tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56420784310206214252011-10-11T06:57:22.281-07:00Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comBlogger1651100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-2111957404978706062011-06-05T10:04:00.000-07:002011-06-05T10:04:52.856-07:00

I've discovered that publishing a one-man blog - even a blog that primarily calls attention to the fine work of others - is a surprisingly time-consuming activity. My work on the Entertainment Law Reporter got interrupted by the need to grade final exams and papers for my spring semester courses at Southwestern Law School, and then by my need to prepare to teach International Entertainment Law in

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-15330216752556933332011-05-02T11:24:00.000-07:002011-05-02T11:25:51.799-07:00

Those who watch politics (the way others watch sports) wonder whether Donald Trump is seriously thinking about running for President, or whether he is simply generating publicity for his television show "The Apprentice." Only "The Donald" (and his hair dresser?) know for sure. But if he does decide to run, his candidacy will generate interesting legal issues. They are explained by David Oxenford

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-21414574827816345212011-05-02T11:04:00.000-07:002011-05-03T08:29:54.711-07:00

The Federal Trade Commission has found that video game retailers enforce industry age and content ratings more vigorously than other entertainment retailers, and that music CD retailers are the most lax at doing so. In the words of the FTC: Following an established trend, a Federal Trade Commission undercover shopper survey found that video game retailers continue to enforce most vigorously the

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-46008434212627617632011-04-26T02:04:00.000-07:002011-04-26T02:04:00.194-07:00

The latest issue of The IP Law Book Review - an online periodical published by Golden Gate University School of Law - features reviews of:The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind, by James Boyle Virtual Justice: The New Laws of Online Worlds, by Greg Lastowka The Soul of Creativity: Forging a Moral Rights Law for the United States, by Roberta Rosenthal Kwall Inherent Vice: Bootleg

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-56869819017191043152011-04-25T02:34:00.000-07:002011-04-25T07:43:43.614-07:00

Earlier this month, Pillsbury's Jim Gatto made a presentation at The Kreeger Museum in Washington, D.C., about the legal issues faced by nonprofit organizations when using social media. He spoke about the legal aspects of nonprofits' use of virtual goods, virtual currencies and gamification. And he illustrated his talk with slides that are online at Pillsbury's Virtual World Law Blog.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-32850216857658268602011-04-25T01:57:00.000-07:002011-04-25T01:57:00.451-07:00

The Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal features these articles (in Volume IX Book 3): Moral Rights and Supernatural Fiction: Authorial Dignity and the New Moral Rights Agendas Not that There’s Anything Wrong with That: Imputations of Homosexuality and the Normative Structure of Defamation Law Protection for Informational Works After Feist Publications Inc. v. Rural

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-76429816449115790122011-04-22T04:37:00.000-07:002011-04-22T04:37:00.079-07:00

Theodore Max, a partner in the New York City office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, has written a 42-page article titled Trademarks in the Veldt: Do Virtual Lawyers Dream of Electric Trademarks? For a law review article, it is packed with allusions to science fiction. The "Veldt" in the article's title is the title of a Ray Bradbury story - one of the first (a footnote indicates) to refer

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-51087042947002724722011-04-22T03:47:00.000-07:002011-04-22T03:47:00.246-07:00

Sonny Vaccaro has done a lot of things over the course of his storied sports career. He used to be a Nike and Reebok "sports marketing executive." He's been called the "godfather of grassroots basketball." These days he's described as a "student-athlete advocate" - a reference to his role as a consultant for the plaintiffs in O'Bannon v. NCAA. All of these things made him the logical choice for

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-10759208223231054882011-04-21T02:37:00.000-07:002011-04-21T02:37:00.289-07:00

I've always been puzzled about why, exactly, one artist would think it's OK, let alone legal, to use the work of another artist without permission. But, strange as it seems, there are many artists who do think that - so many that there's a label for them. They're called "appropriation" artists; and Richard Prince is one of them. Prince used photographs from Patrick Cariou's book Yes Rasta, to

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-50337866009720060452011-04-21T01:15:00.000-07:002011-04-21T01:15:00.229-07:00

The Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal published these articles (in Volume IX Book 2): Finding A Home for Orphans: Google Book Search and Orphan Works Law in the United States and Europe, by Katharina de la Durantaye Twittergate: Rethinking the Casting Director Contract, by Carter Anne McGowan Copyright Enforcement in the Cloud, by Marc Aaron Melzer When and Where

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-42208143395744352292011-04-20T03:50:00.000-07:002011-04-20T11:51:30.554-07:00

Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million have defeated a defamation lawsuit that complained about statements made on their websites by the print-on-demand publisher of a surprisingly-expensive book titled Barack Obama & Larry Sinclair: Cocaine, Sex, Lies & Murder. The lawsuit was filed by a fellow named Dan Parisi who also sued the book's author, Larry Sinclair. The part of the case against

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-31874668397357769302011-04-20T01:35:00.000-07:002011-04-20T01:35:00.243-07:00

Clearing props for use in movies and TV programs usually is a matter of copyright law, and sometimes trademark law too. When props include actual money, however, other laws come into play: those that prohibit counterfeiting. The question of whether it's legal to film currency has just been asked and answered, both north and south of the U.S.-Canadian border. In the U.S., the question "Can I Film

