Media & Entertainment

  • January 12, 2026

    TTAB Cancels 'Reefer Madness' TM Over Prior Apparel Sales

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has canceled a Colorado cannabis company's "Reefer Madness" registration for use on mugs and apparel, after a challenge from a business that argued it had priority over the mark for merchandise sales following a musical theater production of the same name.

  • January 12, 2026

    Musician Accusing Mellencamp Of Theft Denies Faking Report

    A musician alleging that John Mellencamp's 1996 hit song "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)" stole from his own noncharting track denied to a California federal judge Monday that he wrote a report attributed to his music expert and then failed to make him available for a meaningful deposition.

  • January 12, 2026

    FCC Scraps Verizon's 60-Day Phone Unlocking Mandate

    The Federal Communications Commission on Monday waived a rule stemming from Verizon's takeover of discount provider TracFone that forced the company to open its cellphones to other carriers after 60 days.

  • January 12, 2026

    Apple Hit With False Ad Suit Over Digital Content Sales

    Apple customers have sued the company in California state court, alleging it deceptively "sells" popular Apple TV programs and films without informing them that the limited digital license to any of the content could be terminated at any time. 

  • January 12, 2026

    Ad Tech Rivals Say 'Unique Harms' Make Complaints Separate

    Google's advertising placement technology competitors have told a New York federal judge their half-dozen complaints should remain separate, arguing that letting the search giant tee up a consolidation motion would hamper, rather than streamline, their antitrust claims, which followed the U.S. Department of Justice's successful litigation against the company.

  • January 12, 2026

    Judge Tosses Meta Rival's Mobile Streaming Patent Lawsuit

    A Washington federal judge has tossed the remainder of a lawsuit claiming Meta infringed mobile streaming application patents from a competing social media platform and refused to let the patent owner rewrite its complaint again.

  • January 12, 2026

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    The Delaware Chancery Court closed out the week with developments ranging from leadership changes in a $13 billion take-private case and posttrial sparring over a major earnout to fresh governance fights, revived fraud claims and sanctions tied to advancement rights.

  • January 12, 2026

    How AI Is Causing Real Copyright Uncertainty

    As artificial intelligence is used increasingly to generate images, sounds, software and other products, attorneys say they are left navigating an uncertain landscape when it comes to securing copyright protections for AI-assisted outputs, with few signs of clarity on the horizon.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Sign Off On Dismissal Of FIFA Bribery Cases

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday erased criminal bribery convictions against a former media executive and an Argentine sports marketing company stemming from the FIFA corruption probe, following through on federal prosecutors' surprising decision to abandon the cases last month.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Nix Bid To Revive $5M Lindell Challenge Award

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday opted not to review a software developer's petition seeking to revive his $5 million arbitral award against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, in which he had sought clarity on whether manifest disregard of the law is a valid basis on which such awards may be vacated.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Won't Hear Challenge To Foreign Word TM Rule

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a trademark appeal from an apparel company seeking to register "Vetements," the French word for "clothes," in a case that challenged a long-standing doctrine used to determine whether a foreign word can qualify as a mark.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Won't Hear Whistleblowers' FCC Fraud Claims

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review whether the D.C. Circuit erred by rejecting two lawyers' claims that entities linked to UScellular defrauded the government by falsely claiming small business credits in a federal spectrum auction.

  • January 09, 2026

    Oscar-Winning Writer Settles Publicist's Rape Case For $2M

    Oscar-winning Hollywood writer and director Paul Haggis has agreed to pay just under $2 million to put to rest a civil case in which a publicist accused him of raping her more than a decade ago — meaning he'll pay far less than the $10 million verdict a jury hearing the case returned against him in 2022.

  • January 09, 2026

    Bernstein Litowitz Asks To Exit $13B Endeavor Stock Suit

    Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP asked the Delaware Chancery Court on Friday to allow its attorneys to withdraw as lead co-counsel for the shareholder class action over sports and entertainment company Endeavor Group Holdings Inc.'s $13 billion take-private merger.

  • January 09, 2026

    Sens. Urge App Stores To Ban X, Grok Over Sexual Images

    A trio of U.S. Senate Democrats are calling on Apple and Google to remove the apps for the social media platform X and the generative artificial intelligence chatbot Grok from their app stores until the owner of these services, Elon Musk, adequately addresses the AI tool's generation of sexually explicit content, including "harmful and likely illegal depictions" of women and children. 

  • January 09, 2026

    Netflix Wins Atty Fees In 'Orgasm Inc.' Defamation Case

    A California state appellate court affirmed an award of attorney fees to Netflix Inc. after the streaming giant's anti-SLAPP victory in a defamation case over its documentary "Orgasm Inc.: The Story of OneTaste," saying the trial court had the authority to award fees despite the case being under appeal.

