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ASCAP Shows Commitment to Greater Transparency
The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) is one of the two largest Performance Rights Organizations (PROs) in the country. Boasting a repertoire of over 10 million musical compositions from over half a million members, ASCAP can now also boast that it is the first PRO to make “licensable share data” readily available to the public. Recent litigation battles between ASCAP and Pandora over licensing rates have highlighted the need for greater transparency in the realm of public performance rights. In response, ASCAP recently announced new improvements to its online “ACE Database.” New information in the Database indicates “what […]
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Federal Appeals Court Considers Further Concussion Litigation
Federal Judges in the Third Circuit conducted a hearing on Thursday with regard to the lower court’s approval of settlements with regard to NFL concussion litigation. Per the April settlement, families of players whose brains were found to have C.T.E. qualified for up to $4 million dollars. Upon appeal, the players’ lawyer is arguing that there should be compensation for living retirees as well as for those who have died. Many experts agreed, but the Judges seemed skeptical. For more information follow this link Author JSEL
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Taylor Swift “Shakes Off” Plagiarism Suit
Jesse Braham, an amateur musician, filed a copyright infringement suit in federal court in California against international pop star Taylor Swift. His complaint alleged that lyrics from Swift’s chart-topping single “Shake It Off” were 92% plagiarized from a song he wrote in 2013, “Haters Gonna Hate.” He specifically claimed Swift’s lyric, “the players gonna play, play, play, play, play. And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate,” came from his song’s lyric, “Haters gone hate, playas gone play.” Unfortunately for Braham, on November 12, the District Court Judge, citing reasons of factual insufficiency, dismissed the complaint for failure to […]
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NBA Cheerleaders Demand Better Pay
The newest unofficial cheer of the NBA cheerleaders ought to be: You may be good at basketball You may be good at track But when it comes to fair pay You better watch your back NBA Cheerleaders, attack! NBA cheerleaders spend hours each day during the NBA season practicing and honing their craft while earning significantly less than the federally mandated minimum wage. At the same time, the NBA this year increased the salary cap for players to $70 million per team. Lauren Herington, a former member of the Milwaukee Bucks Energee cheerleading team, sued her former employer in federal court […]
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The Clock is Going “Tik Tok” on Ke$ha’s Career Prospects
Dr. Luke, the mastermind behind certain smash hits from Katy Perry and Avril Lavigne, and Ke$ha, have been embroiled in a fierce legal battle for over a year. Ke$ha accused the music producer of a multitude of charges including sexual misconduct, battery, rape, and abuse. Moreover, Ke$ha largely blamed Dr. Luke for her troubles that resulted in her entering a treatment facility at the end of 2013. Dr. Luke has countersued for defamation and argued that Ke$ha brought the allegations merely to be released from their recording contract. Ke$ha’s last album, Warrior, was released in 2012, essentially an eternity ago for […]
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N.Y. AG declares DraftKings, FanDuel are Illegal Gambling
In a major blow to daily fantasy sports, the N.Y. Attorney General has declared placing money on daily fantasy competitions is illegal gambling in the state and sent cease-and desist letters to FanDuel and DraftKings. Over the past several months, both daily fantasy sports sites have pointed to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, claiming they offer games of skill and are therefore separate from state gambling laws. However, the Attorney General claims users of daily fantasy sites “are clearly placing bets on events outside their control of influence, specifically on the real game performance of professional athletes.” Both […]
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Reggie Bush to Sue City of St. Louis over ACL Injury
According to CBS Sports, San Francisco 49ers Running Back Reggie Bush has enlisted the services of Shawn Holley, a member of OJ Simpson’s legal team, to sue the City of St. Louis over the knee injury he suffered during last week’s game against the St. Louis Rams. Bush, who’s injury is believed to be career-threatening, is likely to allege gross negligence by the City in having a slippery concrete surface so close to the field of play. Bush’s injury also came only a week after Josh McCown, Quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, slipped on the same surface. The NFLPA has contacted the […]
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Second Circuit Turns the Page on Google Books
As the Atlantic reports, the Second Circuit issued a ruling in Author’s Guild, Inc. v. Google this month, holding that Google’s massive book digitization project, “Google Books,” is a non-infringing use. To create Google Books, the company scanned millions of library books and made portions of each book available for free online. Users can search Google’s database for quotes or information, revealing portions of the relevant book, while most of its contents remain hidden from view. Google has also produced programs like Google Ngrams, which allows users to track word usage over time by searching all of the works in the Google […]
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Save the Lions #JusticeForCecil
On July 1st, 2015, Cecil, the beloved black-maned lion, who was a popular attraction at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park and the subject of a long-term research study, was shot and killed by American dentist, Walter Palmer. Cecil’s death sparked international outrage and spurred Zimbabwean officials to ask the U.S. to extradite Palmer, accusing him of poaching and illegally luring Cecil away from his protected reservation. Zimbabwe is a popular country for big-game huntsmen because many government officials are all too willing to sell off endangered wildlife to the highest bidder. In a separate incident prior to Cecil’s death, another U.S. doctor hired a […]
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Taylor Swift Takes A Bite Out Of Apple
After weeks of back and forth, there appears to be no more bad blood between Taylor Swift and Apple. According to Forbes, the rift between the pop artist and the tech conglomerate began shortly after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced Apple would offer its own streaming platform, Apple Music. In order to entice music lovers to pay $9.99 per month for the new service, users would be able to use Apple Music for free during a three month trial period. Despite being an alluring means to draw in customers, the terms and conditions of the trial period outraged those in the […]
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The First Amendment to Aid Copyright Enforcement?
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Rightscorp is a company that detects copyright infringement on behalf of companies like Warner Bros., by monitoring peer-to-peer file sharing. In March, John Blaha filed the suit that initiated the current class lawsuit against Rightscorp, Warner Bros., and BMG Rights Management. Blaha, on behalf of the class action participants, argues that Rights Corp. violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by obtaining his contact information by subpoenaing his Internet service provider, and subsequently repeatedly calling and texting him to inform him that he had infringed the copyrights of its [Rightscorp’s] clients. Blaha’s lawsuit asserts that Rightscorp obtained contact information by […]
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Judge Hears Hernandez Jury Instruction Arguments
According to ESPN, Judge Susan Garsh heard arguments on Friday regarding the instructions she would give to the jury as the trial of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez neared its conclusion. Hernandez’s attorney, James Sultan, stressed the importance of reminding the jury that the testimony of a Glock employee—who said he believed the black object seen on surveillance footage of Hernandez’s home was a Glock weapon—had been struck from the record. Sultan called the testimony the “most important” of the trial, because it helps the prosecution place a firearm in Hernandez’s hand in the hours immediately following the […]