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-20325946165173229392011-04-19T04:06:00.000-07:002011-04-19T07:31:09.656-07:00

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires FedEx Field to give assisted listening devices to football fans attending Washington Redskins games, a federal Court of Appeals has held. The recent decision in Feldman v. Pro Football is explained in a Client Alert posted by Proskauer Rose.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-40936451369551923812011-04-19T01:48:00.000-07:002011-04-19T07:34:17.716-07:00

Prince William and Kate Middleton will get married next week, in what surely will be deemed the wedding of the century. Many people will want souvenirs to commemorate the event, and the free market will respond by providing them. I mention this, because the British are quite imaginative about creating special-purpose IP laws. They've got one for the 2012 Olympics (called the London Olympics

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-67519835610357329092011-04-18T03:51:00.000-07:002011-04-18T03:51:00.292-07:00

Warren Beatty still owns the rights to the "Dick Tracy" character, a federal District Court has held. Beatty bought those rights years ago from Tribune Media and used them to produce and star in the movie "Dick Tracy." The Beatty-Tribune agreement provided that the rights would revert to Tribune, unless the actor (who is Annette Bening's husband) began principal photography on another movie or TV

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-56380427683866538002011-04-18T01:52:00.000-07:002011-04-18T01:52:00.388-07:00

The latest issue of Private Client Issues is a special edition devoted to the arts. Published by the British firm Blake Lapthorn, the periodical features these articles:Charitable Giving by Authors and Scholars, by Alison Talbot Taxation of Works of Art and Chattels, by Alison Craggs Buying and Selling Works of Art - What are the Pitfalls?, by Lara Robson Would Mrs Bennett Approve?, by Christine

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-80255830018483486592011-04-15T04:21:00.000-07:002011-04-15T04:21:01.186-07:00

Rick Kurnit - name-partner in New York City's Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz - is featured in the new movie "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold." The movie is the latest from "Super Size Me" filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. New York City lawyer Paul Brennan - Spurlock's own lawyer - also makes an on-screen appearance in his client's humorous documentary about product placement,

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-55879301384248672132011-04-15T01:48:00.000-07:002011-04-15T01:48:00.368-07:00

The latest issue of Proskauer Rose's sports law newsletter Three Point Shot  features these articles:Still Teaching the World to Sing, CocaCola Scores in Dispute over Spanish Language Version of World Cup Anthem Show Me the Money – Just Make Sure I Know the Risk Accused Internet Pirate Sites Hung from the Yardarm

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-56284452077540601582011-04-14T04:30:00.000-07:002011-04-17T15:20:12.697-07:00

University of Sydney economists Nicolas de Roos and Jordi McKenzie have written Cheap Tuesdays and the Demand for Cinema. Their study is based on movie attendance patterns in Sydney, but their methods and conclusions look relevant world-round. The abstract:Many movie markets are characterised by extensive uniform pricing practices, hampering the ability to estimate price elasticities of demand.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-16915930968371879852011-04-14T01:44:00.000-07:002011-04-14T07:52:39.098-07:00

Herrick Feinstein has published the Winter 2011 edition of Art & Advocacy featuring these articles by Herrick attorneys Yael Weitz, Waffiyah Mian, Michael Kessel and Michael Zargari :New Shipping Requirements in Effect: The Art World Reacts Holocaust Art Restitution Litigation in 2010 Bartering with Art - Tax Implications

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-7635186711133315192011-04-13T04:48:00.000-07:002011-04-13T04:48:00.309-07:00

Former Copyright Office librarian Tom Nichols has written They Never Renewed: Songs You Never Dreamed Were in the Public Domain. Published by The BZ/Rights Stuff, Inc., the book contains:An Introduction that discusses Public Domain and how to safely use the information provided in the book; the heart of the book, which is a listing of 96 songs in the Public Domain written in the 50s and 60s and

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-35749557353669923152011-04-13T04:21:00.000-07:002011-04-13T04:21:00.870-07:00

U.C. Davis law professor Thomas W. Joo has written A Contrarian View of Copyright: Hip-Hop, Sampling, and Semiotic Democracy. The abstract:A dominant trend in intellectual property (IP) theory asserts that technologies such as digital copying enable individuals to resist the cultural dominance of the media industry. Under this view, individuals appropriate cultural material and “recode” it by

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-91636383473012097352011-04-12T04:39:00.000-07:002011-04-12T04:39:00.644-07:00

The Copyright Office will host a roundtable on copyright protection for pre-1972 sound recordings on June 2, 2011, at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It is possible that the roundtable will continue on a second day, June 3. The roundtable will be conducted to assist the Copyright Office in its study for Congress on the desirability and means of bringing sound recordings fixed before

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-3781674572904539002011-04-12T04:00:00.000-07:002011-04-18T14:20:55.407-07:00

The end of the long NBA season is on the horizon, and that means that many people - including lawyers - will be watching more basketball. Some may feel guilty about stepping up their TV viewing, mistakenly believing that even the NBA Finals are just "games," and that serious law work ought to be given precedence. If you're among those who will be watching more and feeling guilty, you will be

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-28308941080043749632011-04-12T03:04:00.000-07:002011-04-12T03:04:00.086-07:00

