Cowan DeBaets Abrahams And Sheppard RSS Feed

From Berlin: Tribeca Acquires "Side By Side" & "Arcadia" Wins Crystal Bear

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:37:00 MST

Berlin/New York: Tribeca Film announced it has acquired North American rights to Side by Side, after its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The documentary is an illuminating journey exploring the transition from film to digital technology and its implications, featuring top directors, producers, cinematographers and many others. Produced and hosted by Keanu Reeves and directed by Chris Kenneally, it is a compelling look at the past and future of cinema. Variety notes the fair use clips featured in the film, an aspect CDAS Partner Marc H. Simon's work focused on. The deal was negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers by Marc H. Simon and producer and client Justin Szlasa.

The family drama Arcadia won the festival’s Crystal Bear. Marc H. Simon is providing production legal services for the film, packaging it for distribution and represents the film’s producer Jai Stefan and his company Shrink Media, as well as the lead financier Jeremy Bailer and his company Madrose Productions. Mr. Simon was also an executive producer on the film.

CDAS @ Social Media Week 2012: “Nets of Social Networks: Minimizing Legal Risk in Social Media”

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:38:00 MST

Once again Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP presented an exciting event on February 16 during global Social Media Week. “Nets of Social Networks: Minimizing Legal Risk in Social Media” featured Partner Kenneth N. Swezey and Partner Eleanor M. Lackman who presented on an array of legal issues affecting the social media landscape. Topics included best practices for mobile terms of use, intellectual property issues in navigating Apple/Android/Amazon application stores, handling cease-and-desist letters, compliance with the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and more. An entertainment and informative q&a followed which also featured CDAS Partner Joshua B. Sessler.

Go Digital Acquires Marc H. Simon’s Unraveled

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:36:00 MST

As reported in Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline today, Go Digital has acquired U.S. rights to CDAS Partner Marc H. Simon’s feature documentary Unraveled, about disgraced attorney and philanthropist, Marc Dreier, and will be releasing it on VOD and in theaters on April 13, 2012. Additionally, Showtime and CNBC have acquired TV rights to the film. Unraveled was produced by Mr. Simon, CDAS client Matthew Makar of Elementary Films, Steven Cantor of client Stick Figure Productions and Miranda Bailey of Ambush Entertainment.

Just days before Bernard Madoff captured headlines as the largest Ponzi schemer in U.S. history, Marc Dreier,a prominent Manhattan attorney, was arrested for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that netted hundreds of millions of dollars from hedge funds. Brazen forgeries and impersonations branded the white-collar crime spree remarkable. Unraveled is set in the "purgatory" of house arrest - - an upper East Side penthouse -- where the Court has ordered Dreier confined until his sentencing day. (Like Unraveled on Facebook here).

Update: Clients' Films Honored

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:27:00 MST

As the sun sets on Sundance, we congratulate our clients whose films were honored both at the festival and at the DGA Awards this weekend.

Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry was awarded the Special Jury Prize, Documentary (which it shared with Live Free or Die) at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend. (Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry, Legal: Robert I. Freedman for producer MUSE Film/TV. Marc H. Simon represents producer Adam Schlesinger).

And Robot & Frank was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Prize (which it shared with Valley of Saints) this weekend at Sundance. The prize recognizes excellence in exploring themes of science and technology in feature films. (For Robot & Frank, Legal: Marc H. Simon for Park Pictures).

James Marsh won the Director Guild of America’s documentary prize this weekend for his film Project Nim. (Legal: Andrea F. Cannistraci for co-producer Maureen Ryan).

Report from Sundance

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 13:45:00 MST

CDAS clients’ films Robot & Frank, The Imposter, Me@TheZoo and Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry are all enjoying successful premieres this week at The Sundance Film Festival. CDAS Partner Marc H. Simon is in Park City and reports enthusiastic receptions for all our clients’ films, and other exciting events and meetings.

Acclaimed by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and listed by the L.A. Times as a top pick at Sundance, writer/director Jake Schreier’s debut Robot & Frank is a dramatic comedy about Frank, an elderly man with declining memory, whose children concerned for his well-being buy him a caretaker robot with unexpected results. (The film has been picked up by Sony Pictures Worldwide and Samuel Goldwyn Films).

Unfolding like a thriller, the documentary The Imposter tells the gripping story of a 13 year-old boy who disappears in 1994 and returns home almost four years later to tell a shocking account of kidnap and torture. His family is overjoyed but soon all is not what it seems.

The documentary Me@theZoo tells the fascinating post-modern tale of Chris Crocker, a video blogger from a small town in Tennessee and part of the first generation raised on the internet under constant self-surveillance. His YouTube declaration “Leave Britney Alone” which has been viewed hundreds of millions of times, catapulted Crocker to internet folk hero status overnight.

Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry offers an unprecedented look at artist and activist Ai WeiWei, known for his architecture, subversive art, and his calls for greater transparency on the part of the Chinese state. Director Alison Klayman chronicles the complexities of Ai’s life in this documentary beginning with his rise to prominence and his run-ins with China’s authorities. (Legal: Marc H. Simon for producer Adam Schlesinger).

(For Robot & Frank, Legal: Marc H. Simon for Park Pictures. For The Imposter, Legal: Susan H. Bodine for A&E, Producer/Financier. For Me@theZoo, Legal: Susan H. Bodine for Michael Stipe’s C-00 and Marc H. Simon for the producers. For Ai WeiWei: Never Sorry, Legal: Marc H. Simon for producer Adam Schlesinger).

Oscar Nominations for "The Tree of Life"

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:41:00 MST

CDAS clients’ The Tree of Life was among the films leading in major Oscar categories when nominations were announced this morning.

Terrence Malick was nominated for Best Director, Emmanuel Lubezki was nominated for Best Cinematography and the film has been nominated for Best Picture.

(For The Tree of Life, Legal: Susan H. Bodine, Frederick P. Bimbler and Andrea F. Cannistraci for River Road Entertainment).

Also, Drive was nominated for Best Sound Editing (Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis). (For Drive, Legal: Marc H. Simon for FilmDistrict).

The 84th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. ET

"Hunger Games" Spiking Sales “whipping up a five-alarm box-office fire”" -– NY Times

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:00:00 MST

Sales of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy are spiking, reports this week’s New York Times. When production began last year on the Lionsgate adaptation of the Hunger Games trilogy there were 9.6 million books in the trilogy in circulation. An online marketing push and MTV spotlights “added kindling” to buzz already spreading across the internet, and by November 16 million books in the trilogy were in print in the U.S. There are now 23.5 million Hunger Games books in print in the domestic market.

The Hunger Games film, which opens March 23 and stars Jennifer Lawrence as the young heroine Katniss Everdeen, takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the government televises an annual fight to the death between a teenage boy and girl.

CDAS Of Counsel Janis C. Nelson represents the Hunger Games trilogy’s author Suzanne Collins.

(Ms. Lawrence, who announced this morning's Oscar nominations, made her own Oscar-nominated debut in another CDAS client film, Winter’s Bone).

Kenneth N. Swezey at The Literary Works and Related Rights Committee

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:43:00 MST

The Literary Works and Related Rights Committee meets Monday, January 23 at the New York City Hilton during the NYSBA 2012 Annual Meeting, to discuss the legal and business landscape affecting literary works, (e-books and related emerging platforms) and strategies to meet these and other growing innovations in publishing and content distribution. Kenneth N. Swezey co-chairs this committee.

The Literary Works and Related Rights Committee seeks to digest, synthesize, and establish a discourse on the intersection of the legal and business landscape affecting literary works. The Committee addresses intellectual property rights in literary works and transactional strategies to meet these and other innovations in publishing and content distribution.

