FCPA Compliance Now Essential for All Companies That Do Business Internationally
May 27, 2009
U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") officials have stated that enforcing the FCPA has become one of the DOJ's top priorities. Since mid-December, companies have paid more than $1.3 billion to settle FCPA charges. Multiple executives have also recently pleaded guilty to FCPA violations and are facing years in prison and/or millions in financial penalties.
Gay Marriage: A Changing Legal Landscape
May 26, 2009
The state of legal affairs for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) issues across the county provides for a rapidly changing legal landscape. Getting personal and political about same-sex marriage is now becoming a recurrent experience ' all well-timed in light of the pending arguments and recent decisions coming from courts and legislatures across the states.
Business Plans: A New Reality
May 26, 2009
Now that the legal industry is reeling from losses, layoffs and downsizings, lateral hires are being run through an even more stringent gauntlet. Many firms now want to see business plans from all lateral partner candidates.
CA Employment Lawyers Saw Fourth-Quarter Surge
May 26, 2009
Employment lawyers across the San Francisco Bay Area are in awe of the ferocity of the economic slide, which for many has already translated into more work. Many Bay Area partners at firms big and small say their employment work really surged in the fourth quarter of 2008, and many expect the increase to continue.
Bit Parts
April 30, 2009
Copyright Infringement/Parody<br>Mechanical Licenses/Prospective Song "Holds" <br>Right of Publicity/"Non-Commercial" Purpose<br>Sampling Licenses/Song Infringement
Labels Attack Music Search Engines
April 30, 2009
Lawyers scurried to San Jose, CA, bankruptcy court in April to argue over the remains of SeeqPod Inc., the first big casualty on the newest front in the legal war between the record industry and the Internet.
Cameo Clips
April 30, 2009
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/JURY INSTRUCTIONS<br>TRADEMARK USES/QUALITY CONTROL
A Look at Law That Restricts Non-Competes In Broadcasting
April 30, 2009
New York broadcast employees who otherwise have been subject to restrictive non-compete clauses in their employment contracts are the prime beneficiaries of the Broadcast Employees Freedom to Work Act, NY Labor Law '202-k, signed into law in 2008 by Governor David Paterson. The law forbids some, but not all, attempts by employers in broadcasting media to restrict the range of opportunities for certain employees following the termination or expiration of employment. Similar legislation benefiting broadcast industry employees has been passed in Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine and Washington, DC; and non-compete provisions are banned in California.
New Jersey Truth in Music Advertising Law Applies to Common Law Service Marks
April 30, 2009
Since 2004, Truth in Music Advertising statutes have been enacted in more than 26 states. These laws, aimed at preventing consumer confusion between a recording group and a performing group, set forth several conditions, at least one of which must be met to legally use the name of a music group in conjunction with a concert performance. In April 2009, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey issued a ruling in a case that involved the constitutionality of that state's law.