  • January 09, 2026

    Gov't Can't Use NYT Article As Evidence In Goldstein Trial

    A Maryland federal judge on Friday barred prosecutors from pre-admitting Thomas Goldstein's statements in a New York Times article as evidence in the SCOTUSblog co-founder's tax fraud trial, but she left open the possibility for the government to call either Jeffrey Toobin, the article's author, or a Times fact-checker, as a witness.

  • January 09, 2026

    FCC Approves Telecom's New Plan For Alaska Buildout

    An Alaskan telecommunications company has received the go-ahead from the Federal Communications Commission to deploy its mobile service throughout the far-flung state with federal support, after the new plan showed the firm could triple the number of people for whom it provides service.

  • January 09, 2026

    Paramount Gets Early Win In 'Top Gun' Dispute

    A Manhattan federal judge Friday tossed a writer's remaining copyright infringement claim that alleged he wasn't credited for writing significant portions of the 2022 film "Top Gun: Maverick" and kept alive Paramount's counterclaims for copyright infringement and fraud, saying the writer's copyright is invalid.

  • January 09, 2026

    WWE Fans Blast 'Bait And Switch' Scheme Over ESPN Access

    World Wrestling Entertainment fans filed a proposed class action Thursday in Connecticut federal court alleging it executed a "bait and switch" scheme by misleadingly touting they can watch premium live events on ESPN's new streaming service for free if they're existing subscribers, but then charging $30 a month for it.

  • January 09, 2026

    Is 9th Circ.'s Copyright Test Doomed After Kat Von D Verdict?

    Celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D's realistic tattoo of a famous Miles Davis photo on a friend's arm — and the jury ruling that it did not violate copyright law — could imperil a decades-old Ninth Circuit doctrine for assessing similarity between works, with potential review by a full panel of judges on the horizon.

  • January 09, 2026

    Paramount Seeks To Toss Privacy Suit Over Kids' Data

    Paramount Skydance Corp. urged a California federal court to toss a "haphazard" proposed class action that accuses the media giant of unlawfully disclosing the personally identifiable information of children who streamed content on their families' devices, saying the kids' parents failed to sufficiently allege any of their claims.

  • January 09, 2026

    DC Judge OKs $14M Award Despite Russian Sanctions

    A D.C. federal judge has recognized approximately $14 million in arbitral awards originally issued to a Russian state-owned media company sanctioned by the United States for interfering in U.S. elections, concluding that a public policy exception to award enforcement does not apply.

  • January 09, 2026

    College HR Worker Claims Immunity In Suit Over Kirk Posts

    A Florida college human resources employee urged a federal court Friday to toss a First Amendment violation claim brought by a former grant accountant who alleged wrongful termination for posting about the assassination of Charlie Kirk on social media, saying she's entitled to qualified immunity. 

  • January 09, 2026

    SpaceX Can Build Up Its Next-Gen Constellation, FCC Says

    The Federal Communications Commission gave its stamp of approval Friday for SpaceX to ramp up its second-generation Starlink satellite system.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

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    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Reel Justice: 'The Mastermind' And Juror Decision-Making

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    The recent art heist film “The Mastermind” forces viewers to discern the protagonist’s ambiguous motives and reconcile contradictions, offering lessons for attorneys about how a well-crafted trial narrative can tap into the psychological phenomena underlying juror decision-making, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

  • Reviewing 2025's State And Federal AI Regulations

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    In light of increasing state and federal action to oversee the use of artificial intelligence, companies that develop or deploy the technology should keep abreast of current and forthcoming AI laws and consider their applicability to their business activities, says Jessica Brigman at Spencer Fane.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • Netflix Caps 2025 M&A Deals That Will Test Antitrust Strategy

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    The 2025 media consolidation trend culminated in Netflix's $82.7 billion Warner Bros. Discovery announcement, but the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is likely to question whether remedies short of blocking the deal could credibly preserve competition, says Brian Pandya at Duane Morris.

  • AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

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    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • 3 Defense Strategies For Sporadically Prosecuted Conduct

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    Not to be confused with selective prosecutions, sporadic prosecutions — charging someone for conduct many others do without consequences — can be challenging to defend, but focusing on materiality, prosecutorial motivations and public opinion can be a winning strategy, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

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    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

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    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Key Crypto Class Action Trends And Rulings In 2025

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    As the law continued to take shape in the growing area of crypto-assets, this year saw a jump in crypto class action litigation, including noteworthy decisions on motions to compel arbitration and class certification, according to Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.

  • NBA, MLB Betting Indictments: Slam Dunks Or Strikeouts?

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    Recent fraud charges against bettors, NBA players and MLB pitchers raise questions about what the government will need to prove to prosecute individuals involved in placing bets based on nonpublic information, and it could be a tough sell to juries, say attorneys at Ford O'Brien.

  • Series

    Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

  • How 11th Circ.'s Qui Tam Review Could Affect FCA Litigation

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    On Dec. 12, the Eleventh Circuit will hear arguments in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, setting the stage for a decision that could drastically reduce enforcement under the False Claims Act, and presenting an opportunity to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the act's whistleblower provisions, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

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    After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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