Mary E. Rasenberger at CSUSA’s "Registration and Recordation in the 21st Century"

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:41:00 MST

On Saturday, February 4, (from 12:30pm to 1:30pm), CDAS Partner Mary E. Rasenberger will be at The Copyright Society of the USA’s 2012 Mid-Winter Meeting in L.A. on the panel with the Copyright Office entitled Registration and Recordation in the 21^st Century. The panel addresses the future of registration and recordation and related goals of the Copyright Office over the next few years. This will include issues raised by the registration of online works, how the Copyright Office’s electronic registration system has changed registration practices, revisions to the Copyright Office Compendium currently underway, registration developments in foreign countries and an interactive discussion of the process. This is the last panel of the day and meeting.

Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP is proud to co-sponsor the CSUSA's 2012 Mid-Winter Meeting.

Broadcastr at Dealmakers Summit 2012

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:04:00 MST

The annual DeSilva+Phillips Media Dealmakers Summit 2012, now in its tenth year, will be held Thursday, February 2 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City.

Last year, over 250 attendees, representing a combined $85 billion in 2010 M&A transactions, attended the summit. This year Andy Hunter and Scott Lindenbaum, co-founders of Broadcastr will be joining the distinguished lineup of speakers and moderators. Broadcastr is a new social-media platform for location-based audio that allows its users to listen, create and share recordings on an interactive map, and in Geoplay mode, hear relevant stories about their surroundings automatically stream through smartphones - like a “museum audio tour of the world”.

CDAS Partner Joshua B. Sessler represents Broadcastr.

Meet Math & Science Prodigy Jake Barnett

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:05:00 MST

After some time auditing college level physics courses by night, math prodigy Jake Barnett soon dropped out, of elementary school that is, he was 8 years-old. At age 12 he was doing paid scientific research, and today he is a straight-A honors college sophomore lecturing crowds at his university science symposium. Jake is now 13 years-old.

To help demonstrate he was ready for college, Jake taught himself all of high school mathematics in just two weeks. (His idea of fun is reciting from memory the infinite series of numbers known as pi, he memorized more than 200 in the series, backward and forward, in a single afternoon). Jake is the youngest person to be published in the prestigious physics journal “Physical Review A” and is the subject of a recent 60 Minutes feature. But there was a time when it seemed Jake may never reach college at any age. Diagnosed with autism at age 2, Jake retreated into his own world. It was a world he would later only move out of once he began dedicating his time to things he loved. Today his parents run a center for autistic children called Jacob’s Place.

An agreement with Warner Brothers for Jake’s life story rights was negotiated by CDAS Partners Timothy J. DeBaets and Joshua B. Sessler representing the Barnett family.

Mary E. Rasenberger at 21st Century Copyright Gone Wild

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:28:00 MST

CDAS Partner Mary E. Rasenberger will be speaking at Columbia Law this Thursday, January 26, from 12:10pm to 1:20pm on a panel entitled “21^st Century Copyright Gone Wild: New Terms for Works in the Public Domain, Trying to Stop Foreign Peer-to-Peer Websites & So Much More!”

The event, co-hosted by two Columbia Law School student groups, the Federalist Society and the Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Society, will be held in the main law school building, Jerome Greene Hall, room 105.

Robert J. Epstein at the Midem Music Conference, Cannes

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:00:00 MST

The annual global music conference Midem takes place in Cannes from Saturday January 28 through Tuesday January 31. This global conference brings together nearly 7,000 participants, and approximately 1000 companies, including labels, publishers, artists, distributors and many others from over 77 countries. CDAS Special Counsel Robert J. Epstein will attend.

Al J. Daniel on Copyright Law and Its Basic Concepts

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 10:18:00 MST

CDAS Partner Al J. Daniel is a panelist at the Copyright Law Committee’s Law Clerks Copyright Seminar entitled Copyright Law and Its Basic Concepts, Wednesday, January 25, 6pm -- 9pm, at the City Bar at 42 West 44th Street, NYC. The program will overview the key concepts in copyright law in the U.S., including how case law and interpretations have evolved and continue to evolve in the age of the internet and emerging content delivery.

Is Your Business In Compliance With The Wage Theft Prevention Act?

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:31:00 MST

Under a recently enacted New York statute, the Wage Theft Prevention Act (WTPA), all private sector New York employers are required to provide all employees performing work in New York a written notice advising them of their wage/salary rate. These written notices are due on or before February 1, 2012.

Background

In December 2010, Governor David Paterson signed the Wage Theft Prevention Act into law. The WTPA significantly amended New York’s Labor Law and is intended to be one of the strongest employee protection acts in the nation. It greatly increased employers’ affirmative obligations as well as increased the civil and criminal penalties for failing to comply. Part of the law’s intent appears to be directed toward employers who may have mistakenly designated employees as exempt who should have, under the dense and confusing guidelines, been eligible for overtime.

What The WTPA Requires

WTPA Notices must be provided to all employees, including managers and officers, that perform work in New York. Employers are not required to provide notices to out-of-state employees. The notices must state, in pertinent part:

each employee’s rate of pay (including the overtime rate, if applicable);
how the employee is paid (e.g., hourly, salary, commission, etc.);
when the employee is paid;
any allowances claimed as part of minimum wage; and
information regarding the employer, such as its name, any D/B/A and its address.

The notices must be provided to new hires within ten (10) days of their hiring, and to current employees every year between January 1^st and February 1^st. If the employee’s primary language is not English, notice must be provided in that person’s primary language. Employees must sign and date a written acknowledgement confirming receipt of the notice, and employers are required to maintain copies of the notice and signed acknowledgement for six years. Failure to provide these notices could result in fines assessed by the New York State Department of Labor of $50 per employee per week, up to a total of $2,500 per employee.

What To Do

The New York State Department of Labor’s website has a publically accessible page dedicated to the WTPA, which includes links to a WTPA Fact Sheet, Frequently Asked Questions, and a number of sample notice forms for different positions and in multiple languages. (http://www.labor.ny.gov/workerprotection/laborstandards/workprot/lshmpg.shtm) If you need any additional help in navigating the requirements of the Wage Theft Prevention Act or have questions, CDAS Partner Matthew Kaplan (mkaplan@cdas.com) is available to assist you.

This Advisory is intended to be a general summary of the law and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.

Viacom v. YouTube/Google: How Red Must a Red Flag Be?

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:37:00 MST

By Mary E. Rasenberger

In the ongoing Viacom v. YouTube lawsuit, the case is now on appeal before the Second Circuit.

In a case involving eligibility for the Section 512(c) safe harbor, Judge Louis Stanton of the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of YouTube June 23, 2010 in Viacom's copyright infringement suit against YouTube, holding that YouTube is protected under the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Viacom appealed. The case has been fully briefed and heard in the Second Circuit and is now awaiting decision from the three-judge panel, (Judges Roger J. Miner, Jose A. Cabranes and Debra Ann Livingston presiding). Promptly following the October 18, 2011 hearing, the panel requested additional briefing on two issues: "(1) whether and how the red-flag knowledge provision would apply under the Defendants' "specific" knowledge construction of §512 (c)(1)(A); and (2) whether YouTube's "syndication" of videos to third parties falls outside the scope of safe harbor protection for activities that occur "by reason of... storage at the direction of a user" under §512 (c)(1)."

Under the safe harbor provision in 17 U.S.C. §512 (c) of the DMCA, a service provider that would otherwise be liable for infringement, "by reason of storage at the direction of a user" is protected from liability for copyright infringement if it meets a number of eligibility requirements, including that it not have "actual knowledge" that the material is infringing (§512(c)(1)(A)(i)), nor awareness of "facts and circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent." (§512(c)(1)(A)(ii)). The service provider may still be protected upon obtaining such knowledge or awareness if it acts expeditiously to remove or disable the infringing material or activity.

