Southwestern University School of Law
Los Angeles

Donald E. Biederman Entertainment & Media Law Institute

Summer Programs

International Entertainment & Media Law Program in London

Entertainment Law Program in Los Angeles

Master of Laws Program

LLM in Entertainment & Media Law

November 2005
Volume 27 Number 6

Editor
Lionel S. Sobel

Professor & Director of International Entertainment & Media Law Summer
Program in London

Southwestern University School of Law

Research Editor & Circulation Manager
Carol P. Sobel

Assistant Editors
Mustafa Abdul-Rahman
Aaron N. Colby
Aaron M. Fontana
Vered Golan
Ken Hwang
Jeffrey Ikejiri
Hamed Khodabakhsh
John C. Lackner

Copyright © 2005 by the Entertainment Law Reporter Publishing Company

Legal Affairs

Electronic Arts Settles a Class Action Overtime Lawsuit for $15.6 Million: Red Flags and Practical Lessons for the Entertainment Software Industry, by Daniel H. Handman

International Developments

Japanese P2P file-sharing service infringes music copyrights, Tokyo High Court affirms, by Takashi Nakazaki

Recent Cases

Sony Music did not infringe copyrights of co-author of songs by The Isley Brothers, because company was licensed by other co-authors

Agreement between Polygram and Warner to fix prices and restrict advertising for “Three Tenors” albums and videos violated FTC Act, Court of Appeals affirms

New York Court of Appeals is asked to decide whether Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ed King could ratify fee agreement with his former lawyer, if fee agreement was “unconscionable” and induced by fraud

Infinity Broadcasting defeats promissory estoppel claim by DJ, because emails were inadequate to create five-year employment contract

Record companies may proceed with secondary liability copyright claims against investors in Napster, and investor may proceed with antitrust counterclaims against record companies, federal District Court rules

FCC did not have authority to adopt Broadcast Flag Order, requiring digital TVs to recognize and give effect to broadcast flags, federal Court of Appeals decides

Australian authors of treatment for “The Minotaur” were not barred from filing copyright infringement lawsuit against “Terminator II” producer James Cameron, even though Minotaur screenwriter lost earlier infringement case against “Terminator II” producers

Former Alabama football coach Mike Price denied access to Sports Illustrated’s confidential sources in defamation lawsuit

Washington Redskins may have to litigate validity of “Redskins” trademarks after all, because clock for asserting “laches” against petition to cancel marks did not run from the date mark was first registered because one Native American petitioner was only one year old at that time

NHL’s New Orleans Brass must pay former player Jeff Lazaro supplemental earnings benefits after he suffered career-ending sports injury

NFL Players Retirement Plan does not have to pay benefits to former player Brent Boyd, because his disabilities were not caused by football

Penske race car driver Helio Castroneves is not liable for terminating his management agreement with Fittipaldi USA, Florida court of appeals affirms

Libel suit filed in Texas against German tabloids by Swiss Ambassador to Germany and wife was properly dismissed because tabloids were outside court’s jurisdiction

Ban on television cameras in courtrooms is constitutional, New York Court of Appeals rules in case brought by Court TV

NBCUniversal.com must defend cybersquatting suit brought by NBC Universal

Departments

Email to the Editor

Entertainment Lawyer News

• Robert Jesuele joins Hogan & Hartson

• Ian Ballon joins Greenberg Traurig

In the Law Reviews

Educational Programs Calendar