Media & Entertainment

  • May 07, 2024

    Atty Dons Muppet Head To Open Sesame Place Race Bias Trial

    A federal jury in Philadelphia on Tuesday gazed at the googly eyes and blue fur of an attorney who donned the head of Sesame Street's Grover to tell them that performers wearing the fluorescent bodysuits of other beloved Muppets discriminated against children at a Pennsylvania theme park because of the color of their skin.

  • May 07, 2024

    Ex-Tugboat CEO Can't Reinstate $75M Defamation Verdict

    A Washington state appeals panel won't let the former CEO of boating company Harley Marine Services Inc. reinstate a $75 million defamation verdict against his former business partners, finding that the comments that formed the basis for the verdict are covered under the state's "absolute" litigation privilege.

  • May 07, 2024

    NJ Justices Say Survivor Gag Orders Flout #MeToo Law

    A nondisparagement clause in a former New Jersey police sergeant's settlement agreement resolving sex discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation claims against her former employer is against public policy and unenforceable, the New Jersey Supreme Court held on Tuesday.

  • May 07, 2024

    Appeals Court Won't Block Live Nation Astroworld Deposition

    A Texas appeals court declined to block the deposition of Live Nation's CEO and president on Tuesday as it continues to weigh whether the first trial in litigation stemming from the deadly Astroworld crowd crush will be paused pending the resolution of an appeal by Apple.

  • May 07, 2024

    Truth Social Investor Grilled By Feds At Insider Trading Trial

    A Florida investment pro on trial for allegedly exploiting confidential plans to take Truth Social public in a $23 million insider trading case was challenged Tuesday by prosecutors on the timing of trades and communications before the "special" media deal.

  • May 07, 2024

    Dave Chappelle Attacker Sues Hollywood Bowl Over Injuries

    A Los Angeles County man who says he was beat "ruthlessly" by security after he rushed the stage and tackled Dave Chappelle at a Hollywood Bowl show in 2022 to protest the comedian's "discriminatory" jokes has sued the venue for negligent security and battery.

  • May 07, 2024

    3rd Circ. Unsure Miss. Law Saves Kavanaugh Classmate's Suit

    Weighing whether New York or Mississippi law controls a libel lawsuit that Justice Brett Kavanaugh's former classmate filed against The Huffington Post could be moot if neither state's law offers an extension for refiling claims dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, a Third Circuit panel suggested Tuesday.

  • May 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Ruling Imperils Anonymity In NCAA, Netflix Cases

    Anonymous plaintiffs suing the NCAA and Netflix in separate cases in Indiana federal court must explain why they should be allowed to keep their identities hidden following a recent Seventh Circuit ruling that established "a stringent standard" relating to anonymity, a magistrate judge has ruled.

  • May 07, 2024

    Amazon Blasts Writer's Ownership Claim Over New 'Road House'

    Amazon Studios and others involved in the 2024 remake of 1989's "Road House" movie told a California federal court that the writer behind the original film who is suing for copyright infringement does not own the rights to the script for the original.

  • May 07, 2024

    TikTok Urges DC Circ. To Ax 'Unprecedented' Divestment Bill

    TikTok on Tuesday lodged its highly anticipated challenge to a new federal law that would exclude the popular app from the U.S. market unless it cuts ties with its Chinese parent company, telling the D.C. Circuit that the measure amounts to an unconstitutional and unprecedented ban on free speech. 

  • May 07, 2024

    Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Susman's Brook, Shackelford

    Susman Godfrey LLP attorneys Davida Brook and Stephen Shackelford Jr. learned very early on in their working relationship that they needed to trust each other. That concept, they say, has been foundational to their success as defamation attorneys, and those who have worked alongside them say everyone else has reason to trust them, too.

  • May 07, 2024

    Apple, Amazon Accused Of Shorting Background Actors

    Apple TV and Amazon Studios LLC failed to pay background actors their full overtime wages, denied them meal breaks and forced them to cover work-related expenses, a former actor for the studios said in two proposed class actions filed in California state court.