A principal issue in the case, and other recent cases in which the section 512(c) and (d) safe harbors has been invoked, is what constitutes awareness of "facts and circumstances from which infringing activity is apparent" – known as "red flags" knowledge. The district court analyzed whether actual or red flags knowledge means specific or general knowledge and concluded that both require knowledge of a specific item of infringing content at a specific location (e.g., URL).

In his opinion, Judge Stanton stated that "[g]eneral knowledge that infringement is 'ubiquitous' does not impose a duty on the service provider to monitor or search its services." The court acknowledged that "a jury could find that the defendants not only were generally aware of, but welcomed, copyright infringing material being placed on their website." Nevertheless, the court held that YouTube did not have "awareness" rising to the level of the red flags standard because, in the court's view, it did not have the required specific knowledge of infringement –except in the case of those items for which it received a DMCA notice and expeditiously removed.

On appeal, in its November 1, 2011 response to the court's request for supplementary briefing, YouTube argued that the district court's analysis of the red flags knowledge standard was correct – namely, that the red-flag provision would apply only when a "particular infringement would have been apparent to a reasonable person." YouTube also contended that "[a] plaintiff bears the burden of proving red-flag awareness."

According to YouTube, the burden rests squarely with the content owners to police sites, and with users to follow the law. YouTube maintains that it is merely providing a storage system which is guided solely at the direction of the user. And though YouTube may have "general knowledge" that its site contains copyrighted material, it contends this general knowledge is immaterial and wholly different from specific, actual and actionable knowledge which, YouTube argues, is all they are responsible for. As long as YouTube complies with DMCA-compliant notices that it receives by taking down or disabling the identified clips posted at the URLs identified in the notice, it has done all it needs do to be eligible for the safe harbor.

Viacom asserted in its briefs that, to the contrary, the red flags provision applies when the infringing activity is "apparent" and "obvious" and, in the instance of YouTube, the "obviousness threshold is clearly crossed when the service provider not only is profiting massively from infringing activity but has actually confirmed and quantified widespread infringement, concluding that, in the absence of the infringing activity its views would sink by 80% or more."

Based on the email correspondence among the founders and senior managers of YouTube and other evidence in the record, it is clear that YouTube intentionally allowed the posting of vast, growing quantities of infringing content and relied on it to draw eyeballs and increase the value of the site (estimated by YouTube itself to account for 70-80% the views on the site), and allowed that content to remain on the site so that it could profit from it. If this is not red flags awareness, it is hard to imagine what short of actual, specific knowledge would be.

Further, Viacom argued that YouTube already has detection systems in place – albeit mostly tasked for YouTube's own profit-making purposes. Indeed, YouTube's principal business strategies are based on such complex and sensitive metrics regarding what content is trending, what the content consists of, who is viewing it and where it comes from, which inform YouTube's ad placements, syndication deals with mobile companies such as Apple and Sony, and myriad other business decisions.

In response to the court's question regarding the meaning of "storage at the direction of a user," Viacom argued that the §512 (c) safe harbor applies only to infringement resulting from the actual "storage" or hosting of user content, and that this stored content should not be made available to other users as YouTube did. Moreover, according to Viacom, YouTube's multi-million dollar syndication deals with various mobile platforms greatly expanded these infringing activities, and were "...the result of YouTube's own strategic business decisions and are entirely independent of any action by the user." Users were never consulted on such syndication deals nor do users reap the millions in profits for such deals as YouTube and its parent company Google does.

The underlying question that the Second Circuit must address in this case is whether a service provider that knowingly provides access to a vast amounts of infringing content posted by users, and profits from it, has any meaningful responsibility under §512 beyond responding to DMCA takedown notices? The district court in Viacom answered that question with a resounding "no" by collapsing the various requirements in the §512 (c) safe harbor into the notice and takedown provision (one of several requirements including the actual knowledge, red flags and vicarious liability standards).

The Ninth Circuit in UMG v. Veoh just affirmed the district court's similar views in its December 20, 2011 opinion, which harshly criticized UMG for not utilizing the notice and takedown procedures in §512 (c), implying that the takedown provisions are the copyright owner's main recourse. The problem with this heavy reliance on notice and take down, however, is that it is ineffective for abating infringement on sites that allow users to post content or store it in the cloud for others to access. It is virtually impossible for any copyright owner to locate and identify each and every item of infringing content on the Internet or even a particular site (while a service provider can filter material being posted as it is ingested, a third party cannot), and once content is removed pursuant to a takedown notice, it is immediately put back up somewhere else.

Written in 1998, the DMCA did not contemplate user generated (or posted) content sites, such as YouTube, nor the volume of or speed with which material is now uploaded to internet sites (for YouTube approximately 35 hours of video each minute). At the same time, it may also not have anticipated the sophistication of systems that can automatically self-police a site, scanning for red-flags, and surfacing and streamlining its findings to decision-makers. It is questionable (if not already clear) whether any method other than the use of software systems will be able to keep pace with amounts of infringing content available on the Internet. At the same time, copyright-management systems such as RightsFlow (which Google/YouTube acquired this month) are quickly evolving and may provide reasonable, cost-effective solutions.

With the Ninth Circuit affirmation in UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc. (Nos. 09-56777, 10-55732 (9th Cir. Dec. 20, 2011)) of YouTube's argument that "[a] plaintiff bears the burden of proving red-flag awareness," and other recent decisions that have adopted this view (see, e.g., Capitol Records, Inc. v. MP3Tunes, LLC, No. 07 Civ. 9931 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 22, 2011), the Second Circuit's decision will be pivotal in determining whether service providers will have any responsibility beyond notice and take-down for curbing the massive amounts of online infringement on their sites from which they knowingly profit (and in some of these cases encourage) at the expense of the copyright owners.

(Click here for YouTube's letter brief of 11/1/11 in 10-3270, Viacom International Inc., et al. v. YouTube, Inc., et al.; 10-3270, and also The Football Association Premier League Ltd. v. YouTube Inc. 10-3342 and click here for Viacom's response of 11/8/11).

Golden Globe Nomination for Client Sofia Vergara

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:09:00 MST

Frederick P. Bimbler and all of us congratulate client Sofia Vergara on her Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. The announcement came the day after her Screen Actors Guild nomination for Oustanding Female Actor in a Comedy Series.

Modern Family itself also picked up a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series – Comedy or Musical, individual nominations for others in the cast and also led in SAG Award nominations. We’ll be watching the 69^th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday January 15, 2012 and the SAG Awards on Sunday January 29, 2012.

Mary E. Rasenberger on Panel Discussing the Google Books Settlement

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:46:00 MST

In March, the proposed settlement between Google and book publishers and authors over Google’s book scanning and book search programs, was rejected. On November 30, at the 2011 Conference on Copyright and Technology, a panel of legal experts including CDAS Partner Mary E. Rasenberger considered the unanswered questions that decision left behind. Click here to LISTEN to this panel “The Google Books Settlement: Good Riddance or Lost Opportunity?" (This podcast is part of the Copyright Clearance Center’s “Beyond the Book" series).

A Week of Honors for Clients' Films

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 17:21:00 MST

The Tree of Life tied for Best Feature at the 21st Annual Gotham Independent Awards in New York Monday night. The next day the 2011 New York Film Critics' Circle Awards were announced; Brad Pitt (Best Actor) and Jessica Chastain (Best Supporting Actress) both won for The Tree of Life which also took the award for Best Cinematography. Werner Herzog's Cave of Forgotten Dreams won the NY Film Critics' Circle award for Best Non-Fiction Film. Also, the documentary Project Nim joined the quintet of films nominated yesterday by the Producer's Guild of America (PGA) for its documentary feature award. Only a few days earlier Project Nim had advanced in the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature as it moved up to join the 15 documentaries shortlisted so far in that category for the 84th Academy Awards.

