This week the US Court of Appeals Second Circuit issued Google a reprieve from class action certification. Google was alleged by the Authors Guild to have committed copyright infringement by copying and displaying “snippets” of millions of books in the Library Project of its Google Books search tool. The parties had reached an earlier settlement … More Google Wins Class Action Reprieve
Ambiguity in a contract never favors the drafting party. This basic principle of contract law came back to bite Marvel Comics in a recent Court of Appeals Second Circuit decision, Friedrich v. Marvel, regarding copyright renewal. Gary Friedrich, Plaintiff, allegedly authored or at least co-authored a series of stories and screenplay depicting the fictional Ghost … More When “Forever” Is Not Forever
According to the Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit, Plaintiff did not have standing, the legal jurisdictional requirement necessary to sue the alleged copyright infringing Defendants in the case of Righthaven LLC v. Hoehn. Plaintiff Righthaven LLC was founded, according to its charter, to identify copyright infringements on behalf of third parties, receive “limited, revocable assignments” … More Limited Copyright Assignment For Lawsuit Not Valid
The 2nd Circuit last week reversed a summary judgment dismissal of Plaintiff’s Claims for gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliatory dismissal. In Mihalik v. Credit Agricole Cheuvreux North America, Inc. the Court found that although evidence of Plaintiff’s poor work performance supported her termination, there was also sufficient evidence of a hostile work environment such that a … More Gender Discrimination Claims Trump Dismissal For Cause
Some lessons are learned the hard way. Recently SOFA Entertainment Inc. “SOFA” was taxed attorneys’ fees and costs in the amount of $155,000 as a result of their losing copyright infringement lawsuit. Plaintiff SOFA had brought suit against Defendant Dodger Productions Inc. “Dodger” for its use of a 7-second clip of the Four Season’s ’60s … More Attorneys’ Fees Awarded in Fair Use Litigation
Yes, it has come to this. Social media account disputes. Employers, employees and independent contractors rely on these accounts to establish network connections and to promote business opportunities. Guidelines, terms and conditions at sign-up aside, the turf war pits these formerly non-competing parties at the end of employment or upon termination of their business relationship. … More Who Owns Your Social Media Account?
William Tennant 