Law360 Media & Entertainment: Kevin Spacey cleared of Sex Assault in NY trial
Friday October 21 2002
| TOP NEWS |
Kevin Spacey Cleared Of Sex Assault In NY Trial
A Manhattan federal jury took just over an hour Thursday to reject claims that Kevin Spacey sexually assaulted actor Anthony Rapp when Rapp was a teenager in 1986, handing a win to the embattled “House of Cards” star.
Trump Told DOJ Clemency Requests Are Personal Records
Former President Donald Trump is claiming that six documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago resort that relate to clemency requests are personal documents and not presidential records, the U.S. Department of Justice revealed in a New York federal court filing Thursday.
Notice attached | Read full article »
Cardi B Didn’t Know Tattoo Was Edited Into Pic, Designer Says
A graphic designer who worked on the racy mixtape cover at the heart of a right-of-publicity suit against rapper Cardi B told a California federal jury Thursday that he never told Cardi B’s representatives he picked an internet-sourced image of the plaintiff’s distinctive tattoo, believing it was “fair use.”
Harvey Weinstein’s Rape Trial Jury Empaneled In LA
A jury of nine men and three women was seated Thursday in the California rape and sexual assault trial of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, setting the stage for opening statements on Monday.
Analysis
Odds May Be In Luka Doncic’s Favor To Erase Mom’s TM
Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic’s fight with his mom over her rights to a trademark bearing his name may help shed light on whether individuals can revoke their consent allowing others to register trademarks, and attorneys told Law360 that Doncic has several arguments in his favor.
Battle Between Chess Rivals Moves From Board To Court
Hans Moke Niemann, a 19-year-old self-proclaimed chess prodigy, filed a defamation suit Thursday in a Missouri federal court against rival Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen, who he says caused “devastating damages” after publicly accusing him of cheating.
Complaint attached | Read full article »
CORRECTED: Dr. Luke’s Cos. Settle Songwriter’s Royalties Suit Ahead Of Trial
A songwriter who sued pop producer Dr. Luke’s companies over royalties has agreed to drop the dispute, ahead of a jury trial that had been scheduled for later this month. Correction: An earlier version of the story misstated the defendants in the case, the damages involved in the case and the parties requesting to strike the jury demand. Those errors have been corrected.
1 document attached | Read full article »
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
IP Forecast: Apple To Fight Fair Use Of IPhones At 11th Circ.
Apple will argue next week at the Eleventh Circuit that a judge wrongly held that a startup’s “virtual” version of Apple’s iPhone to detect bugs is covered by copyright law’s fair use doctrine, a fight that digital rights groups are closely watching. Here’s a look at that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.
Reverse Dish, Sirius XM Fee Award In IP Row, Fed. Circ. Urged
Patent-holding company Dragon Intellectual Property LLC urged a federal appeals court to overturn a ruling that found a decade-long infringement fight exceptional, allowing counsel for Dish Network and Sirius XM to collect more than $3 million in attorney fees.
Brief attached | Read full article »
PRIVACY & CONSUMER PROTECTION
Facebook Judge Gives Tepid OK To ‘Empty’ Data Scrape Deal
A California federal judge Thursday approved Meta’s nonmonetary settlement with Android users alleging Facebook surreptitiously scraped their data for advertisement purposes, but reiterated his prior comments that the deal is “empty” and he’s approving it — and class counsel’s $1.08 million fee award — “with no great enthusiasm.”
France Fines Clearview $19.5M For Photo Data Gathering
France’s data protection regulator has hit Clearview AI with a €20 million ($19.5 million) penalty and ordered it to delete personal data that fuels its facial recognition database, after finding the company’s gathering of millions of French residents’ images to be unlawful.
COMPETITION
FTC Says Meta ‘Buries’ VR Fitness Data In Merger Suit
Meta buried data useful to a federal challenge of the company’s purchase of app developer Within Unlimited in a much larger set of information, the Federal Trade Commission said in a California federal court filing where the agency and the Facebook successor traded barbs over discovery.
Letter attached | Read full article »
‘Metaverse’ Antitrust Issues May Look Familiar
Many of the same antitrust concerns present in online spaces could also accompany the still-nascent “metaverse” of virtual and augmented reality envisioned by the likes of Facebook successor Meta, according to European Union antitrust officials already mulling what enforcement in the space could one day look like.
Read full article »SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR
Muddy Waters Says SEC Tipster Award Suit Is A ‘Shakedown’
Investment research service Muddy Waters and its founder have called a suit against them from a purported former partner a “shakedown” and an “act of desperation and greed,” arguing that he isn’t entitled to any of a $14 million whistleblower award from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Memorandum attached | Read full article »
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
FCC Chief Asserts Rulemaking Power After GOP Concerns
The Federal Communications Commission’s chief detailed the agency’s rulemaking authority for multiple regulations it is pursuing after a key House Republican suggested the FCC might be overstepping its statutory limits.
2 documents attached | Read full article »
REAL ESTATE
SL Green, Caesars Ally For Times Square Casino License Bid
SL Green and Caesars Entertainment Inc. announced a plan on Thursday to rework a high-rise in New York’s Times Square into a casino — the latest bid to win one of three state-issued casino licenses up for grabs.
