Media & Entertainment

  • October 24, 2024

    Cigna, Frontier Renew Stalled Merger Bids, Plus Other Rumors

    Cigna Group and Frontier Airlines have both restarted once-stalled bids to acquire smaller rivals, rekindling merger rumors spanning the healthcare and airlines industries, while Sports Illustrated's secondary ticket platform wants to borrow up to $50 million to acquire competitor Anytickets. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • October 24, 2024

    TKO Paying $3.25B For Pro Bull Riding League, Other Assets

    ​​​​​Skadden is advising a special committee of TKO Group Holdings on a deal disclosed Thursday that will see the WWE and UFC parent company purchase a professional bull riding league and two other sports companies from Latham-led Endeavor Group in a $3.25 billion all-stock deal. 

  • October 24, 2024

    Mass. Justices Reject Meta, Google 'Wiretap' Claims

    Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday found that website operators' use of tracking software like Meta Pixel and Google Analytics does not violate the state's wiretap law, drawing a sharp dissent from one justice who said the legislature will now need to "correct" the court's mistake.

  • October 23, 2024

    Roman Polanski Settles Claim He Raped Teenage Girl In 1973

    Film director and convicted sex offender Roman Polanski has reached a settlement with a woman who says he raped her when she was a teenage girl more than 50 years ago, leading to the dismissal of her lawsuit filed in California court, attorneys for both parties told Law360 on Wednesday.

  • October 23, 2024

    Common Ownership Dooms Bids For 9 Low-Power Stations

    The Federal Communications Commission said it is not approving nine applications for new low-power FM stations because the entities that applied for them appear to actually all be part of the same organization, which violates the agency's rules on owning multiple stations.

  • October 23, 2024

    Character.AI, Google Face Suit Over Teen's Suicide

    A woman claiming her 14-year-old son killed himself after becoming addicted to Character.AI sued the company, its founders and Google on Tuesday, claiming the tech giant is a co-creator of the AI startup's development, marketing and infrastructure, which made the teen believe the artificial intelligence platform's chatbots were real.

  • October 23, 2024

    Firms Ask DC Court To Nix 'Retaliatory' Canadian Arbitrations

    Two plaintiffs' law firms are urging a D.C. federal court to bar the operators of two allegedly illegal online casinos from pursuing "retaliatory" arbitrations in Canada against their clients, arguing they're trying to bully clients into submitting to a non-U.S. friendly arbitral institution.

  • October 23, 2024

    Venezuelan TV Mogul Charged In $1.2B PDVSA Bribe Scheme

    A Florida federal grand jury returned an indictment Wednesday charging a Venezuelan television news network owner with participating in a $1.2 billion scheme to launder funds from Venezuela's state-owned energy company Petróleos de Venezuela SA in exchange for bribes to Venezuelan officials.

  • October 23, 2024

    Advocacy Group Denies Political Bent In Fox Philly Fight

    An advocacy group is coming out swinging against claims its attempts to strip a Philadelphia Fox television station of its license for peddling conspiracy theories about the 2020 election is partisan, telling the FCC that its petition is about the station's deliberate choice "to lie to the American people."

  • October 23, 2024

    Copyright Board Sees Steady Case Flow Since June 2022

    A division of the U.S. Copyright Office that started hearing disputes involving smaller dollar amounts about two years ago has seen a steady flow of claims being filed since it began, most of which focus on pictures and graphics, according to a new report.

  • October 23, 2024

    Top Human Rights Court Slams Russia Over Int'l Media Rule

    An international court has ruled Russia is violating the right to freedom of expression enshrined in European human rights law by forcing independent media organizations to apply "foreign agent" labels to their content in an attempt to discredit them.

  • October 23, 2024

    Dallas Judge Denies Nightclub's TRO, Citing 'Gamesmanship'

    An attorney who owns a Dallas nightclub shouldn't have waited until 6 a.m. Wednesday to alert the city attorney's office about a hearing in the club's effort to stall the city council's vote on zoning approval, a state judge said during the hearing, calling it "gamesmanship."

  • October 23, 2024

    Combs, Feds At Odds Over Gag Order Amid Press Blitz

    Attorneys for Sean "Diddy" Combs told a Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday that they are unable to agree with prosecutors about who should be barred from talking to the press about the hip-hop mogul's sex-trafficking and racketeering case.

  • October 23, 2024

    Athletes Pause TV Revenue Suit Until NIL Deal's Fate Is Clear

    A group of college athletes has agreed to stay its suit seeking a cut of NCAA television revenue in Colorado federal court, with a magistrate judge on Wednesday granting the two parties' request to pause the case while the landmark name, image and likeness settlement in a separate California case awaits approval.

  • October 23, 2024

    Telecom Group Sues To Cancel FTC's 'Click To Cancel' Rule

    A major cable and internet industry group and others sued the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday over its new "click to cancel" rule, asking the Fifth Circuit to vacate the regulation one week after it was adopted in a 3-2 commission vote.

  • October 23, 2024

    FCC To Probe Broadband, Cable And Phone Customer Service

    The Federal Communications Commission is looking to find out how well the broadband, video distribution and phone industries are doing when it comes to customer service.

  • October 23, 2024

    High Court Won't Pause Google's Subpoena Of State Agency

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Wednesday to block Google's request for documents in a case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital ad technology as a South Carolina agency challenges an order forcing it to comply with the subpoena.

