Media & Entertainment

  • August 22, 2024

    Judge Delays AI Trial In Thomson Reuters, ROSS IP Row

    A Delaware federal judge on Thursday delayed the first trial involving an artificial intelligence product, postponing a highly anticipated clash in which Thomson Reuters is accusing tech startup ROSS Intelligence of creating an AI legal research platform using copyrighted material from the media company's Westlaw database.

  • August 22, 2024

    Israeli Tech Co. Cancels SPAC Deal Amid Market Rout

    Pomvom, an Israeli software maker that caters to theme parks, and a special purpose acquisition company announced Thursday they have nixed their planned $125 million merger, which would've taken the tech firm public, citing a "change in global market conditions."

  • August 22, 2024

    Tom Girardi Takes The Stand In His Criminal Fraud Trial

    Disbarred attorney Tom Girardi took the stand Thursday in his California federal fraud trial and denied stealing from any of his clients, while also showing a strong grasp of past events and people but claiming to have no memory of the trial's witnesses and key moments, or to even know his own lawyer's name.

  • August 22, 2024

    Deals Rumor Mill: Saudi Fund, Disney-Reliance, Repligen

    Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund wants to launch a new cargo airline, India’s antitrust regulators worry about power over cricket rights if the $8.5 billion merger of Walt Disney’s Indian business with Reliance Entertainment is allowed, and drug manufacturing provider Repligen is eyeing Maravai LifeSciences. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • August 22, 2024

    Paramount Board Vets $6B Bronfman Bid, Cravath Counsels

    Paramount Global confirmed late Wednesday that a consortium of investors led by media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. has submitted a proposal to purchase the company, interjecting a bid that complicates Paramount's existing deal to merge with Skydance Media.

  • August 21, 2024

    Girardi Faked Dementia Symptoms, Neurologist Testifies

    A neurologist with Vanderbilt University testified Wednesday in Tom Girardi's criminal fraud trial in California federal court that the disbarred attorney was likely exaggerating his cognitive problems in late 2020 just as his law firm imploded into bankruptcy and his legal problems mounted because he believed it would be "beneficial."

  • August 21, 2024

    Tech Cos. Duck Proposed Calif. Bill Via News Funding Deal

    Major tech companies, including Google, agreed Wednesday to pay roughly $250 million into a fund that proponents say would support newsrooms across California in a deal that avoids a proposed regulation that would've forced Big Tech to pay the state's media organizations for distributing news content.

  • August 21, 2024

    Finance Guru Can't Send Timeshare Fraud Suit To Arbitration

    Celebrity financial planner David L. Ramsey III and his company can't pause and arbitrate a proposed class action alleging they promoted a timeshare exit fraud scheme on his radio show, a Washington federal judge said Wednesday, finding they were not included in arbitration agreements with the timeshare owners.

  • August 21, 2024

    Maryland Water Park Settles Liability Claim Over Injury

    A Maryland water park-goer who was permanently injured after an inflatable tube buckled on a ride and slammed her feet against the bottom of the pool has settled her suit seeking to hold the facility liable for her injuries.

  • August 21, 2024

    USPTO Argues Not All New Rules Call For Public Comments

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told the U.S. Supreme Court that forcing the agency to solicit public comments before instituting a new home address requirement for registering trademarks would be too much work.

  • August 21, 2024

    11th Circ. Affirms Toss Of Banana Wall Art Copyright Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit affirmed an Italian artist's win over a pro-se copyright lawsuit from California-based artist Joe Morford concerning art pieces the two made that both incorporate duct-taped fruits, holding they were not "strikingly similar."

  • August 21, 2024

    6th Circ. Says Fired Worker's Asthma Not Covered By ADA

    A split Sixth Circuit panel on Wednesday backed the dismissal of an asthmatic worker's suit claiming an entertainer management firm unlawfully fired her for requesting to telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying she hadn't shown that her condition triggered the federal disability bias law's protection.

  • August 21, 2024

    Judge Accused Of Locking Up Girl Who Dozed In Courtroom

    A teenage girl filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Michigan federal court against a state judge who she says had her handcuffed and detained after she fell asleep during a class presentation in his courtroom and berated her in a mock version of the reality show "Scared Straight" that played out on the court's YouTube platform.

  • August 21, 2024

    Ga. Strip Clubs Push High Court For Tax-Free Dances

    A coalition of Georgia strip clubs labored to convince the state's highest court Wednesday that a nearly decade-old tax on their businesses, used by the state to fund child trafficking prevention efforts, is unconstitutional by infringing upon their First Amendment rights to put on nude dances.

  • August 21, 2024

    Photographer Sues Music Fest For Using Image Of Bull Riders

    A Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, country music festival and an advertising firm it hired used a photographer's photo of two women riding a mechanical bull to market the festival without permission, according to a new copyright infringement suit brought in North Carolina federal court on Wednesday.

  • August 21, 2024

    Zomato Inks $244M Deal For Paytm Entertainment Tickets Biz

    Indian food delivery giant Zomato on Wednesday announced it has bought the entertainment ticketing business of e-commerce payment company Paytm in a $244.1 million deal it hopes will grow its "going out" offerings.