Loeb & Loeb's IP/Entertainment Law Weekly reports on (and links to): No Doubt v. Activision Publishing, in which a California Court of Appeal held that Activision's use of the likenesses of the members of the band "No Doubt" was not transformative, and thus upheld a lower court order that denied Activision's motion to dismiss the band's right of publicity lawsuit. Zamoyski v. Fifty-Six Hope Road

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-75777651268109331152011-04-11T15:37:00.000-07:002011-04-11T15:38:51.128-07:00

Duke University Press has published Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling by Kembrew McLeod, Peter DiCola, Jenny Toomey and Kristin Thomson. The book answers these questions:How did the Depression-era folk-song collector Alan Lomax end up with a songwriting credit on Jay-Z’s song "Takeover"? Why doesn’t Clyde Stubblefield, the primary drummer on James Brown recordings from the

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-45208094963523899962011-04-11T03:45:00.000-07:002011-04-11T08:27:44.623-07:00

Cassels Brock & Blackwell has published An Overview of Canadian Tax Credits For Non-Indigenous Film and Television Production. From the Introduction to the 23-page document:Canada, often referred to as “Hollywood North,” continues as a leading innovator in the development and implementation of public sector incentives for film and television production. These incentives have stimulated a billion

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-55559319364646725992011-04-11T03:31:00.000-07:002011-04-11T09:26:16.183-07:00

The television series "The Biggest Loser" does not infringe the copyright to a treatment titled "Phat Farm/Fat Farm – A Weight Loss Adventure," a federal District Court has held. The court found that the NBC series is not substantially similar to the protectible elements of the treatment. The court's decision is noted by Arent Fox and noted and linked to by Loeb & Loeb.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-3362358607602432432011-03-18T02:17:00.000-07:002011-03-18T02:17:00.215-07:00

It isn't often that an academic offers to help the entertainment industry with legal arguments. (The industry, after all, does have paid professional help.) But Drake University law professor Peter Yu says he's done just that. Yu is a highly-regarded professor of IP law and the Director of Drake's Intellectual Property Law Center, so he knows whereof he speaks. His latest article is titled

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-22154317506288113942011-03-17T02:04:00.000-07:002011-03-17T02:04:00.261-07:00

Jerry Seinfeld has defeated a defamation claim filed against him by Missy Lapine, the author of The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals. At the same time, HarperCollins defeated Lapine's claim that it breached an implied contract by publishing Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food written by Sienfeld's wife Jessica.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-41112890099539913742011-03-16T01:25:00.000-07:002011-03-16T01:25:00.742-07:00

I've always thought of music as the quintessential copyright industry. Trademark law plays a role too, in connection with band and company names. But patent law? The connection between patents and music passed me by, as it apparently did others as well. In a post titled Patents in the Music Industry: An Underutilized Competitive Advantage, Bryan Jaketic, an associate in the Benesch law firm,

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-69761043987110771182011-03-15T01:05:00.000-07:002011-03-15T01:05:00.235-07:00

Righthaven LLC has filed hundreds of copyright infringement lawsuits against websites, bloggers and online forums, in little over a year. The lawsuits have spawned a website of their own, aptly titled Righthaven Lawsuits, where you can find countless links to case filings and news. In a post titled The Righthaven Lawsuits: What is Fair Use of Online Publications?, Jeff Neuburger of Proskauer Rose

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-23510421566002527292011-03-15T00:01:00.000-07:002011-03-15T00:01:01.482-07:00

Thoughtful people are able to imagine consequences, with just a modest amount of information about causes. It's a sign of intelligence, and the reason that some folks succeed. On the other hand, it's better to have more data than less. And for those interested in the impact of digital technology on the earnings of visual artists, more data is now available - a great deal more. Martin Kretschmer

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-77579418206908237192011-03-14T02:44:00.000-07:002011-03-14T02:44:00.260-07:00

ivi, Inc. is a Seattle company whose website homepage features a banner headline reading "Watch Live TV Online." Not free, mind you. A couple of pages into the sign-up process, the site reveals that the price is $4.99 a month. Still, that's less than cable or satellite TV service, and that must have been part of ivi's competitive business plan. I use the past tense, because a federal court in New

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-62733131714000952712011-03-14T01:34:00.000-07:002011-03-14T08:05:47.519-07:00

It costs money to produce programs for public TV and radio. But public broadcasters aren't at liberty to sell advertising the way commercial broadcasters do. Noncommercial broadcasters are bound by FCC underwriting rules, compliance with which is not an easy task. A lot has changed in this area of the law, since I wrote about then-existing FCC rules back in 1984, in a two-part article titled

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-82546203642447172622011-03-11T05:03:00.000-08:002011-03-11T05:03:00.957-08:00

Saint Louis University law school professor Yvette Joy Liebesman has written Downstream Copyright Infringers. Here is her description of the problem she has identified, and the solution she proposes:The advent of on-line music sales has been a boon to the recording industry as well as for musicians and the general public. Previously unknown artists have found new avenues to showcase their work,

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-4905966308424576552011-03-11T01:35:00.000-08:002011-03-11T01:35:00.204-08:00

Locke Lord's QuickStudy on Trademark Practice reports on (and links to) a recent decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that held that the image of the cartoon character "Betty Boop" is not a trademark, when used on merchandise whose customer appeal is the image itself. In commentary critical of the court's 2-1 decision, Thomas Casagrande, Michael Schulman and Paul Van Slyke point out

