Attorney Fees Update
November 01, 2004
Depending on the circumstances and the law, parties on either side of an entertainment suit may ask a court for an award of attorney fees. Following are recent court rulings that deal with this and related concerns.
Cameo Clips
November 01, 2004
Recent cases in entertainment law.
Bit Parts
November 01, 2004
Recent developments in entertainment law.
Decision of Note: <b>NY Proper Forum For Suit Over BBC Documentary</b>
November 01, 2004
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that a New York-based plaintiff properly filed suit in Manhattan federal court alleging unjust enrichment and misappropriation of idea by the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC). <i>Gross v. British Broadcasting Corp.</i> Plaintiff Pat Gross claimed that the BBC had without permission used her idea for a documentary about militant animal-rights activists that was broadcast in the United Kingdom. The district court dismissed the complaint for forum non conveniens.
New Hardware Could Affect Online Subscription Pricing
November 01, 2004
As a companion to his feature article on online content aggregators, Chris Castle discusses some of the new hardware that is available for downloading and playing online music ' and its possible effect on online music subscription rates.
Content Agreggator Agreements With Online Music Services
November 01, 2004
Legitimate online music services have struggled to provide content from the fragmented independent music world. Until recently, independent artists were not very present on the legitimate online music services. This is partly because the major labels control the best-known recordings, partly because the major labels usually support online distribution with significant marketing budgets and partly because it is not very efficient for an online service to negotiate agreements with thousands of independent artists. <br> But after securing licenses from the major labels, the major online services sought to differentiate their offerings by adding independent artists. This created opportunities for a few companies to enter into "middleman" distribution agreements with many independent artists, and then enter into a licensing agreement with an online service for the artists' content. (Aggregators may also represent smaller independent labels, but this article will focus on independent artists who are also copyright owners.)
Practically Applying Business Intelligence
October 27, 2004
With more than 38,000 open matters at any given time, summarizing and analyzing practice, client and attorney information was nearly impossible to do efficiently using manual process and flat reporting. We decided it was time to implement reporting-based business intelligence (BI) software. <br>Over a 1-year period, we reviewed software and services from four vendors, including our accounting system vendor and third party providers. We selected Redwood Analytics because they are business and finance professionals that specialize in developing data warehouses and analytic cubes (note: defined below) specific to law firm performance.
Recent Developments in Accessibility to Movie Theaters
October 06, 2004
For the past 4 years, the subject of accessibility to movie theaters, primarily wheelchair access and captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing, has been the basis of much litigation in the federal courts. For wheelchair-bound patrons, the increasing number of theaters employing stadium-style seating spurred them to the courthouse while for the hearing impaired, it was the development of new technologies that gave impetus to their efforts. Although the plaintiffs have not always been successful, these lawsuits, as well as new Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), are forcing theater owners to make changes to existing theaters and plan new theaters in different ways. (<i>See</i> related article, Proposed Revisions to the ADA's Physical Accessibility Guidelines Released, Sept. 2004 <i>CLLS</i>.)
<b><i>Commentary</b></i> Is Suing Your Customers A Good Idea?
October 01, 2004
Four thousand two hundred and eighty lawsuits and counting. <br>That's how many lawsuits have been brought by the major record labels against music fans for using peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software (like KaZaA or Morpheus) to swap music over the Internet. The 1-year anniversary has just been reached in the recording industry's unprecedented litigation campaign against its own customers. The campaign appears to have hit its stride, with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announcing roughly 500 new suits each month.
Cases of Note
October 01, 2004
Recent cases of interest to the Internet law community. This month:<br>U.S. Supreme Court Mulls RIAA, Verizon Dispute <br>PA Internet Child Pornography Act Struck Down