  • August 20, 2024

    Girardi Jury Hears Of Ex-CFO's Alleged Bahama Hideout Plan

    The former fiancee of ex-Girardi Keese executive Chris Kamon told a California federal jury in Tom Girardi's criminal trial Tuesday about a dramatic call she received from Kamon, during which he told her he was about to be "pinned" for the firm's crimes and wanted her to flee to the Bahamas with him.

  • August 20, 2024

    Vans, MSCHF Settle 'Wavy Baby' Sneaker TM Suit

    Vans told a New York federal judge Tuesday that it resolved its trademark suit lodged over artist collective MSCHF's Wavy Baby sneaker, urging the court to approve an agreed-upon permanent injunction barring the collective from using Vans' side stripe mark and other elements of its decades-old Old Skool shoes.

  • August 20, 2024

    Disney Made Right Move Dropping Arbitration Bid, Attys Say

    Disney agreed Tuesday to drop its attempt to use a Disney+ app agreement to arbitrate claims over a woman's food allergy death at a Walt Disney World restaurant, a move that attorneys say quells what was turning into a public relations disaster and preserves the validity of the arbitration agreement in other cases.

  • August 20, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Google Chrome Users' Data Privacy Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday reversed the dismissal of a proposed class action accusing Google of surreptitiously collecting Chrome users' data, finding that the lower court had relied on the incorrect standard in determining whether a "reasonable" consumer would think they had consented to the disputed practice.

  • August 20, 2024

    FCC Urged To Boost Middle-Mile Support For Alaska Telecoms

    Alaskan telecoms are telling the Federal Communications Commission that their state needs special rules for middle-mile support, saying that Alaska's short construction season, roadless areas and other unique challenges mean that more support will be needed to achieve widespread connectivity.

  • August 20, 2024

    Don't Nix 'Band Manager' Approach In 4.9 GHz, FCC Told

    Public interest groups have urged the Federal Communications Commission to preserve its original plan to use a national band manager to oversee a 4.9 gigahertz spectrum revamp rather than turning it over to FirstNet through a nationwide license.

  • August 20, 2024

    Cox, Music Publishers Ask Justices To Review Copyright Row

    Cox Communications and music publishers led by Sony Music Entertainment have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fourth Circuit ruling — with music companies asking for clarity on the scope of liability for internet service providers for online piracy and Cox asking whether it can be responsible for copyright infringement for merely providing an internet connection.

  • August 20, 2024

    Ga. Justices Weigh 'Malice' In Atty's Defamation Case

    An orthopedic surgeon urged the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday to revive his case against a defense attorney who allegedly tarnished the surgeon's reputation during settlement talks with his attorneys for his former patients, arguing his appellate defeat last year flew in the face of 160 years of Georgia defamation law.

  • August 20, 2024

    FCC Says No To 8 Nonprofit Stations In Texas

    The Federal Communications Commission says it is not approving eight applications for new low power FM stations because the Christian entities that applied for them appear to actually all be part of the same organization, which does not qualify as an educational nonprofit.

Expert Analysis

  • 15 Quick Tips For Uncovering And Mitigating Juror Biases

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    As highlighted by the recent jury selection process in the criminal hush money trial against former President Donald Trump, juror bias presents formidable challenges for defendants, and attorneys must employ proactive strategies — both new and old — to blunt its impact, say Monica Delgado and Jonathan Harris at Harris St. Laurent.

  • Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate

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    With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.

  • Car Apps, Abuse Survivor Safety And The FCC: Key Questions

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    A recent request for comment from the Federal Communications Commission, concerning how to protect the privacy of domestic violence survivors who use connected car services, raises key questions, including whether the FCC has the legal authority to limit access to a vehicle's connected features to survivors only, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

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    In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Businesses Should Take Their AI Contracts Off Auto-Renew

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    When subscribing to artificial intelligence tools — or to any technology in a highly competitive and legally thorny market — companies should push back on automatic renewal contract clauses for reasons including litigation and regulatory risk, and competition, says Chris Wlach at Huge Inc.

  • Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy

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    The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • What The Justices' Copyright Damages Ruling Didn't Address

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Warner Chappell v. Nealy clarified when a copyright owner may recover damages in jurisdictions that apply the so-called discovery rule, it did not settle the overriding question of whether the Copyright Act even permits applying the rule, say Ivy Estoesta and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • When The Platform Is A Product, Strict Liability Can Attach

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    A New York state court's recent ruling in Patterson v. Meta, holding that social media platforms can be considered products, appears to be the first of its kind — but if it is upheld and adopted by other courts, the liability implications for internet companies could be incredibly far-reaching, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • 4 Sectors Will Likely Bear Initial Brunt Of FTC 'Junk Fees' Rule

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    If the Federal Trade Commission adopts its comprehensive proposed rule to ban unfair or deceptive fees across the U.S. economy, many businesses — including those in the lodging, event ticketing, dining and transportation sectors — will need to reexamine the way they market and price their products and services, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • 8 Legal Issues Influencing Investors In The Creator Economy

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    The rapidly expanding digital creator economy — funding for which more than doubled in the U.S. in the first quarter — comes with its own set of unique legal issues investors must carefully consider before diving in, say Louis Lehot and Alan Pate at Foley & Lardner.

  • Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data

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    Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

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