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-62103094744154642272011-03-10T01:58:00.000-08:002011-03-10T01:58:00.868-08:00

David Oxenford and Rob Driscoll, of Davis Wright Tremaine, recently made a presentation to the Texas Association of Broadcasters about the business and legal issues that surround the licensing of music for use in digital media. In a post in the firm's Broadcast Law Blog, they've made available their presentation slides, a memo on the "Basics of Music Licensing in the Digital Media," and details

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-46326988382868624512011-03-10T01:52:00.000-08:002011-03-10T01:52:00.572-08:00

Jon Garon (of Hamline Law School) and Elaine Ziff (of Skadden Arps) have written The Work-Made-for-Hire Doctrine Revisited: Startup and Technology Employees and the Use of Contracts in a Hiring Relationship. Their point:Often, a copyrighted work is not created by one or even two authors but, instead, by a multitude of authors. Corporate brochures include text drafted by copywriters working in

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-60124714321012722782011-03-09T01:45:00.000-08:002011-03-09T01:45:00.611-08:00

Herrick Feinstein has published the Winter 2011 edition of its Herrick Quarterly Sports Update featuring these articles by Herrick attorneys Irwin A. Kishner, Barry Werbin and Matthew Pace:Not-So-Artful Dodgers NBA Takes Possession of New Orleans Hornets What's In a Name?

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-85803828291860269012011-03-09T01:00:00.000-08:002011-03-09T14:24:13.025-08:00

I've always thought that copyright's "fair use" factors are little more than a guide for lawyers to organize their arguments (and judges to organize their decisions). In my opinion, those factors are not a useful tool for successfully predicting, in advance, whether any particular use will be deemed fair or infringing. Loyola of Chicago law professor Matthew Sag has a different opinion. He thinks

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-47533199669925869072011-03-08T01:26:00.000-08:002011-03-08T01:26:00.537-08:00

A Brazilian appeals court has awarded the equivalent of $6,000 to a secondary character whose privacy was invaded in the book and movie "Meu Nome Nao E Johnny" ("My Name Ain't Johnny"). The book's author and publisher had obtained the consent of the story's main character, but not from the character who sued and won. The case is noted by Brazilian entertainment lawyer Rodrigo Borges Carneiro in

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-17482379537215527662011-03-07T01:45:00.000-08:002011-03-07T01:45:00.262-08:00

The latest issue of the Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law, published online by students at Harvard Law School, features these articles: Political Recording of the Contemporary Celebrity and the First Amendment, by David Tan Antitrust & The Bowl Championship Series, by Nathaniel Grow Caught in the Copyright Rye: Freeing First Amendment Interests from the Constraints of the Traditional View,

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-6323969354376522492011-03-04T01:00:00.000-08:002011-03-04T01:00:07.014-08:00

The intersection of copyright law and political campaigns in the United States has been noted twice before, here and here. Now, the unauthorized use of copyrighted works by political campaigns in Canada has attracted attention. David Kluft has posted Not Quite Fair Use: Canada's Fair Dealing Exception to Copyright Infringement in the Political Spotlight on Foley Hoag's Trademark & Copyright Law

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-77359762256522171152011-03-03T01:17:00.000-08:002011-03-03T01:17:00.388-08:00

In a post titled Ofcom Launches New Product Placement Logo, SNR Denton, in London, notes that Ofcom - the UK communications office - has just permitted, for the first time, product placements in UK-produced television programs.________ Scotland's Morton Fraser has published the latest edition of its Sports E-Bulletin, featuring these articles:Yellow Card or Just a Quiet Warning? Liability for

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-43765503237420718292011-03-02T02:54:00.000-08:002011-03-02T02:54:00.501-08:00

The sports law group at Proskauer Rose has begun publishing the newsletter Three Point Shot, edited by Robert Freeman. The first issue features these articles: Wrestlemania in Bedrock City Tackle Football Players Beware, and This is Not Your Grandfather's Protective Padding.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-33180435660301063322011-03-01T02:52:00.000-08:002011-03-01T02:52:00.183-08:00

Boston lawyers Mark Fischer and Franklin Levy have posted an interesting article titled Privacy Rights and Celebrities: Truth, Fiction and Biopics on the DuaneMorris website. They ask:How much can real people be fictionalized in the movies? Two recent films make that point—The Social Network and All Good Things. Though these movies often blend truth and fiction, the legal implications that can

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-82671701224969009062011-02-28T01:20:00.000-08:002011-02-28T01:20:00.321-08:00

Jonathan Handel has just published a new book about labor relations in Hollywood. In Hollywood on Strike!: An Industry at War in the Internet Age, Handel takes a close look at the WGA strike and SAG negotiations of 2007-2009, both of which swirled around the issue of compensation for Internet uses of movies and television programs. The book's description:It was a Hollywood meltdown. . . The

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-12264537450112216872011-02-25T03:25:00.000-08:002011-02-25T03:25:00.293-08:00

The quotations in published interviews are valuable source material for journalists, book authors and film makers. But who owns their copyrights: the subjects who were quoted, or the writer who conducted the interview? That question has attracted recent attention on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border. To the south, New York City lawyer Mark Fowler (of Satterlee Stephens Burke & Burke)