  • October 23, 2024

    GOP Says Dems Using FEC Suit To Silence Republicans

    The National Republican Senatorial Committee is seeking to intervene as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee against the Federal Election Commission that argues the agency should have stopped the Republicans from using a tactic that allegedly lets them bypass spending limits on advertising.

  • October 23, 2024

    Jersey Shore Attractions Sued For Pay Over Iconic Phrase

    The woman whose voice has been played in a recording along a New Jersey shore town's boardwalk for over 45 years alleged in a revised state court complaint Wednesday she has never been paid more than few free tram car tickets despite it becoming an iconic slogan for the popular destination.

  • October 23, 2024

    LeBron, Bronny James Face Crash Suit Amid Historic Debut

    NBA legend LeBron James and his rookie son, Bronny James, were hit with a car accident lawsuit in California state court Tuesday, the same day they took the basketball court together for the first time as teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers.

  • October 23, 2024

    9th Circ. Orders Michael Avenatti To Be Resentenced

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday ordered the resentencing of Michael Avenatti over his California conviction for tax violations and stealing from clients, saying the lower court made multiple mistakes when it handed down a 14-year prison term to the onetime celebrity attorney.

  • October 23, 2024

    'MetaBirkins' TM Appeal May Split 2nd Circ. On Art Question

    A Second Circuit panel appeared divided Wednesday over whether a Los Angeles man should be liable for infringing Hermès International's handbag trademarks with his "MetaBirkins" nonfungible tokens, with two judges seemingly siding with the Paris designer and one with the purported artist.

  • October 23, 2024

    Harvey Weinstein Must Face All NY Charges At Retrial

    A New York state judge on Wednesday denied Harvey Weinstein a separate trial for his new sexual assault charge, ruling that he must face that allegation alongside his original indictment at a retrial that is now expected to begin in early 2025.

  • October 22, 2024

    Activist Short Seller's Associate To Pay $1.8M In SEC Fraud Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Tuesday that an associate of Andrew Left, founder of popular trading advice website Citron Research, has agreed to pay more than $1.8 million to resolve allegations that he negligently took part in a scheme to defraud readers through two trading recommendations.

  • October 22, 2024

    Ex-Google GC Must Be Investigated By Calif. Bar, Groups Say

    A trio of groups led by the American Economic Liberties Project on Tuesday pressed the State Bar of California to investigate former Google general counsel Kent Walker for "coaching" the company to "engage in widespread and illegal destruction of records relevant to multiple ongoing federal trials."

Expert Analysis

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • Film Plagiarism Claims May Foreshadow AI Copyright Issues

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    The contentious plagiarism dispute over the Oscar-nominated screenplay for "The Holdovers" may portend the challenges screenwriters will face when attempting to prove copyright infringement against scripts generated by artificial intelligence technology, says Craig Smith at Lando & Anastasi.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • Decoding The FTC's Latest Location Data Crackdown

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    Following the Federal Trade Commission's groundbreaking settlements in its recent enforcement actions against X-Mode Social and InMarket Media for deceptive and unfair practices with regards to consumer location data, companies should implement policies with three crucial elements for regulatory compliance and maintaining consumer trust, says Hannah Ji-Otto at Baker Donelson.

  • Contract Negotiation Prep Checklist For In-House Ad Lawyers

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    Barriers for in-house lawyers and procurement professionals persist in media and ad tech contract negotiations — but a pre-negotiation checklist can help counsel navigate nuances and other industry issues that need to be considered before landing a deal, including supplier services, business use cases and data retrieval, says Keri Bruce at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown

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    While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.

  • How Suit Over An AI George Carlin May Lead To Legislation

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    George Carlin’s estate recently sued a company over an artificial intelligence-generated podcast allegedly impersonating the late comedian, highlighting the importance of much-needed state and federal protection against unauthorized representations of an individual’s image in the time of AI, say Anna Chauvet and Maxime Jarquin at Finnegan.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

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    Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.

  • Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent

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    Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.

  • AI In Accounting Raises OT Exemption Questions

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    A recent surge in the use of artificial intelligence in accounting work calls into question whether professionals in the industry can argue they are no longer overtime exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, highlighting how technology could test the limits of the law for a variety of professions, say Bradford Kelley at Littler and Stephen Malone at Peloton Interactive.

  • Independent Regulator Could Chip Away At FIFA Autonomy

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    After the U.K.'s recent proposal for an independent football regulator, FIFA's commitment to safeguarding football association autonomy remains unwavering, despite a history of complexities arising from controversies in the bidding and hosting of major tournaments, say Yasin Patel at Church Court Chambers and Caitlin Haberlin-Chambers at SLAM Global.

  • The Fed. Circ. In February: A Reminder On Procedure Rule 28

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    Because the Federal Circuit does not often issue a sua sponte precedential order emphasizing an important rule of practice, it is useful to look at how the court applied the restrictions of appellate procedure Rule 28 in Promptu v. Comcast last month, and in cases that preceded it, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe Martens.

  • Take AG James' Suit Over Enviro Claims As A Warning

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    New York Attorney General Letitia James' recent suit against JBS USA Food Co. over allegedly misleading claims about its goal to reach net zero by 2040 indicates that challenges to green claims are likely to continue, and that companies should think twice about ignoring National Advertising Division recommendations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

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