(For The Tree of Life, legal: Susan H. Bodine, Frederick P. Bimbler and Andrea F. Cannistraci for River Road Entertainment. For Cave of Forgotten Dreams, legal: Marc H. Simon for Creative Differences. For Project Nim, legal: Andrea F. Cannistraci for co-producer Maureen Ryan).

CDAS Presents a "Copyight & Trademark Law Primer" at PLI

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 13:41:00 MST

On Friday December 9 from 2:15pm to 3:30pm, CDAS attorney Zehra J. Abdi presents "Copyright and Trademark Law Primer" at the Practising Law Institute (PLI). This primer is part of PLI's annual Bridge-the-Gap program; newly admitted attorneys may attend the two-day Bridge-the-Gap program to satisfy all of their annual MCLE requirements.

Eleanor M. Lackman Speaks at PLI's "IP Licensing Issues"

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 07:29:00 MST

On Thursday January 19, 2012from 3:30pm to 5pm, Eleanor M. Lackman speaks on the panel “IP Licensing Issues” at the IP Issues in Business Transactions 2012 conference at the Practising Law Institute (PLI). Ms. Lackman will address IP strategies and protections necessary to achieve a timeline of goals for transactions involving copyright, trademark and publicity rights. Topics include grant backs, sublicensing rights, first sale issues, enforcement, quality control and more.

Legal Blog

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 08:10:00 MST

Buzz Aldrin Grounded

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 08:13:00 MST

The Topps Company recently released a set of “American Heroes” trading cards which include well-known politicians, actors, athletes, scientists and events. Famed astronaut Buzz Aldrin attempted to block the release of certain cards believing the cards improperly incorporate his name, likeness and image in a commercial manner. The cards in question include the famous “Visor Shot” image of Aldrin on the outside of the cardboard box packaging, a mission card, and a “signature cut” card which contains original signatures taken from other documents.

Aldrin brought the suit in a California Federal Court alleging violations of California’s common law and statutory rights to publicity, among other claims. Topps moved to strike the complaint under California’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute which allows a defendant to strike a complaint that attempts to restrict their right of free speech in connection with a public issue.

When examining the special motion to strike, the court must first determine “whether the defendant has made a threshold showing that the challenged cause of action is one arising from protected activity.” The court must then decide whether the plaintiff has evidenced that the activity is not protected. If it is found that the activity is protected, and the plaintiff cannot show a legally sufficient complaint supported by a prima facie showing of facts, the cause of action should be stricken under the anti-SLAPP statute.

In this action, the cards were found to be protected speech relating to a public issue. The court distinguished this situation from prior cases in which the use of a prominent person’s name or likeness were found to constitute unprotected commercial speech. Here the court focused on the fact that the cards convey information about historically significant achievements, propose no commercial transaction, and are not advertisements for any related or unrelated products. Additionally, the court reasoned that the “Visor Shot” on the outside packaging is a “mere adjunct” to the cards themselves, and therefore does not constitute an advertisement. The court rejected Aldrin’s claim that the cards were no more than commercial merchandise.

The court held that Topps met its burden of demonstrating that the cards are protected speech, whereas Aldrin did not meet his burden of refuting that status. As a result, the Topps motion to strike Aldrin’s complaint was granted. The case is currently being appealed.

With its focus on trading cards, the case may reflect a shifting line between what is viewed as purely pop commercial merchandise even simple advertisement on the one hand -- and informational even educational protected speech on the other. Though trading cards have existed for generations, protected speech here seems less bound to traditional media in an age where youth increasingly get their information through pop commercial media such as videogames, social media, comics, etc.

Mary E. Rasenberger on the Google Books Settlement

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 07:32:00 MST

On Sunday, November 30, from 11:30am to 12:45pm, CDAS Partner Mary E. Rasenberger will be speaking at the C&T Conference on Copyright & Technology 2011. Her panel “The Google Book Settlement: Good Riddance or Lost Opportunity?”will be held at the Manhattan Penthouse. Now that the settlement is dead, what will happen next? What should happen?

Nancy E. Wolff on Art Law Panel at NYCLA

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 07:33:00 MST

On Friday, November 18 (8:45am – 5:30pm) Nancy E. Wolff joins a panel of experts on art law at the NYCLA, 4th Annual Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Institute. (CLE credit available).

CDAS Congratulate Clients’ Films Opening Today!

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 07:35:00 MST

CDAS congratulates our clients on their films opening today. Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, Brazil’s highest-grossing domestic film and its Oscar bet for Best Foreign Film, opens today in the U.S.

Also Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss opens today in limited release. The Rum Diary starring Johnny Depp, which opened in the U.S. a week ago, has its U.K. opening today. And Pete Smalls is Dead starring Peter Dinklage and Tim Roth opens today.

And Immortals opens across the country today including in 3-D.

(For Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, Legal: Susan H. Bodine for director Jose Padilha. -- For Into the Abyss, Legal: Marc H. Simon for Creative Differences. -- For The Rum Diary, Legal: Marc H. Simon for FilmDistrict. -- For Pete Smalls Is Dead, Legal: Robert L. Seigel for prod. co. Ms. Tangerine. -- For Immortals, Legal: Susan H. Bodine and Lisa K. Digernes for Universal International).

Mary E. Rasenberger at Anti-Piracy Summit

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 06:36:00 MST

Tuesday November 15 from 9:45am to 10:30am, Mary E. Rasenberger will speak on the panel “Around the World: Recap of Recent Legislative Efforts” at The Anti-Piracy and Content Protection Summit in Sentry Center, NYC. (The entire festival runs November 14-16^th). Topics include updates on the pending Protect IP Act, new international regulatory proposals, and international ip support.

Mary E. Rasenberger Speaks on Righthaven at IPLJ

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:37:00 MST

On Friday November 11, from 9:30am to 3:45pm, CDAS Partner Mary E. Rasenberger will speak at the 2011 IPLJ at a Fordham School of Law conference, “IP Bullying or Proactive Enforcement?” about the Righthaven cases.

Eleanor M. Lackman – The New Frontier: Clouds

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:38:00 MST

Eleanor M. Lackman speaks on a panel entitled “The New Frontier: Clouds” as part of the 23^rd Annual North American Entertainment, Sports and Intellectual Property Law Conference in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on November 12. This plenary, the closing panel of the conference, focuses on cloud-based media and how to navigate the web of IP, business and legal concerns in this rapidly evolving frontier.

Jennifer Fox’s My Reincarnation In Theaters

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 05:39:00 MST

The critically-acclaimed documentary My Reincarnation is now in theaters in New York, poised to expand to other markets. Jennifer Fox’s documentary follows Yeshi, the Westernized son of Buddhist master Chogal Namkhai Norbu. Yeshi has been acknowledged since the age of 5 to be the reincarnation of Khyentse, a great Dzogchen Buddhist master himself. Still Yeshi through his teens rebuffs a life expected by others as he remains emotionally estranged from his father. This award-winning film traces Yeshi’s spiritual awakening as he struggles with who he truly is. (Legal: Robert I. Freedman for director/producer Jennifer Fox, and Zohe Films, and Robert L. Seigel for executive producer Joanna Plafsky).

Andrea F. Cannistraci at Stock Footage: Creative Uses, Licensing and Fair Use at PIIP

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 04:40:00 MST

"Stock Footage: Creative Uses, Licensing and Fair Use", an educational event co-hosted by the Parsons Institute for Intellectual Property (PIIP) and the Association of Commercial Stock Footage Licensors (ACSIL), was a great success. Panelists, including Andrea F. Cannistraci, spoke November 3 about the use of stock footage to produce content across media, the creative and legal opportunities and limitations inherent in using stock footage and the practical issues of licensing, clearances and the applicability of Fair Use doctrine. ACSIL is a non-profit association dedicated to promoting and advancing the professional interests of the stock footage industry. The Parsons Institute for Intellectual Property at The New School focuses on the intersections between intellectual property, ownership, expression, culture and media in the 21st Century.