TAX
Pittsburgh Says Judge Wrongly Nixed Nonresident ‘Jock Tax’
A Pennsylvania judge incorrectly determined that a fee on nonresident professional athletes violates the state constitution’s uniformity clause, the city of Pittsburgh said in appealing the decision.
2 documents attached | Read full article »
EXPERT ANALYSIS
Copyright Compliance Tips Ahead Of Justices’ Warhol Ruling
Ivy Estoesta and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler discuss takeaways from the Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith argument in the U.S. Supreme Court, and offer best copyright practices for those wanting to create new works based on preexisting work, while the decision is pending.
2 documents attached | Read full article »
Public’s M&A Comments Hold Clues For Agency Guidelines
Analysts at Cornerstone Research analyze nonpractitioner responses to the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice’s request for input on merger enforcement, and share how their findings — including high interest in health care and Big Tech — can help legal practitioners anticipate the new guidelines’ content.
Opinion
New-Parent Attorneys Need Automatic Litigation Stays
To facilitate parental leave for solo practitioners and small-firm attorneys excluded from the Family and Medical Leave Act’s protections, the American Bar Association should amend its rules to implement automatic litigation stays for attorneys welcoming a new child, says attorney Gabriel Levy.
LEGAL INDUSTRY
In Hot Lateral Market, Firms Freeze Departing Partners
Many firms’ contracts require attorneys to give several weeks or even months of notice, but they rarely enforce the provisions. The recent surge in lateral hiring may have changed that, industry watchers say.
Del. Chief Judge Says Patent Docket Is Getting Out Of Hand
While the District of Delaware is keeping pace in getting patent cases to trial in two years, Chief U.S. District Judge Colm F. Connolly on Thursday said he’s not sure that’s maintainable, particularly given a rise in generic-drug patent suits.
Davis Polk To Dissolve Paris Office
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP will shutter its Paris office at the end of the year to prioritize its British and American operations, Law360 Pulse confirmed Thursday.
Fed. Judges’ Spouses Should Divulge Legal Work, Groups Say
The spouses of federal judges who provide legal services and lobbying should have to publicly disclose that work to avoid judicial conflicts of interest, government oversight groups have told Congress.
Ex-AG Civiletti Remembered As Legal Titan, Civic Leader
Friends and colleagues are remembering former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin R. Civiletti as a legal giant who not only drove the growth of Venable LLP during his tenure as the firm’s chairman, but also displayed compassion and impeccable judgment.
Wigdor Seeks To DQ Perry Guha In Leon Black Suit
A woman claiming Apollo Global Management’s ex-CEO Leon Black sexually assaulted her urged a New York state judge Thursday to disqualify Perry Guha LLP from representing the billionaire financier, claiming a former New York chief prosecutor who oversaw an investigation into the alleged sexual assault now works for the firm representing him.
Ogletree, Redgrave Want Atty Sanctioned In Calif.
A former Redgrave LLP partner’s suit against her ex-employer is part of a bid to dodge arbitration over alleged unpaid bonuses and back pay, as she “frivolously” also sued Redgrave’s attorneys at Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, and the California federal court should sanction her, the firms have argued.
Google Judge Rips Co.’s ‘Offensive’ Late Bid To Seal Hearing
A California federal judge slammed Google on Thursday for its eleventh-hour request to seal an upcoming hearing on consumers’ class certification motion in high-stakes privacy litigation over the audio recording practices of the company’s home devices, telling Google’s counsel their request doesn’t deserve a response and “it was offensive that you submitted that late.”
Justice Barrett Rejects Effort To Block Student Debt Relief
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday denied an emergency appeal by a group of Wisconsin taxpayers who want to block President Joe Biden’s student debt relief program, the same day a Missouri federal judge rejected a similar effort by six Republican-led states.
Pilots Say Ex-Kirkland, SEC Atty Can’t Judge 737 Max Suit
Pilots said an Illinois federal judge who was previously with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Kirkland & Ellis LLP cannot impartially oversee their case alleging Boeing duped the international aviation community about the 737 Max jets, so a new judge must be assigned to the case.
NYCLU Wins Release Of Memos To New York Judges
A New York state judge ordered the state’s Office of Court Administration to release all confidential memos it sent to judges advising them how to interpret, analyze and apply court decisions and statutes, saying Thursday that the New York Civil Liberties Union’s request for the material was sufficiently tailored.
Law Firm Says Nevada Is Wrong Place For Data Breach Row
Michigan-based Warner Norcross + Judd LLP has asked a Nevada federal judge to dismiss a proposed class action over a 2021 data breach, saying the firm at best only has tentative links to the state and thus the court lacks jurisdiction.
Arguing Free Speech, Pa. Atty Fights Bid To Revive Bias Rule
First Amendment attorney Zachary Greenberg shot back at a bid to reinstate a new anti-bias rule that would impose ethics penalties on lawyers who knowingly engage in racial and sexual discrimination, arguing in a court filing Thursday that the rule from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s attorney disciplinary board violates free speech.
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