This past week, Law360 reported that U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) executives filed a motion to dismiss in the North American Soccer League’s (NASL) suit in New York state courts. NASL filed suit in February alleging a breach of fiduciary duty and a purposeful scheme by USSF executives to undermine NASL while promoting the other major […]
The Allocation for Music Producers (AMP) Act was recently introduced in the Senate. If signed into law, this bill will create a way for producers and engineers to receive direct payments from SoundExchange instead of relying on the artists to fulfill their contractual obligations for payment. The industry has always been plagued by complaints of
Laurie Dhue, a former Fox News anchor from 2000 to 2008, is the fourth woman to bring a defamation suit against Bill O’Reilly. All four women had previously reached settlement agreements with O’Reilly over allegations of sexual harassment. In the settlement agreement with 21st Century Fox, the parent company for Fox News agreed to pay
On Monday, March 19th, the U.S. Department of Justice faced off against Time Warner and AT&T in what is called the Antitrust Trial of the century. With the rise of direct-to-streaming companies such as Netflix and Amazon, Hollywood has seen aggressive content consolidation, such as Disney’s proposed purchase of 21st Century Fox. The Hollywood Reporter has reported that the outcome
Last Friday, a California federal judge, Judge Fitzgerald, handed a win to Taylor Swift and her team when he dismissed a copyright suit against the singer with prejudice. This follows from a ruling in mid-February, where the judge granted a motion to dismiss for Swift’s team, but giving plaintiffs Sean Hall and Nathan Butler one chance to
Gibson Brands Inc., the 100+ old iconic guitar maker, faces possible bankruptcy in the next few months. Sparking concern for the guitar manufacturer is the departure of the company’s chief financial officer, Bill Lawrence. To meet its financial obligations coming due in July, Gibson is selling its Baldwin piano brand and has left its long time
On Tuesday, February 27, a 2-1 split Ninth Circuit panel rejected a copyright suit against Nike Inc. alleging the athletic company’s “Jumpman” logo infringed on a photographer’s copyright. The court ruled that the logo was not substantially similar enough to Jacobus Rentmeester’s photo of Jordan from a 1984 issue of LIFE magazine. Rentmeester originally had
In the most recent litigation battle between powerhouses Disney and Redbox, Redbox triumphed as a federal court judge rejected Disney’s request for an injunction. In its initial lawsuit filed in December, Disney alleged that Redbox was in violation of their contract and of Disney’s copyrights due to its sale of download codes for Disney movies.
According to the New York Times, Vice Media was sued this week by a former employee alleging that the company intentionally created a wage disparity between their male and female employees. The employee, Elizabeth Rose, filed the complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court against the company who is known for its documentaries and news reports
The Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) has joined the growing support for the Music Modernization Act. Due to state-by-state legislation that governs mechanical royalties, the current state of copyright legislation is incredibly complicated for songwriters to navigate. This legislation scheme has resulted in songwriters and publishers not receiving due royalties along with a host of
Last Tuesday, Robert Cendella, a painter known as “Art Bastard,” has brought a class action lawsuit against contemporary art museums in New York. He alleges in the complaint that these museums have illegally conspired with five major galleries in New York to raise the prices of the works by artists represented by those galleries. Cendella claims that a handful of
