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Supreme Court Set to Hear Transformativeness Fair Use 'Warhol' Case Image

Supreme Court Set to Hear Transformativeness Fair Use 'Warhol' Case

Eric Alan Stone & Catherine Nyarady

In the October 2022 Term, the Supreme Court is set to decide whether courts assessing transformativeness under the first fair-use factor of the Copyright Act may consider "the meaning of the accused work where it 'recognizably deriv[es] from' its source material." The case may profoundly affect the fair use analysis, and in turn, the scope of copyright protection for many works.

Features

SCOTUS to Hear Cases on Limits of Mail and Wire Fraud Statutes Image

SCOTUS to Hear Cases on Limits of Mail and Wire Fraud Statutes

Robert J. Anello & Richard F. Albert

Federal courts long have struggled to define the limits of the mail and wire fraud statutes, laws famously characterized as the prosecutor's true love for their vast breadth and catch-all adaptability. After sidestepping opportunities in the past, the U.S. Supreme Court is now wading into two different and controversial manifestations of that flexibility.

Features

Efforts to Provide Out-of-State Abortion Travel Benefits Face Rapidly Shifting Legal Landscape Image

Efforts to Provide Out-of-State Abortion Travel Benefits Face Rapidly Shifting Legal Landscape

Jessica Mach

Employment attorneys say the breadth of new state laws — and the pace at which they are going into effect — means in-house counsel at companies trying to create workarounds for employees in states with restrictive abortion laws by providing benefits that would allow them to travel out-of-state to access abortion services will need to be on high alert, since keeping up on top of the laws will be key to limiting their exposure to litigation — or even criminal penalties.

Features

UPDATE: Did the Supreme Court's 'Arthrex' Decision Open Pandora's Box? Image

UPDATE: Did the Supreme Court's 'Arthrex' Decision Open Pandora's Box?

Robert E. Browne, Jr. & Ryan C. Deck

In June 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Arthrex that the statutory scheme appointing Patent Trial and Appeal Board administrative patent judges to adjudicate IPRs violates the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution. Specifically, the Court concluded that because APJ decisions in IPR proceedings are not reviewable by a presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed officer, such determinations are not compatible with the powers of inferior officers. The PTO later decided that it would not accept requests for director review of institution decisions. This policy is now also being questioned in Arthrex's wake.

Features

Supreme Court Again Addresses Municipal Sign Regulations Image

Supreme Court Again Addresses Municipal Sign Regulations

Steven M. Silverberg

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court applied strict scrutiny to a sign regulation as it related to directional signs placed by a local congregation that held services at different locations each week. In April 2022, the Court took another look at the issue of strict scrutiny relating to "off-premises" signs in City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising.

Features

Supreme Court Addresses Municipal Sign Regulations, Again Image

Supreme Court Addresses Municipal Sign Regulations, Again

Steven M. Silverberg

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court applied strict scrutiny to a sign regulation as it related to directional signs placed by a local congregation that held services at different locations each week. The Court took another look at the issue of strict scrutiny relating to "off-premises" signs in the case of City of Austin, Texas v. Reagan National Advertising , in which the majority concluded that strict scrutiny should not apply to determining whether the off-premises sign regulations at issue violated the First Amendment.

Features

Supreme Court's Breyer Ruling on Mistakes In Copyright Registrations Image

Supreme Court's Breyer Ruling on Mistakes In Copyright Registrations

Scott Graham

The Ninth Circuit had ruled in 2020 that §411(b)(1)(A) of the federal Copyright Act excuses inadvertent mistakes of fact on copyright registrations but not mistakes of law. The Supreme Court has now ruled 6-3 that the provision covers both mistakes of facts and law.

Features

Issues Addressed In Supreme Court 'Unicolors' Argument Image

Issues Addressed In Supreme Court 'Unicolors' Argument

Robert W. Clarida & Thomas Kjellberg

Some of the major issues the court addressed in the Unicolors oral argument, and some questions that are likely to remain open no matter the outcome.

Features

Will Supreme Court Settle Sale of Tax Liens Issue? Image

Will Supreme Court Settle Sale of Tax Liens Issue?

Kenneth L. Baum

There's a split among circuit courts on whether tax foreclosure sales may be avoidable as preferential and fraudulent transfers by property owners who subsequently seek relief under the Bankruptcy Code. If the Supreme Court eventually weighs in to resolve this circuit split, property owners, municipalities, and potential bidders for tax liens across the country will receive greater clarity on this critical issue.

Features

SCOTUS Passes on Bankruptcy Law Cases, Leaving Circuit Court Splits Image

SCOTUS Passes on Bankruptcy Law Cases, Leaving Circuit Court Splits

Corinne Ball

'Purdue Pharma' Looms Although four cases presenting important bankruptcy issues were teed up for the Supreme Court's consideration this term, the Court denied certiorari for each. Each of these petitions involve splits among the circuit courts of appeals, influencing choice of venue and the extent to which bankruptcy decisions are subject to meaningful appeal.

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