Media & Entertainment

  • June 17, 2024

    Ex-CNBC Pundit Caught After Years Of Dodging Fraud Claims

    A former frequent CNBC guest who became a fugitive for nearly three years after being accused of defrauding investors has been arrested and faces a seven-count indictment, California federal prosecutors said Monday.

  • June 17, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Facebook 'Face Signatures' Not Subject To BIPA

    The Ninth Circuit sided with Meta Platforms on Monday by declining to revive an Illinois resident's proposed class action accusing Facebook of breaking the state's Biometric Information Privacy Act, ruling that the "face signature" at issue isn't protected by the law because it cannot be used to identify someone.

  • June 17, 2024

    Ad Tech Judge Says No 'Moving Target' Damages, No Jury

    A Virginia federal judge refused to consider the government's "late-arriving" math on how much federal agencies were overcharged by Google's digital advertising placement technology, according to an order unsealed Friday, a decision that allowed Google to successfully short-circuit the U.S. Department of Justice's damages claim and avoid a jury trial sought by the agency.

  • June 17, 2024

    Toss Universal Service Fund Challenge, FCC Urges 5th Circ.

    The Federal Communications Commission on Monday urged the Fifth Circuit to throw out a challenge to the agency's telecom subsidy system after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up a pair of similar cases.

  • June 17, 2024

    Google Says Texas Took Opposing Positions On Key Law

    Google told a Texas federal court the state attorney general's office made arguments in the case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing display advertising technology that directly contradict arguments the state is making in a case challenging the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

  • June 17, 2024

    Bookstores Appeal Denied Bid To Join FTC's Amazon Case

    A trade association for bookstores is appealing to the Ninth Circuit after a lower court refused its request to intervene in the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust suit against Amazon that raises concerns about the e-commerce giant's sale of books and contracts with publishers.

  • June 17, 2024

    Split Mass. Top Court Backs Strict View Of Prompt Pay Law

    The top appeals court in Massachusetts said in a divided opinion Monday that contractors must pay overdue invoices before disputing claims under the state's prompt pay law, with two dissenting judges criticizing the majority for trying to rewrite the law "by judicial fiat."

  • June 17, 2024

    Baldwin Prosecutors Push For 'Rust' Armorer's Testimony

    New Mexico state prosecutors are seeking to force a convicted armorer to testify during "Rust" actor-producer Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial, telling a judge the "world is watching" how the court decides a potentially pivotal legal dispute in the high-profile case.

  • June 17, 2024

    Sen. Spectrum Bill Called Inadequate For Connectivity Needs

    A Senate bill to renew the Federal Communications Commission's authority to auction spectrum is facing criticism from a technology think tank as the legislation heads to a committee vote Tuesday.

  • June 17, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Proposed amendments to Delaware's General Corporation Law that were prompted by several recent Chancery Court rulings sailed through the state Senate last week despite loud opposition from corporate law professors and other Chancery Court watchers, and Tesla shareholders filed two new suits against CEO Elon Musk. 

  • June 17, 2024

    McDonald's Nears Fee Win For Beating $100M Fraud Suit

    A California state judge has tentatively granted McDonald's request for over $231,000 in fees after winning an anti-SLAPP victory against Byron Allen's suit claiming that it fraudulently pledged to increase spending on Black-owned media, but the judge asked the restaurant Monday to submit a proposed judgment to account for its work in filing the fee request.

  • June 17, 2024

    Feds Take Hard Line On Tycoon's Pilots After He Goes Free

    Manhattan federal prosecutors asked a sentencing judge to consider aggravating circumstances for two pilots who allegedly traded on stock tips from U.K. billionaire Joe Lewis, despite not seeking a prison term for the private equity honcho and former soccer club owner.

  • June 14, 2024

    Ozy Trial Gets Heated, Exec Tells Of Lies, Google CEO Pops In

    Courtroom tempers flared, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai dropped by and a former Ozy Media executive on Friday told the jury weighing fraud charges against the startup's charismatic founder Carlos Watson of how they nearly conned Buzzfeed into buying the company by faking its financials.

  • June 14, 2024

    Fla. Court Says Navy Vet Can Sue CNN For Punitive Damages

    A Florida state appellate court has ruled that a Navy veteran turned private contractor can include punitive damages in his defamation lawsuit against CNN, saying he made a "sufficient preliminary evidentiary showing" of malice over the network's reporting on evacuating citizens of Afghanistan in 2021.

  • June 14, 2024

    Meta Halts AI Tech Debut In EU After Regulatory Backlash

    Meta Platforms Inc. said Friday that it was putting on hold plans to expand its artificial intelligence offerings to the European market after the Irish privacy regulator raised concerns about the company's efforts to use public content posted on Facebook and Instagram to fuel these models.

  • June 14, 2024

    Judge Converts Alex Jones Ch. 11, Tosses Media Co.'s Case

    A Texas bankruptcy judge on Friday turned Alex Jones' bankruptcy case into a Chapter 7, allowing a trustee to liquidate the right-wing conspiracy theorist and media personality's assets to repay creditors, but declined to convert the Chapter 11 of the company that runs Jones' online show, dismissing its petition instead.