Spreecast Launches Today!

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:41:00 MST

We congratulate Spreecast -- a social video platform that lets people broadcast together -- o n its launch today. Marc H. Simon was pleased to be one of the inaugural Spreecasts as he was interviewed by Spreecast founder Jeff Fluhr about Unraveled, the 2011 documentary produced and directed by Mr. Simon and co-produced by CDAS client Stick Figure Productions.

Mobcaster Launches Today!

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:42:00 MST

Mobcaster, a crowd-funding platform / online television channel launches today. Mobcaster pioneers an innovative way to discover and watch new television shows. This site allows TV creators to pitch their show ideas directly to the audience who then have the chance to choose what gets made. If audience members like the concept, they can pledge directly to the shows they want to see and if there is enough support, the show is produced. Fresh, talented writers and producers now have a platform to build their audience who then return to watch original, independent, audience-supported television programming. (Legal: Andrea F. Cannistraci and Joshua B. Sessler).

Firm Profile

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 07:20:00 MDT

We provide transactional services for clients in connection with feature film, documentaries, cable, broadcast television, theatre, music, publishing, dance, photography, visual arts, fashion, software, advertising, licensing and online technologies. We counsel in copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights as well as manage clients' trademark portfolios. Our litigators handle all forms of media and digital rights disputes including copyrights, trademarks, advertising, domain name, media defense, publicity rights and commercial cases. We understand our clients' businesses and are committed to offering them individual attention that includes in-depth industry knowledge, as well as focused legal advice.

Kenneth N. Swezey @ Storyworld

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 07:43:00 MDT

Kenneth N. Swezey spoke on a panel discussing how to structure deals for transmedia properties at Storyworld in San Francisco on November 1st, the conference for multiplatform storytelling that reaches audiences across all platforms, from films, to books, games, social media and much more. The well-received panel “Pitching and Selling Your Idea – Challenges and Parameters” covered a host of challenges encountered in this emerging digital content format from initial pitching and steering your intellectual property from idea to execution, including deal structuring, leveraging new contracts and many strategies to develop your IP in conjunction with publishers, digital media producers, and studios involved in transmedia projects.

Planet B-Boy In Production

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 06:44:00 MDT

Production has commenced on Screen Gems’ Planet B-Boy, (a fictional motion picture based on the documentary Planet B-Boy), starring Josh Halloway (Lost) and Laz Alonzo (Avatar, Straw Dogs). The film, directed by Benson Lee who also directed the documentary, focuses on the world of international break-dancing competitions. (Legal: Robert L. Seigel for the documentary and for Benson Lee).

News Blog

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:37:00 MDT

CLIENT ADVISORY: Sunrise Period for Trademark Owners Seeking to Defensively Block Registrations of .xxx Domain Names Is Now Open

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:15:00 MDT

The new .xxx top-level domain (TLD), designed to cater to the online adult entertainment community, is now available for registrations. But brand owners with registered trademarks outside that industry have a limited opportunity to defensively block registrations before the operator of a pornographic website claims BRAND.xxx – as long as the brand owner acts before the blocking period closes on October 28, 2011. After that date, trademark blocks will no longer be available.

Background and Key Dates

In late March of this year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved .xxx as a new sponsored TLD designed for use by providers of “online adult entertainment intended for consenting adults,” and those who provide products or services to those providers (the “Sponsored Community”). ICM Registry LLC, appointed by ICANN, will start to launch the .xxx TLD, on December 6, 2011.

Before the launch date, there are two Sunrise periods to note (A and B) that run from September 7, 2011 through October 28, 2011. The Sunrise A category includes only members of the Sponsored Community who: (a) either own a registered trademark in use, and/or (b) operate a corresponding domain name created on or before February 1, 2010.

If a brand owner is not in the Sponsored Community, it may qualify for the Sunrise B category if it owns a trademark or service mark registration issued prior to September 1, 2011. Because the .xxx TLD is designed for the Sponsored Community, domain names reserved under Sunrise B will not technically be registered but will resolve to a standard page that indicates that the name is not available for registration. After the sunrise period, the “Landrush” phase of registration will be open from November 8 through 25, allowing members of the online adult entertainment industry to register .xxx domain names. The General Availability period opens on December 6, 2011 at which point anyone may register a .xxx domain name. During Landrush, competing requests will be allocated in a closed auction. After General Availability opens, domain names will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.

What types of trademarks are eligible for Sunrise B reservation?

Only trademarks registered before September 1, 2011 and valid at the time of the domain name application are eligible for the Sunrise B period. The ICM Registry may also require proof of use in commerce, a caveat that is particularly relevant to those who intend to rely on registrations in countries where (unlike in the U.S.) proof of use is not required for registration. All other marks are ineligible, i.e., trademarks that are the subject of pending applications as of September 1, 2011, “dead” marks, marks with all text disclaimed, unregistered trademarks, U.S. state trademarks, marks that are the subject of international applications through the Madrid system (unless there is a corresponding registered national trademark), and marks on the Supplemental Register.

While trademark owners with hyphens, ampersands or other special characters in the name may record the mark to be blocked in forms with and without the special character, defensive registration against “typosquatting” is not permitted in the sunrise phase. The block must correspond to the exact trademark without any additional letters or terms, or any misspellings.

How much will it cost?

Fees vary by registrar, but filing fees charged by the registry are estimated to range between $200 to $500 per mark. For Sunrise B, this is a one-time fee only, and there are no annual registration fees.

How long does the block last?

Subject to any enforcement policies, the Sunrise B registration is permanent. However, the ICM Registry does have the right to reinstate any name if the underlying trademark registration used to reserve it lapses.

After the sunrise period there will be no permanent opt-out. Non-members of the community may register a non-resolving site and keep the registration by paying annual renewal fees.

For those brand owners who do not want to police the .xxx domain over the years, the Sunrise registration may have its advantages in spite of the fees. Already many celebrities have taken advantage of the blocking period to protect their names.

If you have any questions on this advisory, please contact your CDAS attorney.

DOC NYC features Unraveled, First Position, Into the Abyss, No Look Pass and On Being There with Richard Leacock

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:30:00 MDT

Unraveled screens at DOC NYC November 5^th and 9^th. Directed and produced by CDAS Partner Marc H. Simon (After Innocence, Nursery University) and co-produced by Frederick P. Bimbler's client Stick Figure Productions, Unraveled is an intimate portrait of Marc Dreier, a prominent Manhattan attorney, arrested for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that netted hundreds of millions of dollars from hedge funds. Interwoven with flashbacks, Unraveled is set in the "purgatory" of house arrest -- an upper East Side penthouse -- where the Court has ordered Dreier confined until his sentencing day.

First Position also screens November 5^th at DOC NYC. Directed and produced by Bess Kargman, this documentary follows six aspiring dancers (ages 9-19) as they prepare for the ballet's toughest youth competition. The film has enjoyed raves from critics including in Variety.

Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss will open DOC NYC on November 2^nd. Co-produced by CDAS client Creative Differences, this documentarytakes us inside a Texas prison to meet inmates convicted of triple homicide. Mr. Simon has handled the legal services and negotiations for the distribution of both films and has also handled the financing and production for First Position. North American distribution rights forInto the Abyss as well as First Position have been picked up bySundance Selects, a sister company of IFC Films, which enjoyed solid success with Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams. (Mr. Simon also provided legal counsel for the distribution of Dreams as well).

Opening DOC NYC’s Tribute to Richard Leacock on November 4th is Jane Weiner’s work-in-progress On Being There with Richard Leacock. In this intimate portrait of documentarian Richard Leacock, Director Jane Weiner draws upon footage that she’s shot over 38 years of Leacock’s encounters with other master filmmakers and artists. The film includes footage from his classic films and never-before-seen segments from his personal archives. Ms. Weiner is represented by CDAS’ Robert I. Freedman.

