualifies either as a "compilation" or as a single creative work apply an "independent economic value" analysis that looks at the market worth of the single creation as of the time when an infringement occurs. But in a recent ruling of first impression, the Fifth Circuit rejected the "independent economic value" test in determining which individual sound recordings are eligible for their own statutory awards and which are part of compilation.

Features

Truth-in-Music-Advertising Law Provides No Private Right of Action to Music Groups Image

Truth-in-Music-Advertising Law Provides No Private Right of Action to Music Groups

Stan Soocher

As for the Truth-in-Music-Advertising law in this case of first impression, band-name rights holders will have to wait for state counsel to act in order to seek remedies provided by the statute.

Features

Hold On, I'm Suing: Artists' Protests over the Trump Campaign's Use of Their Music and What Some Courts Have Ruled in Similar Instances Image

Hold On, I'm Suing: Artists' Protests over the Trump Campaign's Use of Their Music and What Some Courts Have Ruled in Similar Instances

Stan Soocher

When artists take action over political-campaign settings, it's usually in the form of a cease-and-desist letter sent to a candidate's representatives. In some instances, artists file lawsuits, but to date there's been just a smattering of notable court decisions. This article provides a refresher on these rulings as well as a look at the recent lawsuit by the estate of Isaac Hayes over the Trump campaign's use of the classic soul song "Hold On, I'm Coming."

Features

NIL Regulation: Can the NCAA Recover and Advance Its Own Fumble? Image

NIL Regulation: Can the NCAA Recover and Advance Its Own Fumble?

Howard Mulligan

With a view toward injecting some modicum of clarity into the volatile arena of NIL, a plethora of legislation has been enacted at the state level and proposed at the federal level.

Features

Executive Producers' "Most Favored Nations" Clauses Could Be Applied to Walking Dead Series Producer's Profit-Participation Settlement   Image

Executive Producers' "Most Favored Nations" Clauses Could Be Applied to Walking Dead Series Producer's Profit-Participation Settlement  

Stan Soocher

Can the settlement of a lawsuit by one profit participant in a TV production be used to increase the contingent compensation provisions of other profit participants in the show?

Features

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Whether Copyright Plaintiffs Can Reach Back More Than Three Years for Infringement Damages Image

U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Whether Copyright Plaintiffs Can Reach Back More Than Three Years for Infringement Damages

Stan Soocher

In a case of first impression, the Eleventh Circuit decided that a copyright plaintiff may recover damages that occur more than three years before a copyright lawsuit is filed.

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