Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. Should the process of lending an electronic book (“e-book”) be treated differently than lending a book from your local library, and should universal access to books be at the crux of the answer? A …
Frivolous Third-Party Trademark Applications: Not “Very Demure,” Not “Very Mindful”
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. An internet trend of users demonstrating their “very demure, very mindful” behaviors has garnered international attention. Millions of people now use the viral phrase in their TikTok videos as a tongue-in-cheek way to express …
The Ellison Family Is Growing and so Are Their Required Legal Formalities with the Federal Government
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. More money, more problems! In July 2024, David Ellison’s Skydance merged with Shari Redstone’s Paramount, and this now $28 billion merger has to deal with government compliance and regulation before its first day of …
Sunday Ticket Tackle: Antitrust Claims Against the NFL
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. Football players aren’t the only ones preparing for kickoff at the start of this 2024-2025 season. Following a four-week trial of a class action lawsuit, on June 27, 2024, a jury in the U.S. …
Redefining the Game: States Battle Against NCAA to Secure NIL Rights for Athletes
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. The attorneys general of Virginia and Tennessee filed a lawsuit, challenging controversial National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) rules that restrict college athletes’ use of their name, image, and likeness (“NIL”).[1] The states assert that …
The MLC and Pandora Battle Over the Definition of an “Interactive Service”
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. Does Pandora’s free ad-supported streaming service (“Pandora Free”) offer its users interactive streams? In a lawsuit filed on February 12, 2024, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (“The MLC”) asserts that Pandora Free falls under the …
UMG v. Anthropic: Can International Copyright Laws Guide U.S. Law?
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. On October 18, 2023, several music publishing companies, including Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group, and ABKCO (the “Publishers”) filed a copyright lawsuit against AI developer Anthropic in a Tennessee federal court.[1] The …
It’s Game On! Fubo TV Takes Legal Action Against Media Titans
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. By 2025, the number of US viewers who stream a sporting event at least once a month is projected to rise to over 90 million.[1] This trend is, at least in part, fueled by the …
We Need A “Swift” Resolution: Taylor Swift Controversy Sparks Federal Debate About Pornographic Deepfakes
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. Sexually explicit, synthetic images of Taylor Swift inundated social media last month, sparking fierce backlash.[1] This is no new phenomenon: the widespread distribution of these non-consensual, “deepfake” pornographic images is increasingly common in the …
Steamboat Willie Enters the Public Domain and Embarks on a New Adventure
Image used under license from Shutterstock.com. Over the last few years, several of Walt Disney’s most famous characters have adopted a new persona that removes them from their quintessential family-friendly environment. For example, one of Disney’s earliest versions of Mickey …