  • May 07, 2024

    Stormy Daniels Tells NY Jury 'Fear' Drove Hush Money Deal

    Adult film star Stormy Daniels detailed for a Manhattan jury on Tuesday how a sexual encounter with Donald Trump in 2006 led to an alleged $130,000 hush money payment in 2016, describing how it was "fear and not money" that led her to make the deal.

  • May 07, 2024

    Google Says Exec's Firing Based On Behavior, Not Bias

    Google urged a New York federal court to toss a lawsuit from a former executive who said he was fired for being a white man, arguing his termination came because he threw a raucous, alcohol-fueled party at his lake house despite receiving prior warnings about bad behavior.

  • May 07, 2024

    Spacey To Face UK Civil Trial Over Sex Assault Claim

    Kevin Spacey successfully bid to overturn a default judgment against him at a London court on Tuesday — but the actor now faces a trial to fight off a man's £457,000 ($574,000) sexual assault claim.

  • May 07, 2024

    Coverage Recap: Day 9 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

    Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day nine.

  • May 06, 2024

    Ancestry.com Unit Escapes Ill. Publicity Privacy Suit For Now

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed a putative class action accusing a France-based subsidiary of Ancestry.com of featuring individuals in its advertising without their permission, finding the plaintiff had failed to show that the company had sufficient ties to the state, while leaving the door open for the claims to be revised. 

  • May 06, 2024

    Google's $62M Location-Tracking Settlement Gets Green Light

    A California federal judge has granted final approval to Google's $62 million settlement resolving allegations it illegally collected and stored smartphone users' private location information, a deal that includes $18.6 million in fees for the lawyers representing the consolidated class.

  • May 06, 2024

    Hospital Hits Back At Kowalskis' Bid For Sanctions

    Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital urged a Florida court on Friday to reject a sanctions bid by the attorneys for Maya Kowalski — who won a $213 million verdict against the hospital and was the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya" — against the hospital's attorneys, arguing that the request for the court to refer them to the Florida Bar is improper.

  • May 06, 2024

    Trump's NY Jury Sees Paper Trail From Alleged Cover-Up

    New York prosecutors began the third week of Donald Trump's criminal trial on Monday with a parade of documents demonstrating in minute detail how the former president allegedly misbranded hush money reimbursements as legal fees after the 2016 election.

  • May 06, 2024

    Miles Davis Photog Denied New Trial Over Kat Von D Tattoo

    A California federal judge on Friday denied a photographer's new trial motion in a copyright case accusing celebrity tattooist Kat Von D of infringing his portrait of Miles Davis, rejecting his argument that the jury's finding of fair use of the portrait conflicted with the evidence at trial.

  • May 06, 2024

    Dish's 5G Roll-Out Enough For Scienter, Investors Say

    Even though Dish Network is maintaining that shareholders' confidential witnesses "witnessed nothing," those shareholders are telling the federal judge overseeing their case that the satellite company's own statements support their claims that Dish hid its 5G network integration issues from them.

  • May 06, 2024

    DC Circ. Dubious Of DMCA Speech-Rights Fight

    Opponents of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provision met a skeptical D.C. Circuit panel on Monday as judges grappled with whether the provision hinders First Amendment activity.

  • May 06, 2024

    Chancery Dismisses Officers From Game Co. Investor Suit

    The CEO and president of Israel-headquartered mobile game developer Playtika Holding Corp. have won a Delaware vice chancellor's reluctant dismissal from a stockholder class challenge to a $600 million company self-tender offer, nearly four months after the same court sent claims against its controlling stockholder toward trial.

  • May 06, 2024

    Judge Turns Down Realtek's Patent 'Conspiracy' Case

    A California federal judge has found that Taiwanese chipmaker Realtek can't use the federal courts to sue one of its major rivals for allegedly using a "bounty" to fund "patent troll" litigation against it because that doesn't break any federal antitrust laws.