  • June 14, 2024

    Amazon Sued For Locking Up Audiobooks, Charging Up To 75%

    A romance novelist challenged Amazon.com Inc.'s control of up to 80% of the U.S. audiobook market Thursday in a Washington federal court proposed class action accusing the retail giant of using exclusivity restrictions to lock in independent authors, extracting up to 75% of the sales price on Audible.

  • June 14, 2024

    'Cockamamie' Live Nation Arbitration Rules Perplex 9th Circ.

    An attorney for Live Nation Entertainment Inc. argued to skeptical Ninth Circuit judges on Friday that a California district judge was wrong to remove ticket buyers' antitrust class claims from arbitration by finding the arbitration agreements unconscionable, with one judge calling the language in the agreements "drafting malpractice," "cockamamie" and "just nuts."

  • June 14, 2024

    FCC To Fine ASUS $367K For Wi-Fi Gear Over Power Limits

    The Federal Communications Commission wants to slap electronics maker ASUSTeK Computer with a $367,000 fine for marketing a Wi-Fi adapter that uses more power than the agency has approved for such devices.

  • June 14, 2024

    SEC Fines Pa. Adviser In Marketing Rule Action

    A Pennsylvania investment adviser has agreed to pay $100,000 as part of an agreement to resolve U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegations it broke the regulator's rules barring misleading advertising about fund performance.

  • June 14, 2024

    Publishing Exec's Family Says Ohio Law Allowed His Ouster

    The board of an Ohio-based media company have said state law empowered them to oust former CEO Allan Block from his family's namesake company and urged an Ohio state court to dismiss the suit he brought over the potential sale of the company that publishes newspapers in Toledo and Pittsburgh.

  • June 14, 2024

    Industry Groups End 2nd Circ. Case Over NY Broadband Law

    Six trade groups said Friday they will end a Second Circuit challenge to a New York law that requires internet service providers to offer low-cost broadband service plans.

  • June 14, 2024

    'Riverdance' Star Can't Step Around $30M Estate Arbitration

    Dancer Michael Flatley must arbitrate his €30 million ($32 million) claim against Hiscox over allegations of defective work on his estate in County Cork, an Irish court ruled Friday, saying there is nothing unfair about enforcing the policy's arbitration clause.

  • June 14, 2024

    Ga. Woman Wants 'Illegal' Online Gambling Suit In State Court

    A Georgia woman wants her suit accusing an online operator of hosting illegal gambling on sites disguised as game arcades sent back to state court, arguing she cannot verify without discovery whether the case meets the $5 million, 100-member class threshold required for federal cases.

  • June 14, 2024

    X Dodges Porn Filter BIPA Suit For Now

    An Illinois federal judge has thrown out a proposed class action accusing X Corp. of violating the state's biometric privacy law through its use of software to police pornographic images, saying the lead plaintiff failed to allege that the tool can be used to identify specific individuals. 

Expert Analysis

  • Consumer Privacy Takeaways From FTC Extraterritorial Action

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    With what appears to be its first privacy-related consent agreement with a non-U.S. business, the Federal Trade Commission establishes that its reach is extraterritorial and that consumer internet browsing data is sensitive data, and there are lessons for any multinational business that handles consumer information, say Olivia Greer and Alexis Bello at Weil.

  • Series

    Whitewater Kayaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Whether it's seeing clients and their issues from a new perspective, or staying nimble in a moment of intense challenge, the lessons learned from whitewater kayaking transcend the rapids of a river and prepare attorneys for the courtroom and beyond, says Matthew Kent at Alston & Bird.

  • This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener

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    As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Discord Stock Case Toss Means Little For Fraud Defendants

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    A Texas federal court’s recent dismissal of fraud charges related to a "pump and dump" scheme on Discord is an outlier after the U.S. Supreme Court scrapped the right-to-control theory of fraud last year, and ultimately won't deter the government from pursuing routine securities prosecutions, says William Johnston at Bird Marella.

  • Back Labels In False Ad Cases Get Some Clarity In 9th Circ.

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    Courts in the Ninth Circuit have recently delivered a series of wins to advertisers, making clear that any ambiguity on the front of a product's package can be resolved by reference to the back label — which guarantees defendants a powerful tool to combat deceptive labeling claims, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues

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    Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • The Merger Cases That Will Matter At ABA Antitrust Meeting

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    While the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week will cover all types of competition law issues in the U.S. and abroad, expect the federal agencies' recent track record in merger enforcement to be a key area of focus on the official panels and in cocktail party chatter, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Cos. Should Prepare For Foreign Data Transfer Regulations

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    A new regulatory regime designed to protect U.S. sensitive data from countries of concern may complicate an already intricate geopolitical landscape and affect even companies beyond the data industry, but with careful preparation, such companies can endeavor to minimize the effect on their business operations and ensure compliance, say David Plotinsky and Jiazhen Guo at Morgan Lewis.

  • Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

  • Opinion

    High Court Should Settle Circuit Split On Risk Disclosures

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Broadway Ruling Puts Discrimination Claims In The Limelight

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    A New York federal court's recent decision in Moore v. Hadestown Broadway that the employers' choice to replace a Black actor with a white actor was shielded by the First Amendment is the latest in a handful of rulings zealously protecting hiring decisions in casting, say Anthony Oncidi and Dixie Morrison at Proskauer.

  • 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.

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