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The goal of most franchised businesses is to achieve household name recognition on a nationwide basis. Achieving that goal through nationwide expansion, however, is easier said than done. Expansion raises a number of significant issues, not the least of which is whether the name of the franchised concept is identical or confusingly similar to the name of a similar business in the geographic areas under consideration and/or in other remote areas where the franchisor is not currently operating, but may be so doing in the future.
Features
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Nationwide uniformity of commercial laws has always been a fundamental goal of the drafters of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code. One area, though, that has continually eluded standardization is perfection of liens on mobile goods. Financiers of mobile goods, including vehicles, vessels, trailer homes and modular offices, must grapple with arcane certificate of title statutes that vary widely from state to state. Other state statutes that regulate title and lien interests in mobile goods can become a trap for the unwary. The nature of mobile goods makes uniformity among state statutes a compelling issue for financiers.
In a recent decision of interest to the leasing community, the U.S. District Court of Maryland has held that a Chapter 11 debtor could assume a software license agreement (SLA), as an executory contract, although the agreement contained a clause that the debtor could not "assume or assign" the agreement, and even though the assignability of the SLA was clearly precluded by federal copyright law.
The Equipment Leasing Association has released its 2002 Survey of Industry Activity (SIA) report results, which reveal that the $208 billion equipment leasing industry followed the trend line of most industries in the challenging 2002 economic times. Respondents to the latest ELA survey experienced a year-over-year contraction, as respondents reported more than $117.2 billion in new business volume in 2002. Overall new business volume was reported as $114.6 billion in 2001; however, survey participants providing both 2001 and 2002 new business volume showed a 4.6% decrease year over year.
Features
Lease investors have been participating in cross-border transactions for a wide variety of municipal facilities for several years. Assets have included water and sewer systems, electric and gas distribution systems, rail rolling stock and infrastructure, and convention centers. Investors have also been participating in transactions involving U.S. state and local government entities for several years. However, the preponderance of the U.S. transactions closed to date have involved rolling stock or transit facilities.
Features
The U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico decided that rulings by Puerto Rican courts that a late composer's songs weren't joint property with his widow prevented a federal court from deciding the issue.
The common use of content created by freelance talent has made the signing of work-for-hire agreements a common requirement of entertainment production companies. But just how specific must the contract language be to make the work-for-hire provision binding on the content creator?
Features
A securitization is a process whereby an individual or entity pools the right to future payments that it is owed, and sells this right as a security. The first individual to capitalize on the concept of securitization of intellectual property (IP) assets was musician David Bowie. He issued a bond offering backed by his copyright royalties in 25 of his albums comprising approximately 250 songs. Although industry experts expected a flood of music rights securitizations following the launch of the "Bowie Bonds" in 1997, this did not come to pass. However, securitization as a concept is not limited to just music copyright royalties. Any IP right with a proven revenue stream could be used as the underlying asset in a securitization. Therefore, there is a huge potential for extending the concept of IP securitizations to other areas of the entertainment industry.