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-46179187069411330382011-02-24T02:03:00.000-08:002011-02-24T02:03:00.465-08:00

I remember watching roller derby on television with my grandmother, decades ago when I was just a young boy. Little did I know then that I would be a law professor some day, or that roller derby would have something to teach me about trademark or right of publicity law, both of which I have taught to students out of thick and heavy casebooks. Suddenly, up from the inside track (or would it be

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-75728909848495413582011-02-23T04:15:00.000-08:002011-02-23T04:15:01.233-08:00

Reversion rights in copyright law are as complex as anything that tax law has to offer. Complex and dry. But currently a hot topic, because of the possibility that rights to sound recordings soon may revert to recording artists. For those who may be interested in the history of copyright reversion, Cambridge law professor Lionel Bently and Columbia law professor Jane Ginsburg have co-authored '

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-11458307956169213132011-02-22T01:28:00.000-08:002011-02-22T01:28:00.399-08:00

The current issue of Loeb & Loeb's IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Update reports on and links to a recent decision in McNamee v. Clemens. The case is a defamation lawsuit filed against baseball player Roger Clemens by his former personal trainer. The court denied Clemens' motion to dismiss the trainer's complaint, because - the court held - statements Clemens made at press conferences and other

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-68752011640657717442011-02-18T01:58:00.000-08:002011-02-18T01:58:00.796-08:00

Terry Hart has posted two articles on copyright law in his Copyhype blog: In The Reverse Class Action Lawsuit: Challenges of Enforcing Copyright Online, he looks at the strategy behind a lawsuit that's been filed by an adult film producer against a class of alleged infringers. You read that right: class actions usually are cases filed by a class of plaintiffs against a single defendant; this case

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-16941866939149953332011-02-17T03:48:00.000-08:002011-02-17T03:48:00.477-08:00

The future of music - and especially the future of record companies - is an endlessly fascinating topic. Brian Day, an associate at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, has put his thoughts in writing in an article in the Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law titled In Defense of Copyright: Creativity, Record Labels, and the Future of Music. The abstract:As music production and

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-10941897636191606612011-02-16T05:04:00.000-08:002011-02-16T05:04:00.156-08:00

"Jersey Shore" star Jenni Farley once told her then-boyfriend that she wanted to pose naked in Playboy magazine; and, he says, she allowed him to take nude photos of her. That was then, though. Now, they're no longer a couple. And she doesn't want him to sell the photos he took, to anyone. A judge in New York has granted her wish and has enjoined Jenni's ex from doing anything with the photos.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-39510109168561285902011-02-15T04:35:00.000-08:002011-02-15T04:35:00.229-08:00

The United States Copyright Office has introduced online copyright registration. Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer Mark Litwak explains how to register the copyrights to films and scripts using the Copyright Office's new ECO system ("ECO" for Electronic Copyright Office), and he provides the link for doing so. 

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-32213859783074873302011-02-14T00:13:00.000-08:002011-02-14T07:44:45.487-08:00

A federal judge in the state of Washington has declared the Washington State Publicity Rights Act unconstitutional, in a case filed by the estate of Jimi Hendrix against an unlicensed seller of Hendrix merchandise. Eriq Gardner explains (and links to) the decision at THR, Esq.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-88046957200991070612011-02-11T02:51:00.000-08:002011-02-16T15:18:46.502-08:00

"Duff Beer" is the trademark for the beer favored by "Homer Simpson." Just as "Homer" is a fictional character, "Duff Beer" is a fictional trademark. But does that mean that "Duff Beer" isn't protectable - that anyone may use the mark for anything? Fordham law student Benjamin Arrow tackles this question in Real-Life Protection for Fictional Trademarks in the latest issue of the Fordham

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-72103261313414935342011-02-10T01:04:00.000-08:002011-02-10T01:04:00.666-08:00

Leonard Glickman of Cassels Brock in Toronto is writing a series of articles on trademark law issues that arise in the movie and television business. The first article was What's in a Title about trademark rights in titles. The second is Trade-marks and product placement: the use of branded products in film and television productions.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-45281437407561376352011-02-09T01:00:00.000-08:002011-02-09T01:00:01.263-08:00

Summer is just over the horizon, and when summer arrives, music festivals do too. To the uninitiated, festivals may seem less formal than headliner-focused concerts. And less formality means that lawyers have less to think about . . . or do they? Actually, music festivals require a lot of legal planning, as San Francisco lawyer Richard Idell explains in an article titled simply Venues: Festivals

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-72504582349970573502011-02-08T03:50:00.000-08:002011-02-08T03:50:00.270-08:00

The Chicago Cubs and the Texas Rangers both were purchased out of bankruptcy. How exactly this was done is explained by Marc Roitman of Chadbourne & Parke in Going, Going, Gone: Selling the Cubs and Rangers in Bankruptcy.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-61274802241225568532011-02-07T03:08:00.000-08:002011-02-07T03:08:00.376-08:00

The UK law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain reports on (and links to) a recent ruling in Northern Ireland in which Van Morrison was granted an injunction against the News of the World that barred the newspaper from publishing information it apparently got from a tradesman who did work in the musician's home.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-62335210785057835202011-02-07T02:43:00.000-08:002011-02-07T02:43:00.595-08:00

In an article title Movie, Concert, and Performing Arts Theaters Beware of Possible ADA Lawsuit, Martin Orlick of Jeffers Mangels Butler & Mitchell answers the question: "Should theaters provide personal hearing devices for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing?"

