Inside Naming Rights Deals
September 02, 2017
Barclays Center, Levi's Stadium, Golden 1 Center, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Hard Rock Stadium — any sports fan or concert-goer can rattle off these names as venues of spectacular games and top-notch musical performances. What is behind those names? Naming rights transactions, which are increasingly popular thanks to their unique intersection of advertising, promotional opportunities, and headline-grabbing financial terms.
Technology That Filters Movie Content Infringes Studios' Copyrights
September 02, 2017
"Star Wars is still Star Wars, even without Princess Leia's bikini scene," said federal Circuit Judge Andrew D. Hurwitz in denying an appeal by the movie-filtering service VidAngel to lift an injunction that has kept its technology off the market since December 2016.
Entertainment Industry: Take Note Of Surge in Trade Secrets Litigation
September 02, 2017
Intellectual property battles in technology, including in the entertainment industry, are nothing new, but their nature might be shifting. These days, many of the big IP litigation battles have nothing to do with patents, trademarks or copyrights. Instead, it's all about trade secrets.
Mixed Ruling in Jefferson Starship Band Name Suit
September 02, 2017
What's in a rock band's name? Plenty, if you are talking about Jefferson Starship, which goes back more than 40 years, has had more than 30 members and was born from the 1960s psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane.
'Standard' Terms Won't Be Read Into Dykstra Settlement With Ghost Writer
September 02, 2017
In a case brought against former baseball player Lenny Dykstra by a social media ghost writer, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has offered the additional lesson that a writing other than a formal settlement agreement may constitute an enforceable agreement — even if one of the parties expects that additional "standard" provisions will be added to the agreement.
Copyright Royalty Board Gets E-Filing System
September 02, 2017
The Library of Congress' Copyright Royalty Board, the panel of three judges who set copyright royalty rates and settle related disputes, announced the launch of an electronic filing and case management system in an effort to streamline its manual and cumbersome case management processes.
The Uses of Prior Conduct in Copyright Cases
September 02, 2017
<b><i>The Lessons of History</b></i><p>In the context of a copyright case, a defendant's prior bad acts and prior conduct are more useful to a plaintiff than is typical in civil litigation.
Bit Parts
September 02, 2017
Boots Litigation Involving John Wayne's Persona To Be Heard in California, Instead of Texas<br>Distinguishing Between Burden of Proof for California Statutory and Common Law "Likeness" Violation Claims<br>Interpreting Jury Verdict in Quincy Jones' Music Royalty Case
Employee Privacy and Corporate Legal Risk
August 02, 2017
The use of business email accounts and digital devices for personal communications can be risky for both employers and employees. However, employees of all levels may be commingling corporate communications with their personal information, according to new research.
