Steve Smith

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In more academic legal circles, there is a concept called “procedural justice”: in essence, the notion that fair procedures are the best guarantee for fair outcomes. For the most part, this is a concept that seems to have little application outside the esoteric worlds of judicial decision-making and legal system design. Yet I may have recently discovered the most visible, public, and nonacademic test case for the idea of procedural justice imaginable: the World Cup.

Along with the rest of humanity, I have spent the last few weeks watching the World Cup. I have never been a true soccer/football fan. But I used to play as a kid, and I root intensely for the U.S. team out of patriotic pride. In this particular World Cup, though, I have been stunned by just how often the linesmen and referees get it wrong. Soccer is a low scoring affair to begin with. Every goal counts. Often a single goal makes the difference between winning and losing or tying. And a single loss or tie often makes the difference between a team advancing or going home. Continue reading the full story . . . »

Rachel Wilkes Barchie

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If you live in the Hollywood area like this blogger, you’ve no doubt spent time at that Disneyland-esque outdoor mall, the Grove. Hitting the shops, grabbing a bite, seeing a movie, and inevitably, listening to the ubiquitous Frank Sinatra music being blasted through every speaker. (Hearing Sinatra music will now forever be associated in my mind with shopping.)

But the Grove can’t play that Sinatra music (and thereby create that amazing Pavlovian response in its shoppers) without paying up. Indeed, with certain exceptions, the Copyright Act requires any business — be it mall, boutique, restaurant, bar, gym, skating rink, or bowling alley — to pay licensing fees to “publicly perform” copyrighted songs. Although the term “public performance” might conjure up the mental image of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ doppelganger crooning “Come Fly With Me” in front of Banana Republic (if only!), the meaning of the term is much broader and includes not only live performances, but also recordings or broadcasts.

Now if you’ll excuse me, that reminds me, I think there’s a sale at Nordstrom… Continue reading the full story . . . »

Ken Basin

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Oh, the halcyon days of the summer of ’07! Your kids (or you) were enthralled with their first chance to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Your 401(K) balance probably had an extra zero or two on the end of it. The “steroid era of baseball” was a mere virtual certainty, rather than a documented fact. None of us had ever heard of a collateralized debt obligation or credit default swap. And I, but a baby lawyer, was enthralled with this crazy new lawsuit filed by Viacom against Google, alleging that Google was itself responsible for $1 billion worth of copyright infringement on its recently-acquired YouTube service. And oh, how the world has changed in these last three years! Teenage vampires have supplanted teenage wizards, you can safely assume that the slugger in your kid’s little league was juicing, we’re all experts on the vagaries of inventing nonexistent wealth with inscrutable financial instruments and then destroying it with other inscrutable financial instruments, and the Viacom lawsuit…well, that’s still going. Continue reading the full story . . . »

Matt Galsor

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Q: How do I attach, benefit, and protect myself with a script brought to my attention to help with funding?

A: My second child was born recently. A precious, fragile, adorable miracle. It’s moments like this that make you re-focus on what really matters in life. The spotlight of clarity turns brightly on, your eye lashes are taped to your forehead, and you up and see what’s at the core of it all: money. Babies are expensive. Just one year at some Westside pre-schools costs more than four years of college tuition cost me. All you need is love? That’s cute. Tell this to a hungry baby, and the baby will laugh in your face while dialing child protective services. Money can’t buy you love? Maybe not buy love, but it certainly can lease it for you. Of course, I’m exaggerating. Money is not all that important, if you have a lot of it. And clearly the people who brought you this script don’t have a lot of it. Continue reading the full story . . . »

Aaron Moss

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Is it just me, or has there been a larger-than-usual number of right of publicity complaints filed lately by celebrities against advertisers? Among others, we’ve seen Lindsay Lohan’s action against E*Trade andHulk Hogan’s lawsuit against the Post cereal company. In each of these cases, the primary legal issue is whether the celebrity’s identity, or “persona,” has actually been used by the advertiser. This month brought an even more straightforward right of publicity action involving the use of an Albert Einstein photo in a print ad for General Motors. What’s amazing about this one is that, not only did the advertiser not get permission to use what is clearly Einstein’s likeness, but that it placed Einstein’s head on the body of a shirtless underwear model. Which all leads me to wonder: is our bailout money going to pay for this? Continue reading the full story . . . »

Rachel Valadez

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With 4 out of 10 of the top rated TV shows of 2009 being considered “reality” programming, the emergence of “reality” films like Borat ($261 million in world wide box office) and the Jackass movies (over $164 million, collectively), and a certain dowdy Scottish church singer riding a British talent show to 93 million YouTube page views and nearly 9 freakin’ million albums sold, the staying power and lucrativeness of “reality” is undeniable.

Despite its financial success, reality production has always been viewed as the less attractive, less educated stepchild of the entertainment family. And, like other children who’ve experienced the sting caused by not being their parents’ “favorite,” reality productions have had their fair share of binge drinking-induced bar fights and run-ins with the law. Since the early 2000s, the courts have seen an increasing number of lawsuits against reality production companies and studios, brought by both cast members and the mere civilians who have dared cross their paths. The suits have ranged from the expected rights of publicity and defamation claims, to more serious and violent claims, such as assault and battery. Continue reading the full story . . . »