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-10359532798298715962011-02-04T18:35:00.000-08:002011-02-04T18:35:24.668-08:00

Is Online Copyright Enforcement Scalable? University of Idaho law professor Annemarie Bridy asks and answers that question in a new article that . . . examines peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing and the copyright enforcement problem it has created through the lens of scalability. Writing about the growth and governance of the Internet, David Post observed that "scaling problems - the problems that

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-84762666555594870672011-02-03T01:00:00.001-08:002011-02-03T17:57:08.382-08:00

Andrew Spillane, a Marquette law student, explores The Continuing Vitality of the Presumption of Irreparable Harm in Copyright Cases in his school's Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review. His point:Property has long enjoyed civil enforcement through a potent remedy: the permanent injunction. For decades, federal courts across the country roundly granted permanent relief upon finding

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-19796312495594184952011-02-03T01:00:00.000-08:002011-02-03T01:00:13.852-08:00

Those interested in an economist's view of how to determine what music royalties radio stations should pay will find it in Fair Copyright Remuneration: The Case of Music Radio. The author, Richard Watt, is a professor of economics and finance at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, though his article was prompted by recent radio royalty debates outside - as well as inside - his home

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-60670702429240593822011-02-02T01:53:00.000-08:002011-02-02T01:53:00.534-08:00

I've never been troubled by the fact that some things - Mickey Mouse and Superman, for example - are protected both by copyright law and by trademark law. Some things have dual functions, so for me it was completely natural that one of their functions would be protected by one type of IP law while the other function would be protected by another. Not everyone shares that simple view, though.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-4846006949225593992011-02-01T01:00:00.000-08:002011-02-01T11:17:40.834-08:00

Oxford University Press has published a new book by Zohar Efroni, of Stanford's Center for Internet and Society, titled Access-Right: The Future of Digital Copyright Law. The publisher's description:Copyright law has become the subject of general concerns that reach beyond the limited circles of specialists and prototypical rights-holders. The role, scope and effect of copyright mechanisms

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-78933011383281174582011-01-31T01:00:00.000-08:002011-01-31T01:00:03.196-08:00

Columbia law professor Jane Ginsburg has written European Copyright Code - Back to First Principles (with Some Additional Detail). In her abstract, she explains:The "Wittem Group" of copyright scholars has proposed a "European Copyright Code," to "serve as an important reference tool for future legislatures at the European and national levels." Because, notwithstanding twenty years of Directives

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-65698041298329295772011-01-28T02:45:00.000-08:002011-01-28T15:05:16.518-08:00

United States District Judge Shira Scheindlin has found that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth book in the Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling, is not substantially similar to an illustrated childrens book titled The Adventures of Willy the Wizard - No 1 Livid Land by the late Adrian Jacobs. As a result, Judge Scheindlin has granted a defense motion to dismiss the case

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-28451508083357155472011-01-27T02:26:00.000-08:002011-01-27T09:07:32.479-08:00

Heenan Blaikie's Entertainment & Media Law Signal features several interesting posts:Online Celebrity Endorsements in Canada, the US, and the UK Prohibiting Online Celebrity Impersonations - California and Canada Company Buys Marilyn Monroe's Image Rights - But for How Long? Canadian Conference of the Arts' "Status of the Artist in Canada" Report Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-53737870316344706342011-01-26T02:00:00.000-08:002011-01-26T02:00:00.747-08:00

The January 19, 2011, edition of Loeb & Loeb's IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture and Television Networks reports on (and links to) two recent copyright decisions of interest:Cabell v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, in which a federal District Court in New York City awarded the producers of "You Don't Mess with the Zohan" only $1,000 in attorneys fees, because of the

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-10710597921356752462011-01-26T01:02:00.000-08:002011-01-26T09:49:18.330-08:00

The European Court of Human Rights began the new year by considering the conflict between the right to privacy and freedom of the press, in two separate cases. On January 11, 2011, it issued its written decision in a case involving super-model Naomi Campbell. That same day, it heard oral argument in a case involving Max Mosely, the former president of the Formula One auto racing organization.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-41177230063088009612011-01-25T01:07:00.000-08:002011-01-25T09:27:35.056-08:00

The producers of the Jennifer Lopez/Jane Fonda movie "Monster in Law," have emerged victorious from a lawsuit that alleged that the movie infringed the copyright to a screenplay titled "When Mom Is the Other Woman" written by Sheri Gilbert. The defendants' victory goes considerably beyond defeating  Gilbert's copyright infringement claim. It includes an order that requires Gilbert to pay the

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-8223345170123013252011-01-25T01:00:00.000-08:002011-01-25T01:00:01.948-08:00

The latest issue of Proskauer's California Employment Law Notes notes that in Futrell v. Payday Cal., Inc., the California Court of Appeal has held that Reactor Films' payroll company, Payday California, was not a joint employer of crew members who worked for Reactor, a TV commercial production company. This meant that the payroll company was not liable to crew members who alleged they had not

