Attorney Fees Update
March 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 court rulings from recent months that deal with this and related concerns. In this and future issues, <i>Entertainment Law & Finance</i> will report on such relevant rulings in Attorney-Fee Updates.
Liability Rulings In Lawsuits Over Injuries on Sets
March 01, 2004
Liability for personal injuries has long been a major concern for film and TV studios, given the history of injuries to crew members on production sets. Two courts recently issued rulings based on this concern.
Cameo Clips
March 01, 2004
Recent cases in entertainment law.
Courthouse Steps
March 01, 2004
Recently filed cases in entertainment law, straight from the steps of the Los Angeles Superior Court.
Decision of Note: <B>Writer is Co-Owner Of Rights in 'Spawn' Character</B>
March 01, 2004
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled that comic-book writer Neil Gaiman was joint owner of the copyrights in characters he created for the "Spawn" series published by Todd McFarlane. <i>Gaiman v. McFarlane</i>. The appeals court reached its decision by finding that Gaiman's claim wasn't time-barred.
Changing Channels: Television Programming Issues In Negotiating Acquisition Deals
March 01, 2004
M & A transactions in the television business can take many forms ' from a large-scale merger such as that recently proposed between Comcast and Disney to the acquisition of a cable TV channel or small local UHF broadcast station. In some cases, even the acquisition of a large and significant sports rights package can be viewed as rising to the level and complexity of an M&A transaction. What is seen on the screen is a function of the rights obtained by broadcasters. Not surprisingly, given the complexities of such transactions, unusual rights situations arise. Following are some that I have encountered in many years of doing deals in the TV business.
Canada's Music Industry Joins Piracy Crackdown
March 01, 2004
Following the lead of their American counterparts, Canada's biggest music producers recently asked the courts to order Internet service providers to identify customers who illegally swap songs on the Internet.
DMCA Abuse?
March 01, 2004
After someone electronically lifted embarrassing e-mails from Diebold Inc. and posted them online, the company responded with a tactic that more and more companies are using to put a lid on Internet distribution of sensitive information: Diebold sent cease-and-desist notices to organizations hosting Web sites and forums that had published, or even linked, to the e-mails. The messages portrayed participants in Diebold's electronic voting business confirming their critics' worst nightmares about security vulnerabilities. Information may want to be free. But specialists say that sending such notices under the 5-year-old DMCA succeeds, in the vast majority of cases, in promptly curtailing online distribution. The technique is so effective, critics contend, that it is often abused in situations where no copyright protection applies or ' as with the Diebold case ' there would be a strong fair use defense.
Record Industry Still Pursuing File-Sharers
March 01, 2004
The U.S. music industry recently sued 531 more individuals for online copyright infringement through anonymous "John Doe" styled suits. The RIAA, continuing to cite digital piracy as a major cause of slumping CD sales for the third year in a row, announced that it filed five separate lawsuits against 531 users of undisclosed Internet Service Providers.
Profile: Marc Friedland
February 01, 2004
Over the last 2 weeks, television has given the general public an opportunity to witness two milestone celebrity birthday parties. First came Oprah's 50th, which she televised on her daytime show. Then came Entertainment Tonight and Good Morning America with John Travolta's Surprise 50th birthday party bash in Mexico. Long before these parties took shape, one individual had the daunting challenge of creating the invitations that would monogram these events. I think it is fair to say that when Hollywood types want to make an impression, they will look high and low to seek out the most creative and innovative types to deliver whatever it is that they wish to convey. There seems to be a trend in Hollywood when it comes to selecting an individual to trademark and distinguish an event, and that trend is to select Marc Friedland, who has come to be known as the "stationer to the stars."