Melissa Johnson's award-winning documentary, No Look Pass will make its East Coast debut at Doc NYC on November 5^th and 7^th. The film follows Harvard basketball superstar Emily Tay, who struggles to balance the rigors of playing for a professional basketball team in Germany while trying to maintain a relationship with her conservative Burmese-American immigrant parents, and gains the courage to “come out” in her lesbian relationship with a U.S. servicewoman on the cusp of the demise of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”. Winner of the Special Programming Award for Freedom at LA's Outfest, it has been hailed as a “A masterful piece of documentary filmmaking… the most honest show of a lifetime.” CDAS’ Janis Nelson represents No Look Passdirector/producer Melissa Johnson and production company High Hip Productions.

CDAS is proud to once again co-sponsor DOC NYC.

Jim Harrison’s Novel The Great Leader on NYT Bestsellers List

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:03:00 MDT

Hitting the New York Times Bestsellers List this week, Jim Harrison’s newest novel The Great Leader finds his aging protagonist, Sunderson, hunting a cult leader. Pete Dexter in the New York Times writes, “it carbonates page after page. You might go so far as to compare it to Joe DiMaggio’s 56-page hitting streak.”… “30 odd books down the road and you can still feel the excitement every time he (Harrison) pulls something out of his ear, which pretty much happens on every page he writes.”… “Jim Harrison can break all the rules he wants and come out smelling like a rose.” J. Stephen Sheppard represents Mr. Harrison.

Screen Media Acquires Pic About Fifty

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 07:04:00 MDT

As reported in Variety this week, Screen Media has acquired About Fifty (formerly entitled Fifty Nothing) and will release in November. Described as a “coming of age story about the coming of age," the comedy follows two men trying to relive their younger days during a holiday getaway to Palm Springs. The film was repped by Executive Producer Melanie Becker with CDAS Partner Robert L. Seigel on behalf of Five Oh Productions, LLC, and the deal was brokered with Screen Media’s Suzanne Blech and David T. Fannon

The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 05:05:00 MDT

Food writer, cookbook author, and brisket zealot Stephanie Pierson’s The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes is now available in hardcover and e-book. "Some foods will improve your meal, your mood, your day, your buttered noodles. Brisket will improve your life,” Ms. Pierson declares. From Scandinavian Aquavit Brisket, to a Barbecued Brisket Sandwiches with Firecracker Sauce, to a vegetarian Seitan Brisket, there are recipes for every taste and occasion. “Brisket is a cross-cultural wonder,” Ms. Pierson writes, “a Jewish dish cooked in a Dutch oven with a Sicilian sauce served in North Dakota.” J. Stephen Sheppard represents Ms. Pierson.

CDAS Client NDI Gets Its Own Stage

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 10:08:00 MDT

For 35 years, CDAS client The National Dance Institute (NDI) has rented and borrowed space as it brought performance and arts education to thousands of New York City public school students, but last Tuesday a ribbon cutting ceremony opened NDI’s new home, in what was formerly P.S. 90 Public School, in Harlem. “I think of the center as a crucible of learning and the arts,” said Mr. d’Amboise, 77, founder of NDI and the subject of “He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’,” which won the 1983 Oscar for best feature documentary. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other dignitaries were on hand for the ribbon-cutting. CDAS’ Robert I. Freedman, who represents Mr. D’Amboise and NDI, has been an NDI Board Member for 12 years and was chair of the committee that financed, acquired and built the new facility.

Wishful Drinking’s Chicago Run Opens to Raves

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:32:00 MDT

Hot off two Emmy nominations for the filmed HBO special of her Broadway one-woman live performance, Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher’s Chicago run has opened to raves.

Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune writes: “It's a savvy highlight of an extraordinarily well-constructed solo show: as shrewd and arresting and deliciously meta, a celebrity solo confessional as you are ever likely to see…”. And from the Chicago Stage Review: “Her banter with the audience is delightfully funny, confident and as fearless as her personal exposé… She is having a great time at her own expense and she creates a wonderfully intelligent, profoundly personal and extremely entertaining evening in the process.” Frederick P. Bimbler represents Carrie Fisher and the live-stage show.

Eleanor M. Lackman Named to INTA’s Internet Committee

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:11:00 MDT

Eleanor M. Lackman has been appointed to INTA’s Internet Committeefor the 2012-2013 term. The International Trademark Association (INTA) is an organization of several thousands of members from over 190 countries. Its Internet Committee advises INTA on policies and advocacy related to trademarks and the internet including domain name issues and matters involving general online trademark use. “It is an honor to be selected to join leading trademark practitioners from law firms, technology companies and other major corporations from around the world, to discuss and advise on legal and policy issues that will impact trademark owners and online trademark use in particular,” Ms. Lackman reports.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is Brazil’s Oscar Bet

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 18:35:00 MDT

Director José Padilha's Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Tropa de Elite 2), Brazil’s submission for the 84th Academy Awards, opens November 11 in the U.S. This gritty crime thriller, (which passed its predecessor Elite Squad as Brazil’s most successful movie of all time), uncovers a far-ranging web of corruption amongst the special military police assigned to clean up the crime-ridden favelas of Rio. Next up, Mr. Padhila helms the re-boot of Robocop. Susan H. Bodine represents Mr. Padilha and provided production and distribution legal services for the film.

CDAS Brings In Two New Partners to Expand Its Copyright, Trademark & Digital Media Practice

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:46:00 MDT

Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard LLP is expanding its digital media and intellectual property practice with strategic hires of two well-known attorneys in the copyright and trademark fields, Mary E. Rasenberger and Eleanor M. Lackman, who have joined the firm, each as a partner. (PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL PRESS RELEASE).

Also, Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP is pleased to announce:

Lisa K. Digernes, Matthew A. Kaplan and Joshua B. Sessler have all been promoted to partner.
David E. Ashley and Joshua S. Wolkoff have joined the firm as associates.
Janis C. Nelson joins the firm as Of Counsel in the firm’s Beverly Hills Office.

Motherhood Out Loud & The Fartiste

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 18:52:00 MDT

Motherhood Out Loud, (now in previews, opening October 4, Off-Broadway), is a new play about modern parenthood made up of scenes and monologues from celebrated American writers. M. Kilburg Reedy represents Susan Rose and Joan Stein, the co-conceivers. Also, The Fartiste, a new musical comedy, begins previews October 13 and opens October 27, Off-Broadway. With book by Charles Schulman and music and lyrics by Michael Roberts, the show is based on the strange but true story of a famed late-19th century Parisian music hall performer with an unusual talent. M. Kilburg Reedy represents composer/lyricist Michael Roberts and producing entity The Schulberts.

Relatively Speaking Now in Previews

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:56:00 MDT

Relatively Speaking, a comedy made up of one-act plays by Ethan Coen, Woody Allen and Elaine May, began previews September 20 and opens October 20 on Broadway. Frequent Coen Brothers collaborator John Turturro directs the cast which includes Julie Kavner. Each of the three one-acts follows a different branch of a single family tree. Timothy J. DeBaets represents Edward Walson, the co-producer of Relatively Speaking. (Mr. Walson is also an independent film producer (City Island) and cable television owner, he and his family own Service Electric Cable TV systems).

Timothy J. DeBaets & Robert I. Freedman: Super Lawyers

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:57:00 MDT

Timothy J. DeBaets has been named a Super Lawyer, and for the sixth year in a row, Robert I. Freedman has been named a Super Lawyer. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas; the selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. Super Lawyers magazine features the list and profiles of selected attorneys and is also published as a special section in leading city and regional magazines.