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-36979125373628446872011-01-24T02:16:00.000-08:002011-01-24T02:16:00.140-08:00

Arent Fox has posted three articles of interest to sports lawyers (and law students looking for seminar or law review topics):Professional Sports: Which Rules Apply When the Action Moves to the Courtroom?, by Stewart Manela, is a good introduction to the question of whether professional athletes are entitled to workers compensation benefits under state law. That question has produced a lot of

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-16840377718441505072011-01-24T01:00:00.000-08:002011-01-24T01:00:03.143-08:00

A British Columbia Court of Appeal has enforced a $1.9 million default judgment that recording artist k.d. lang obtained in a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit she filed against her former manager in California. A report about (and link to) the Canadian court's decision has been posted by Peter Roberts of Lawson Lundell in Vancouver.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-20319882466621441092011-01-21T02:34:00.000-08:002011-01-21T02:34:00.436-08:00

Ownership of Copyright in Works Created in Employment Relationships: Comparative Study of the Laws of Colombia, Germany and the United States of America, by Jose Roberto Herrara Diaz, has been published (in English) by Revista la Propiedad Inmaterial. From the abstract:The ownership of . . . works [created by employees] has been regulated in different ways by the national laws of each country,

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-86768570751548166542011-01-21T01:00:00.000-08:002011-01-21T01:00:03.253-08:00

One of the great things about online publication - as contrasted with printed law reviews - is that debates can happen in real time. Case in point: the debate about the legality the seizure of the domain names of websites that are used to distribute copyright-protected works, without being licensed to do so. Terry Hart responded to criticisms of such seizures, quite persuasively I thought, in a

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-72905218965563237952011-01-20T02:00:00.000-08:002011-01-20T02:00:05.892-08:00

London has been called the "libel capital" of the world and a "libel tourism" destination. I mentioned this last month, as an introduction to comments about a recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom that chips away at the advantages of filing defamation suits in London, and a 2010 statute passed by Congress designed to negate that advantage entirely. Now, for those who'd like

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-40828265968333379172011-01-20T01:00:00.000-08:002011-01-20T08:52:23.155-08:00

The Pinsent Masons blog Out-Law.com notes (and links to) a 45-page European Commission report that recommends that copyright owners register their rights with the EU, in order to avoid the creation of "orphan works." How ironic is that? Europeans (and others) criticized the United States for decades, because U.S. law required copyright registration until the U.S. joined the Berne Convention and

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-46318095413707091062011-01-19T04:21:00.000-08:002011-01-19T08:17:11.017-08:00

Dan Fitzgerald, at the Connecticut Sports Law blog, explains why When the NCAA Calls, Coaches Need Personal Counsel. The Sports Law Blog calls attention to the publication of Advancing the Ball: Race, Reformation, and the Quest for Equal Coaching Opportunity in the NFL, a new book by Temple law professor N. Jeremi Duru.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-58329530179349650602011-01-19T03:30:00.000-08:002011-01-19T03:30:00.839-08:00

The Ninth Circuit's decision in MDY v. Blizzard Entertainment - the "World of Warcraft" play-by-bot case - is a comment magnet. In addition to those noted earlier (here and here), these are the latest:Terra Nova (linking to still others) Foley & Hoag's Trademark & Copyright Law (Part 1) (Part 2) Proskauer's New Media & Technology Blog (Part 1) (Part 2)

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-19065620664212183822011-01-18T04:24:00.000-08:002011-01-18T04:24:00.692-08:00

Cambridge University Press has just published a new edition - the 8th - of Harold Vogel's Entertainment Industry Economics: A Guide for Financial Analysis. The book has long been an essential text for those who have wanted to understand the economics behind the business, lawyers included. According to the publisher, this new edition - which weighs in at 680 pages - differs from its predecessors

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-31076540353934943092011-01-18T01:00:00.000-08:002011-01-18T01:00:05.308-08:00

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that the U.S. Copyright Act's "First Sale Doctrine" permits the sale of promotional music CDs on eBay and elsewhere, even over the objections of the record companies that distribute those CDs and own their copyrights. The court's recent decision in UMG Recordings v. Augusto is noted (and linked to) by Eriq Gardner at The Hollywood Reporter's blog, THR,

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-65103506615091438342011-01-14T02:02:00.000-08:002011-01-14T14:15:25.249-08:00

Sheppard Mullin's Art Law Gallery Blog features:"Over the River" and into the Legal Fray: Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and The Art of Taxes: Major Changes to the Federal Transfer Tax System. In Davis Wright Tremaine's Broadcast Law Blog: David Silverman notes that "Super Bowl" is a Registered Mark - Don't Use in Commercials or Promotions Without Permission, and David Oxenford does some Gazing Into

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-61478645319118452592011-01-14T01:35:00.000-08:002011-01-14T01:35:00.352-08:00

The copyright law of China - which is still a relatively young thing - has  attracted recent attention (in print).Sheppard Mullin's Intellectual Property Law Blog features China Revamps Its Outdated Copyright Pledges System. The post briefly describes new China State Copyright Bureau rules that became effective January 1st, 2011, concerning the use of copyrights as security. Duke University's 

