High Court’s Warhol Ruling Poses New Concerns For Artists
From Media & Entertainment Law360
| TOP NEWS Analysis High Court’s Warhol Ruling Poses New Concerns For Artists By Tiffany Hu The U.S. Supreme Court may have issued a narrow ruling to reject a fair use defense by the Andy Warhol Foundation over the artist’s portrait of music icon Prince, but the decision may nonetheless make it trickier for artists who want to claim fair use, especially based on their artistic changes in earlier works, experts say. Read full article » | Save to favorites » Analysis Kagan Rips Sotomayor’s ‘I Could Paint That’ Warhol Opinion By Hannah Albarazi U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan let her artistic mind be known Thursday in a fiery dissent slamming Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s majority opinion for “ignoring” the transformative nature of Andy Warhol’s licensed artwork drawing on a photographer’s portrait of music icon Prince. Read full article » | Save to favorites » High Court Says Andy Warhol’s Prince Series Isn’t Fair Use By Tiffany Hu Andy Warhol’s portraits of music icon Prince do not fall under copyright’s fair use doctrine, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday, affirming a Second Circuit decision and finding that Warhol’s work shared the same commercial purpose as the original photo taken of Prince.  Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites » |
Big Tech Breathes Sigh Of Relief After Justices’ Terror Rulings
By Jess Krochtengel
The U.S. Supreme Court’s much-hyped chance to decide the scope of the immunity tech giants like Google and Twitter enjoy under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act fizzled out unceremoniously Thursday as the court decided not to address the question at all, restoring the status quo of broad protection for social media platforms.
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High Court Blocks Claim Twitter Contributed To Terrorism
By Jess Krochtengel
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday threw out a lawsuit saying Twitter violated the Anti-Terrorism Act by aiding and abetting the Islamic State group, saying the terrorism-related claim was not plausible, but did not decide the closely watched question of immunity for big tech companies under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »CBS #MeToo Leaker Revealed As Ex-Covington Lawyer
By Aebra Coe
A former document review lawyer for Covington & Burling LLP leaked information in 2018 from the law firm’s investigation into allegations of sexual assault against the then-CEO of media giant CBS, Leslie Moonves, the lawyer revealed in an interview Thursday with a New York Times podcast.
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Disney Kills New Florida Office Campus Amid DeSantis Feud
By Nathan Hale
The Walt Disney Co. confirmed Thursday that it was scuttling the development of a new corporate campus near Orlando, Florida, along with plans to relocate 2,000 high-wage workers from California, a week after its CEO questioned whether the state still wants the company’s investment amid a roiling feud with Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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TikTok Users Say Montana Has No Authority To Ban App
By Hailey Konnath
A group of TikTok users have sued Montana’s attorney general over the state’s first-of-its-kind law banning the social media platform, slamming the prohibition as unconstitutional and “an attempt to exercise powers over national security that Montana does not have,” according to the complaint entered Thursday in federal court.
Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »Bentons’ Lost-Art, Messy-Files Claims Bunk, UMB Atty Says
By Cara Salvatore
Heirs of artist Thomas Hart Benton launched their trust-mismanagement lawsuit against UMB Bank with a media campaign that included false claims the bank’s legal team had put to bed over years of discussions, and some the bank had never even heard before, an in-house lawyer testified Thursday in a Missouri court.
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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
2nd Circ. Backs Hasbro Win In Royalties Fight
By Adam Lidgett
The Second Circuit has backed a New York federal judge’s decision to throw out an inventor’s suit accusing Hasbro of stealing his board game ideas without paying him, saying his concepts were simply “generic.”
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Toy Designer In T.I. Trial Tearfully Denies Copying OMG Girlz
By Craig Clough
A toy designer for MGA Entertainment testified Thursday in an intellectual property dispute between rapper T.I. and the company, speaking exuberantly for hours about the dolls at the center of the case before breaking down in tears as she denied stealing the idea.
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Adult Clubs Owed Coverage Over Privacy Claims, Models Say
By Ganesh Setty
A group of professional models told a New Jersey federal court that First Mercury Insurance Co. should have covered the owners of two gentlemen’s clubs and a “swinger’s club” they accused of using their images and likenesses in advertising materials without their consent.
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PRIVACY & CONSUMER PROTECTION
Google To Pay $40M To End Wash. Location Data Privacy Suit
By Lauren Berg
Google agreed to pay nearly $40 million to resolve the Washington attorney general’s lawsuit accusing the tech giant of secretly tracking users’ locations, the Attorney General’s Office said Thursday.
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Buzzfeed Accused Of Sharing Data With Tiktok, Google, Meta
By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn
Buzzfeed has been hit with a proposed class action in California federal court alleging it shares personal information about its website users with TikTok, Google and Facebook for targeted advertising in violation of the Video Privacy Protection Act.
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COMPETITION
RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vax Suit Dropped Days After Transfer To NY
By Bryan Koenig
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anti-vaccine group on Wednesday dropped its antitrust lawsuit accusing the Associated Press, the Washington Post, Reuters and the BBC of a censorship campaign with technology companies, days after U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk agreed to transfer the case from Texas to New York federal court.
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NFL Must Produce YouTube Deal Docs In ‘Sunday Ticket’ Suit
By Nadia Dreid
The NFL will have to turn over its new “NFL Sunday Ticket” agreement with YouTube as well as documents related to the negotiation, the California federal court overseeing the long-running antitrust dispute between the football league and DirecTV subscribers has ruled.
