Keeping an Eye on the Federal Trade Commission's View on Data Security Breaches by Companies
December 31, 2014
In recent weeks, the entertainment industry has been rattled by the hacking and public release beginning in November of a massive amount of internal documents and e-mails from Sony Pictures Entertainment. By mid-December, the incident had already generated several class action lawsuits, alleging negligence and violation of state statutes. But the frequent hacking of consumer information is a liability issue that entertainment companies must be prepared for, too.
Ninth Circuit Arguments in <i>Innocence of Muslims</i> Case
December 31, 2014
Actress Cindy Lee Garcia's two-year quest to scrub the Internet of her appearance in the anti-Islamic film <i>Innocence of Muslims</i> was the departure point for roving arguments before an 11-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in December. The Ninth Circuit considered Garcia's claim to a copyright in her performance in the film and whether it warrants an injunction barring Google Inc. from hosting the video on YouTube.
Georgia Fed. Ct. Dismisses Suit Over <i>Honey</i> Films
December 31, 2014
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, dismissed a lawsuit brought by hip-hop dancer Ereina "Honey Rockwell" Valencia over Universal's <i>Honey</i> and <i>Honey 2</i> movies, released respectively in 2003 and 2011.
When Your Data Goes Viral: Insurance for Data Breaches
December 31, 2014
Data breaches are part of the technological age. Indeed, 2013 was dubbed the year of the "mega breach," and in 2014, as of October, there had been 621 publicly reported data breaches, exposing 77,890,487 records. In early October 2014, JPMorgan Chase reported a data breach affecting as many as 76 million households and 7 million small businesses, making it one of the largest data breaches ever reported.
When Your Data Goes Viral: Insurance for Data Breaches
December 31, 2014
This article explains the traditional insurance products that may provide a policyholder with insurance coverage for data breaches, and some of the newer products available to policyholders for these risks.
Sirius XM Lawyers' Blunder in Pre-1972 Recordings Case
December 31, 2014
Soon after swooping in to represent Sirius XM Radio in potentially industry-shaking copyright litigation, O'Melveny & Myers suffered a nasty setback when a judge ruled that newly cited precedent trumpeted by the firm had been overruled 60 years ago.
Second Circuit Arguments in Google Books Case
December 31, 2014
Recently at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, a lower court ruling that Google Books' digital library isn't copyright infringement came under attack.
Your Website's Terms Of Service Are Unenforceable
December 31, 2014
The vast majority of terms of service (TOS) on websites are unenforceable. Companies spend a great deal of time and money in crafting what they believe to be appropriate TOS, which they hope will provide them with the various protections, safe harbors and advantages needed in dealing with the public or in transacting business. Unfortunately, in most cases those bits will not have any legal bite.