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-65712135226509202162011-01-13T01:30:00.000-08:002011-01-13T01:30:01.630-08:00

The United States doesn't offer movie producers incentives as dramatic as those offered, say, in Canada. But section 181 of the Internal Revenue Code does provide producers with some benefits by allowing them to take certain deductions, under certain circumstances. Section 181 expired at the end of 2009. But Congress recently "extended" the section through the end of 2011. Why "extended" rather

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-65777415303810101292011-01-13T01:00:00.000-08:002011-01-13T01:00:09.246-08:00

The European Commission has approved the acquisition of BSkyB by News Corp, after concluding that the $12 billion transaction will not affect competition in Europe. The Commission's action has been noted by Mayer Brown and by Paul Weiss.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-85297875288779111292011-01-12T09:40:00.000-08:002011-01-12T09:41:04.168-08:00

Connecticut lawyer James Walker Jr. has written about the "extinction of the CD." In Digital Explosion Changes Landscape for Entertainment Lawyers, Walker - who is the author of This Business Of Urban Music - observes thatWith declining sales and the rise of digital downloading through iTunes and other outlets, we soon may refer to the CD in the same manner as we do the audio cassette, 8-track

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-80503169316242827052011-01-12T09:23:00.000-08:002011-01-12T09:29:44.765-08:00

A new issue of the Federal Communications Law Journal is available online. Published by Indiana University law school and the Federal Bar Association, Volume 63 Number 1 contains these articles: Essays from Time Warner Cable's Research Program on Digital CommunicationsThe Challenge of Developing Effective Public Policy on the Use of Social Media by Youth, by John Palfrey The Challenge of

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-3065843788246663252011-01-11T11:58:00.000-08:002011-01-11T22:04:04.350-08:00

The current issue (1/5/11) of Loeb & Loeb's IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update reports on (and links to) three recent decisions by federal District Courts in California: Clements v. Screen Gems, in which the court dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit, without trial, because the court found that Screen Gems' movie "Stomp the Yard" did not infringe the copyright to the plaintiff’s movie

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-56073878931041714462011-01-11T10:59:00.000-08:002011-01-11T11:59:41.383-08:00

The United States Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal by Sony Music, Vivendi, Warner Music and EMI, in Sony Music v. Starr. The case involves an antitrust claim by consumers who allege that the music companies illegally agreed with one another not to sell digital music for less than 70 cents per song. The case has not yet gone to trial. Rather, the record companies sought to have it

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-68693844297022326192011-01-10T14:48:00.000-08:002011-01-10T14:48:29.241-08:00

In a post titled Careful, That News May Be Hot! Digital Era Heightens Interest in "Hot News" Protection, Goodwin Procter's David Young notes thatRecent court decisions and Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") proceedings demonstrate a reawakened interest in legal protection of "hot news" – not subject to copyright protection – where an online aggregator, blogger or other secondary content

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-26867237556776157952011-01-10T12:31:00.000-08:002011-01-10T12:31:18.007-08:00

Curious about the terms of the Facebook settlement with the founders of ConnectU - the idea misappropriation case that was at the heart of the movie "The Social Netword"? A post by Liz Gannes at All Things Digital links to briefs (in a follow-on case concerning the settlement) that reveal some details.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-71570176512203527532011-01-07T01:00:00.000-08:002011-01-07T01:00:02.364-08:00

Title insurance has been a routine requirement in real estate transactions forever (or at least as long as I can remember). Now title insurance is being used in fine art transactions too. Art Market Monitor interviewed Judith Pearson and Lawrence Shindell, the founders the art title insurance company, ARIS, on how this came about. An audio recording of the interview is available here. Hat tip:

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-8492197286188488042011-01-06T01:30:00.000-08:002011-01-06T01:30:00.108-08:00

Sara Bannerman - a Fulbright visiting scholar at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and a post-doctoral fellow at the Centre for Governance of Knowledge and Development at the Australian National University - has contributed a chapter titled Copyright: Characteristics of Canadian Reform to the recently published book Canadian Copyright and The Digital

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-39858007797623231902011-01-06T00:30:00.000-08:002011-01-06T00:30:01.100-08:00

UC Davis law professor Keith Aoki has made history (I think). His law review article Pictures within Pictures - to be published in the Ohio Northern Law Review - is, quite literally, a 14-page comic strip. He describes his creation as "a meditation on the creative process, copyright law, and comic book history."

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-18994032814248595372011-01-05T03:00:00.001-08:002011-01-13T19:15:52.476-08:00

David Oxenford, in the Davis Wright Tremaine Broadcast Law Blog, reports on (and links to) a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision that has vacated a $27,500 fine the FCC had imposed on ABC to penalize the network for a pre-10 pm broadcast of "NYPD Blue" that showed a woman's naked buttocks for less than 7 seconds.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5642078431020621425.post-25969943699164676912011-01-05T02:00:00.000-08:002011-01-05T08:38:36.348-08:00

Dan Fitzgerald has posted the top 10 sports law stories of 2010 at his Connecticut Sports Law blog. For readers who may have forgotten the details (or for students looking for law review or seminar topics), his picks include links to past articles. Here is his lineup:The number 1 biggest story of the year. Stories 2 through 5. Stories 6 through 10.

Lon Sobelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08023475048025227994noreply@blogger.com