Client FilmDistrict’s Drive Owns the Road

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 08:04:00 MDT

Just as the race for audiences' and critics' summer winner seemed at its end, CDAS client FilmDistrict’s Drive is pulling to the front. Hot off its Cannes’ Best Director honors for Nicholas Winding Refn, Drive wound through last week’s Toronto International Film Festival with a boost of excitement. Since opening across the country last Friday, the film is generating broad critical heat right off the starting line. This high-octane action-drama stars Ryan Gosling as a wheelman who drives movie stunts by day and a getaway car by night. Marc H. Simon, who represents FilmDistrict, congratulates his client as their winning streak continues in "over Drive".

Toronto Film Festival: Into the Abyss, First Position, Think of Me & Dark Horse

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 07:06:00 MDT

Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss opened at the Toronto International Film Festival. (The ten-day festival ended this last weekend). The documentary takes us inside a Texas prison to meet inmates convicted of triple homicide. And First Position premiered at Toronto. Directed and produced by Bess Kargman, this documentary follows six aspiring dancers (ages 9-19) as they prepare for the ballet world's toughest youth competition. The film has enjoyed raves from critics including Variety. Marc H. Simon is handling the legal services and negotiations for the distribution of both films and has also handled the financing and production for First Position.

Variety reports that following the standing ovation for First Position, buyers were “immediately on the phone” and that the film “looks like this year’s Spellbound.”

North American distribution rights for Into the Abyss have already been picked up by Sundance Selects, a sister company of IFC Films, which enjoyed solid success with Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams.(Mr. Simon also provided legal counsel for the distribution of Dreams as well).

Also, Robert L. Seigel represents Greyshack Films one of the producers of Think of Me which made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, starring Lauren Ambrose, is written and directed by Bryan Wizemann who is also represented by Robert. Robert also provided some of the financial legal services in connection with Dark Horse directed by Todd Solondz, which also screened in Toronto.

Madonna’s Not the Only “Material Girl”: Judge Denies Summary Judgment

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 08:17:00 MDT

In California, a Federal Court Judge denied the defendent's -- Madonna's -- Motion for Summary Judgment that she is the "senior trademark user" of the "Material Girl" mark. This now clears the path for a lawsuit by the plaintiff, clothing company L.A. Triumph, which has sold a "Material Girl clothing line since 1997.

Madonna and her company MG ICON, LLC claim that she was the first to create, use, and popularize the mark through her 1985 song, “Material Girl,” its accompanying video, and sales of clothing through her worldwide tours over the years since.

At the heart of the case is the issue of what defines seniority in legal use of a mark. Madonna claims that based on her music and the accompanying clothing sales beginning in 1985, that she was the first to hold the rights to use the mark. However, the plaintiff contends that Madonna’s use was merely merchandising to promote her music, not use in an established clothing line in retail locations across the country as L.A. Triumph’s brand is. The judge agreed. Performing a song does not in itself earn rights to use a related trademark without establishing the trademark’s use in commerce. Since Madonna could only evidence clothing sales baring the mark from 2001 to 2005, that use did not precede L.A. Triumph’s use of the mark since they launched their line in 1997.

Additionally, the court addressed the issue of the likelihood of confusion of the two brands. Defendants suggested that there would be no confusion between the two brands because Madonna’s brand was distributed through a higher-end retailer, Macy’s, while Plaintiff’s brand is generally found in discount retailers. However, Plaintiff showed evidence that Macy’s clothes are also sold in discount retailers, therefore their appearance could create confusion for consumers. The judge felt there are several issues of material fact that should be decided before a jury rather than by summary judgment.

This case could also present an interesting challenge to what constitutes use of a trademark in commerce. Is printing and selling merchandise baring the mark to promote its use and brand different than starting a fashion label baring the mark that also seeks to promote brand identity? If artists create the recognition of a particular word or phrase and it becomes synonymous with their persona in the media, does that recognition deserve ip rights and protections? Did the plaintiff’s line garner more sales as a result of Madonna’s popularity and use of the mark a decade prior and throughout her 25-year career? Expect similar questions to be answered in the trial scheduled for October of this year. It could have an interesting impact on trademark case law.

(Click here for Civil Minutes, L.A. Triumph v. Madonna, MG Icon, LLC).

Good Day for Green Day: Judge Rules in Favor of Fair Use

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 08:16:00 MDT

In a lawsuit against the band Green Day, by Derek Seltzer (an L.A. Based Artist), the U.S. District Court Judge ruled in favor of Green Day in a motion for summary judgment on the basis of their fair use defense. Seltzer accused Green Day of violating his intellectual property rights through their unauthorized use of, and by altering, Seltzer’s notorious work, “Scream Icon”. Green Day’s use of the work appeared in a video backdrop during live performances of their song East Jesus Nowhere, throughout their 2009 tour.

Green Day undisputedly used the image and their set designer, Richard Straub (also a defendant), admitted to altering the image by adding a brick wall with a large red cross sprayed over it. Straub explained he did this so that, in concert with the song, it may convey a message about the “relationship between organized religion -- and pain and suffering”.

At the heart of Seltzer’s argument, he claimed that Green Day’s alteration and unauthorized use of his work not only changed, but defaced and devalued both his original work and the meaning his original work was intended to convey.

Green Day however claimed their use of the image was transformative because their use “added something new, with a further purpose or different character than the original work.” Based on the plaintiff admitting Green Day’s use of the image changed the meaning of work, the judge ruled in favor of Green Day’s transformative use and thereby deemed it a valid fair use.

To sustain an argument in favor of fair use, generally the courts consider four basic elements: (1) The purpose and character of the use, (2) The nature of the copyrighted work, (3) The amount and substantiality of the use, and (4) The effect of the use on the market for the original work.

In this case, the judge claimed that the use was transformative and its appearance beforehand on the Internet made the second factor “fall slightly in favor of fair use”. The judge also ruled that although the defendant used the entire work, it was merely part of a composite image in the background which included many other images and graphics. Furthermore, the judge ruled that Plaintiff failed to show the connection between Defendant’s use of the work and a negative impact on Plaintiff’s ability to license the work.

Whether appropriation art is fair use or foul, it is controversial, and courts have never consistently ruled in favor of the appropriation artist. Jeffrey Koons is an example of an artist who lost his fair use case involving a sculpture based on a photograph of a couple holding puppies, and won a fair use case based on a photograph used in a collage painting. Fair use is decided on a case by case basis and this case seemed easy for the courts to decide as the plaintiff all by conceded that the work was transformative. The controversy over appropriation art will continue. The tension remains between the first artist’s exclusive right to authorize a derivative work, and the appropriation artist’s view that other works are part of their artistic toolbox, just as the paint and the brush.

Either way, the fair use defense leaves much to be debated regardless of which side the court rules.

(Click here for Civil Minutes, Derek Seltzer v. Green Day et al).

Congratulations to Our Emmy-Nominated Clients

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 08:07:00 MDT

Frederick P. Bimbler’s client Sofia Vergara was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress for a Comedy Series, for her work in Modern Family.

Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking (HBO) was nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special (and the show also picked up a nomination for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special). Mr. Bimbler represents Carrie Fisher and the live-stage show currently on tour in North America.

Stand Up To Cancer was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special. Stephen Sheppard, with assistance from Andrea Cannistraci and Robert Epstein, represents Stand Up To Cancer.

Smash His Camera (HBO) directed by Leon Gast was nominated for Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming. Marc H. Simon was production and distribution counsel.

Robert Freedman’s client Jerry Foley was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for his work on The Late Show with David Letterman.

The Pee-Wee Herman Show On Broadway (HBO) was nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special. CDAS Partner M. Kilburg Reedy co-produced the Broadway show.