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EMPLOYMENT
Bloomberg’s OT Pay To Worker Was Proper, Judge Rules
By Irene Spezzamonte
Bloomberg LP could rely on the fluctuating workweek method to calculate a former human resources employee’s overtime, a New York federal judge ruled, saying the worker’s schedule wasn’t stable and she received the right amount of overtime pay.
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SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR
Ronald Sullivan Takes Ozy Media Case From Sher Tremonte
By Emily Sawicki
Boutique firm Sher Tremonte LLP has dropped out of representing Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson in a $50 million financial fraud case underway in New York federal court, to be replaced by high-profile criminal defense attorney Ronald S. Sullivan Jr., a onetime Harvey Weinstein counsel who teaches law at Harvard Law School.
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Edible Arrangements Wants Ex-COO’s Counterclaims Axed
By Tom Lotshaw
Edible Arrangements is asking a Georgia federal judge to toss several counterclaims lodged by a former chief operating officer whom the designer fruit-basket company has accused of engaging in a $2.5 million kickback scheme, calling them “bare, unsupported and conclusory.”
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FCC Explores Revamp Of Multiple Spectrum Bands
By Christopher Cole
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday proposed new uses for 1,050 megahertz across two spectrum bands and opened another part of the airwaves for new short-range radar uses, such as alerting drivers to children left in hot cars.
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EXPERT ANALYSIS
NFT Trademark Defense Comes Down To Licensing Terms
Though a California federal court recently ruled that alleged copycats had infringed Yuga Lab’s trademark of its Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token collection, the defendants’ arguments illustrate why NFT creators must carefully consider their intellectual property licensing terms before selling virtual products on the blockchain, says Kevin Pasquinelli at Robins Kaplan.
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Why Trump Sexual Abuse Verdict May Be Hard To Replicate
Survivors of sexual assault may be emboldened to file suit after writer E. Jean Carroll’s trial victory against former President Donald Trump, but before assigning too much significance to the verdict, it’s worth noting that the case’s unique constellation of factors may make it the exception rather than the rule, says Jessica Roth at Cardozo School of Law.
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LEGAL INDUSTRY
Proskauer Poaching Row Shows Ethics Pitfalls For C-Suite
By Cara Bayles
Recent allegations that Jonathan O’Brien, former chief operating officer at Proskauer Rose LLP, tried to poach staff on his way out the door are being closely watched by legal recruiters and ethics experts alike, who say the litigation could be a sign of what’s to come as firms continue to employ nonlawyers in C-suite roles.
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McKool Smith Co-Founder Departs To Form New Firm
By Christine DeRosa
Powerhouse law firm McKool Smith said Thursday that one of its founders has left to start his own firm.
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McDermott Allegedly Blocked Employee Talks On Work Terms
By Kevin Penton
McDermott Will & Emery LLP is facing allegations that it has engaged in unfair labor practices by blocking employee discussions related to certain work terms or conditions, according to a charge against the firm filed with the National Labor Relations Board.
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IRS Needn’t Notify Firms Of Bank Doc Summons, Justices Say
By Theresa Schliep
The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed Thursday a Sixth Circuit decision approving IRS summonses for the banking records of two law firms and the wife of a man owing $2 million in taxes, rejecting their arguments that they should have been notified of the requests.
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Analysis
Giuliani’s Seizing On Accuser’s Past Suit Could Be Risky
By Phillip Bantz
The woman who accused Rudy Giuliani of sexual abuse and harassment in a graphic complaint filed this week previously lodged a similar lawsuit against a New York real estate mogul, but experts say it might be risky for Giuliani to dredge up that case to question his accuser’s credibility in court.
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1st Circ. Pick Withdraws After Scrapped Senate Panel Vote
By Katie Buehler
McLane Middleton PA director and shareholder Michael Arthur Delaney, President Joe Biden’s controversial pick for the First Circuit, withdrew his name Thursday from consideration for a seat on the appellate court bench after the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee scrapped an approval vote earlier in the day.
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Civil Rights Atty Becomes 11th Circ.’s 1st Black Woman Judge
By Katie Buehler
The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed Southern Poverty Law Center litigation director Nancy G. Abudu to the Eleventh Circuit, making her the first Black woman to sit on the appellate court’s bench.
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NYC Bar’s Annual Leadership Election Results Are In
By Andrea Keckley
The New York City Bar Association has announced the results of its annual leadership elections, saying Wednesday that 19 of its 26 board members are women or from other underrepresented groups.
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Calif. Bar Backs ‘Snitch’ Rule But Can’t Agree On Specifics
By Andrew Strickler
California bar leaders on Thursday endorsed a new ethics rule that would require Golden State lawyers to report misconduct by their professional peers to regulators but failed to reach a consensus on how far a mandatory duty should go.
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Disability Advocates Call For DOJ Action Against Calif. Bar
By Gianna Ferrarin
Disability advocacy groups filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday accusing the State Bar of California of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act through its process of evaluating accommodations requests for the state’s bar exam from test-takers with disabilities.
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Texas Attys Back Bar’s Disciplinary Action Against State AG
By Emily Sawicki
The State Bar of Texas’ ethics lawsuit against Lone Star State Attorney General Ken Paxton after his attempt to challenge the 2020 presidential election results now has the support of 16 Texas attorneys and the nonpartisan action group Lawyers Defending American Democracy, who filed an amicus brief supporting the State Bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline.
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Podcast
The Term: The Internet Survives The Supreme Court, For Now
The case that many court watchers speculated could break the internet by curtailing protections for social media companies sued over content on their platforms landed with a thud on Thursday, as the U.S. Supreme Court remanded the case back without weighing in on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