Expert Analysis

  • Why E-Commerce Tools Are Under Fire Amid Privacy Lawsuits

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    As lawsuits try to shoehorn new technologies into decades-old privacy laws never intended for the digital age, e-commerce tools and the companies that use them are increasingly at risk, and retailers should act now to minimize their potential exposure, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • Opinion

    Legal Profession Gender Parity Requires Equal Parental Leave

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    To truly foster equity in the legal profession and to promote attorney retention, workplaces need to better support all parents, regardless of gender — starting by offering equal and robust parental leave to both birthing and non-birthing parents, says Ali Spindler at Irwin Fritchie.

  • Legal Lessons From Past World Cups To Keep In Mind For '26

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    The 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand set new standards for sustainability, human rights and sponsorship — and with those new standards come new challenges for those involved in the planning of the 2026 World Cup in North America, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Writing Thriller Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Authoring several thriller novels has enriched my work by providing a fresh perspective on my privacy practice, expanding my knowledge, and keeping me alert to the next wave of issues in an increasingly complex space — a reminder to all lawyers that extracurricular activities can help sharpen professional instincts, says Reece Hirsch at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Lawyers Must Know About Calif. State Bar's AI Guidance

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    Initial recommendations from the State Bar of California regarding use of generative artificial intelligence by lawyers have the potential to become a useful set of guidelines in the industry, covering confidentiality, supervision and training, communications, discrimination and more, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories

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    The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.

  • A Year-End Look At Florida's Capital Investment Tax Credit

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    Notwithstanding the Walt Disney Co.’s feud with Gov. Ron DeSantis this year, Florida's capital investment tax credit will continue to make the state a favored destination for large corporations, particularly in light of the new federal alternative minimum tax and the Pillar Two top-up tax, says Alan Lederman at Gunster.

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • New Legal Frameworks Are Instrumental For AI In Music

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    As artificial intelligence encroaches — or complements — the deeply human art of music making, creating harmony between law and technology will require all stakeholders in the music industry to provide input on intellectual property and ethical concerns, say Ariela Benchlouch and Gai Sher at Greenspoon Marder.

  • IP Suits Over Brand Owner Font Use Offer Cautionary Tales

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    Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme and Mallory Chandler at Pryor Cashman consider the history of fonts and point to recent court decisions that show how brand owners can avoid legal typeface troubles.

  • Employer Lessons After 2023's Successful Labor Strikes

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    Following recent historic strikes in the automotive, entertainment and health care industries, employers of all types can learn key insights about how unions may approach negotiations and strikes going forward, and nonunionized workplaces should anticipate a drive for increased union membership, say Lenny Feigel and Mark Neuberger at Foley & Lardner.

  • What Prince Harry Privacy Case May Mean For Media Ethics

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    An English High Court recently allowed the privacy case brought by Prince Harry and six other claimants against the Daily Mail publisher to proceed, which, if successful, could embolden other high-profile individuals to bring claims and lead to renewed calls for a judicial public inquiry into British press ethics, says Philippa Dempster at Freeths.

  • Copyright Ruling A Victory For Innovation In Publishing Sector

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    The D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling in Valancourt v. Garland shows that demanding book copies without paying for them is arguably property theft, proving that the practice stifles innovation in the publishing industry by disincentivizing small printing companies from entering the market due to a fear of high costs and outdated government regulations, says Zvi Rosen at Southern Illinois University School of Law.

  • 3 Rulings Illustrate Infringement Hurdles For Hip-Hop Plaintiffs

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    Three district court decisions dismissing hip-hop copyright claims recently came down in quick succession, indicating that plaintiffs face significant hurdles when they premise claims on the use of words, phrases and themes that are common in the genre, say Benjamin Halperin and Shiara Robinson at Cowan DeBaets.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Mexico

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    ESG has yet to become part of the DNA of the Mexican business model, but huge strides are being made in that direction, as more stakeholders demand that companies adopt, at the least, a modicum of sustainability commitments and demonstrate how they will meet them, says Carlos Escoto at Galicia Abogados.

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