Firm Articles & In The News

The Ninth Circuit Frees Up More Musical Building Blocks (Gray v. Hudson) In 2018, the Ninth Circuit upheld a jury verdict against the writers of the song “Blurred Lines” for copyright infringement[1] in a controversial decision that, while arguably based on a technicality, quickly ricocheted through the creative community, leaving many musicians feeling that they could no longer safely predict where the line would be drawn between inspiration and appropriation. In 2020, the Ninth Circuit took the opportunity to course correct in the case of Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin by clarifying that it had no intention of locking up basic musical motifs under the auspices of copyright law.[2] Now, two years later, the Ninth Circuit has doubled down on Skidmore’s direction in the case of Gray v. Hudson.[3]

If you're a practicing attorney in the entertainment or technology spaces, it's a safe bet that not a week has gone by in 2022 without someone asking you about nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.

“The only constant in life is change,” opined the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus. No business embodies this maxim quite like the movie business, which is currently in the throes of hammering out new prevailing formulas for compensating talent in the age of digital streaming. Starting with Netflix,...

Law360 November 8, 2021, 9:19 PM EST By Craig Clough Around 30,000 musicians received preliminary approval from a California federal judge Monday of a nearly $8 million settlement with the American Federation of Musicians and SAG-AFTRA in a class action challenging a fee the unions charged a roy...

Law360 October 14, 2021, 3:41 PM EDT By David Elder and Neville L. johnson Last month, former President Donald Trump filed an action in Dutchess County, New York, against his niece Mary Trump and the New York Times, alleging that investigative reporters employed by the Times had “persistently an...

Law360 October 19, 2021, 6:20 PM EDT By Beverly Banks A former “Key & Peele” showrunner is asking a California federal court to approve a proposed class of TV writers who allege that the Writers Guild of America West and Viacom subsidiaries did not pay them royalties for shows on streaming platf...

Written by admin In Written by admin In By Neville L. Johnson and Douglas L. Johnson Long-Arm Jurisdiction and Internet Defamation A California Court of Appeal recently decided that it could exercise its long-arm jurisdiction over a Canadian defendant in an online defamation case.1 Y...

©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Colle Variety Aug 30, 2021 12:09pm PT By Gene Maddaus A day after Ed Asner died at the age of 91, his lawsuit against the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan was allowed to live on. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder indicated at a hearing that she would deny a motion to dismiss...

Law360 August 4, 2021, 4:58 PM EDT By Braden Campbell A Hollywood actress hit SAG-AFTRA with a proposed class action in California federal court alleging the union deceived members before agreeing to a series of collective bargaining agreements leading to slashed health care benefits for reti...

Read Full Article PDF

Read Full Article PDF

Written by admin In Written by admin In By Neville L. Johnson and Douglas L. Johnson Negative Reviews Social media platforms, such as Yelp, can make or break a business, and law firms are no exception. It is important for attorneys to understand how to handle negative reviews by form...

The California-based company, Qualcomm, was a major player in creating the smartphones that nearly every person now owns, and they still perform a significant role in the smartphone industry. However, Qualcomm has not received good press lately. Ever since the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) file...

The Wrap May 14, 2021 By Daniel Goldblatt Marks accuses the company of underreporting international streaming revenue David Marks, an early member of The Beach Boys, has filed a class action lawsuit against UMG Recordings in which he accuses the company of shorting its artists millions of do...

Written by admin In Written by admin In By Neville L. Johnson and Douglas L. Johnson 2020 was an eventful year for the world of copyright law in the United States. The following cases are of particular interest. Authorship and Ownership Are Not One in the Same: Everly v. Everly This ...

Written by admin In Written by admin In Daily Journal Daily Journal Original Article

Written by admin In Billboard By Billboard Staff What Young Artists Must Ask Their Lawyer: “ ‘What am I signing?' A lot of young artists come to me without a decent understanding of the contracts they've previously signed, despite being represented by other counsel for those deals.” Nevill...

Hollywood Reporter March 18, 2021 By Eriq Gardner Former ‘Key & Peele' showrunner Jay Martel is leading a suit that alleges the WGA has breached its duty of fair representation with respect to royalties owed comedy writers like those who work on ‘The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.' Are some of...

Written by admin In Variety February 23, 2021 By Gene Maddaus For years, Disney has been keeping 80% of the revenue from older shows that it distributes to streaming platforms, leaving only 20% to be available to stars and other profit participants. It does so by classifying the revenue as...