Update On Google Books Settlement

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 07:18:00 MDT

In a new twist in the Google Books case, it appears that the publishers and authors may be going separate ways. The parties had a conference with Judge Denny Chin this past Thursday, September 15th. Judge Chin had admonished the parties in the last conference on July 20th to hasten their settlement discussion and to come prepared on September 15th with a new settlement agreement, and if no settlement could be reached, a discovery and briefing schedule on the merits. From the start of the conference, it was clear that the parties had not come prepared to discuss a new settlement.

(PLEASE CLICK HERE to read Ms. Rasenberger's entire article on the EASL blog of the NYSBA, reprinted here by permission).

Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum: District Court Erred in Finding Statutory Copyright Damages Unconstitutional

Sun, 18 Sep 2011 05:19:00 MDT

On September 16, 2011, the First Circuit reversed the district court’s opinion in Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum—which found a jury verdict awarding statutory damages to plaintiffs to be unconstitutional and reduced the amount of damages on that ground -- thereby reinstating the jury’s award of $675,000 to the plaintiff copyright holders.

Background of the appeal

The 65-page ruling stems from one of only two cases to have gone to trial in the group of lawsuits brought by record companies against individual file-sharers. The legal issues on appeal arose from a five-day trial in 2009, which pitted Sony BMG and other record companies against Joel Tenenbaum. Sony alleged that Tenenbaum willfully infringed the copyrights of thirty music recordings by using file sharing software, such as Napster, to download and distribute those recordings without authorization; although Sony pursued claims on only thirty copyrighted works, it presented evidence at trial that Tenenbaum willfully violated thousands of copyrights.

Section 504(c) of the Copyright Act authorizes damages in the range of $750 to $150,000 per willful act of infringement. At the close of the 2009 trial, the jury found that all thirty acts of infringement by Tenenbaum had been willful and awarded a judgment to the plaintiffs in the amount of $22,500 per infringement, an amount well within the statutory range set by Congress. Tenenbaum then filed a post-trial motion seeking a reduction of the jury’s award, arguing that (i) common law remittitur was appropriate in his case, and (ii) the award was excessive such that it violated due process.

Remittitur is a process whereby a court deems an award to be excessive; the court will order the plaintiff to remit a particular amount of the award. However, the plaintiff has the discretion of accepting the reduced award, or rejecting the remittitur in which case a new trial for damages would ensue.

The district court declined to decide Tenenbaum’s motion on the remittitur issue, reasoning that Sony would not likely agree to a reduction of the award, thereby requiring a new trial on the issue of damages. Proceeding to constitutional analysis, the district court found that the jury award was excessive to the point that it violated due process and reduced the award from $22,500 per infringement to $2,250 per infringement.

The First Circuit’s decision and order

On appeal, the First Circuit held that the district court was wrong to reduce the jury award on the grounds that it violated due process. Although the ruling appears to be an immediate victory for copyright holders, the First Circuit’s reversal was based mainly on procedural error. The canon of constitutional avoidance is a long standing principle of judicial restraint that requires courts to avoid reaching constitutional questions when a matter can be decided on other grounds. In this case, the district court erred by not first deciding the issue of reducing damages according to remittitur. Had the district court ordered remittitur, it would have avoided not only the due process consideration, but also the unnecessary resolution of issues arising under the Seventh Amendment, specifically, whether a statutory damage award under the Copyright Act may be reduced without offering the plaintiffs a new trial. Accordingly, the First Circuit remanded the case to the district court in order to decide the issue of whether remittitur is appropriate.

It should be noted that the First Circuit rejected additional arguments made by Tenenbaum on appeal, including an argument that “consumer copiers” such as himself are not subject to the Copyright Act. The court explained that even if Tenenbaum was a so called “consumer copier”, which it decided he was not, the clear language of the Copyright Act would not exempt such a category of infringer from liability.

What does this decision mean for future copyright litigation?

For now, this decision means that the constitutionality of the statutory damage range set by Congress for willful copyright infringement remains undisturbed in the First Circuit. For the District of Massachusetts, the task is to determine whether the case can be resolved according to remittitur in the district court. If not, the First Circuit may be forced to decide whether an award for willful copyright infringement within the statutory range can actually be considered unconstitutional. Perhaps the First Circuit foreshadowed in its opinion how it would handle the question: “We comment that this case raises concerns about application of the Copyright Act which Congress may wish to examine.” Such a statement may very well mean that the Court will not find any award within the statutory range set by Congress to be unconstitutional, and that the only redress in such a situation would be to lobby Congress for change in the Copyright Act.

Either way, it remains to be seen whether the court in Capitol Records v. Thomas-Rasset—the other similar post-trial copyright infringement casewhere a district court in Minnesota recently held the jury award to be unconstitutional—will heed the First Circuit’s statement as a warning that courts should not hold copyright infringement damages that are within the Copyright Act’s statutory range to be unconstitutional; the record companies in that case have recently appealed the Thomas-Rasset case to the Eighth Circuit.

War for your “App Store”: Apple vs. Amazon: Federal Judge Unconvinced

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:21:00 MDT

Federal Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, denied Apple’s request for a preliminary injunction to bar Amazon.com from referring to its online software marketplace as an “Appstore” pending the outcome of Apple’s suit regarding the matter. Since 2008, Apple has used the term “App Store” to describe the online location where its shoppers can purchase software applications for their mobile devices (such as the iPhone and iPod). Since then, the online market has become saturated with similar downloadable software applications for mobile devices and online shops to purchase these products.

Apple argued that the term “App Store” was suggestive and not descriptive, while Amazon asserted that the mark was generic, and if descriptive was not inherently distinctive. The court disagreed with Apple’s argument that the mark was suggestive but would not go as far as saying that the term was “generic”. The court simply found no likelihood of confusion by consumers who know the difference between Apple products and Android.

Apple also asserted that Amazon’s use diluted its famous mark. As the early entrant in the market, Apple claims it has spent millions of dollars in marketing for the use of the term “App Store”. Nowadays the term is widely used across the industry by other software companies that provide software applications for mobile devices (such as Google, Microsoft, etc), causing the mark “App Store” to be perceived as a more descriptive and generic term rather than the dilution of a famous mark.

At the heart of their argument, Apple alleged there would be a “likelihood of confusion” amongst the “unsophisticated” consumer if Amazon continued to use the term “Appstore” in its title, although Amazon’s full title is, “Appstore for Andriod.” Amazon claimed the allegation is unsubstantiated because the entire title indicates that the applications in its online shop are solely for consumers using mobile devices powered by Android. Additionally, Apple urged the court to look at the term “App Store” as one term to determine that the mark was inherently famous as opposed to looking at both terms separately. Looking at the words separately, App (meaning “applications”) + Store would more likely deem the term descriptive, garnering little protection under U.S. trademark law.

This case raises interesting questions about the registration of marks that contain descriptive words in the title. To succeed on a dilution claim, a mark must be deemed famous and this analysis has several elements (See 15 U.S.C. §1125 (c)(2) (A)). However, famous or not, the question remains as to the protection of a term that accurately identifies a goods or service when that term is widely used in the industry. Judge Hamilton indicated it is unclear whether the term “App Store” gained recognition as an Apple trademark or was merely a descriptive term for electronic shopping. Even so, the court found that the term is not famous because Apple has not proven the term is “prominent or renowned.”

As Apple’s preliminary injunction was denied, other cases raising the question of descriptive vs. famous will most certainly come down the pipeline and force the courts to take a closer look at what marks are worthy of registration as our technology and consumer brands develop and evolve. Clearly the courts in the 9^th Circuit are concerned with giving the early entrant a monopoly over a term that is used industry-wide.

For more see Apple Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc., 11-1327, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).

Christian Louboutin and the Fight for Your Red Sole!

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:22:00 MDT

Christian Louboutin (“Louboutin”), the popular shoe company, has sued several other companies for the infringing use of their trademarked red sole which has become synonymous with the brand’s identity for over 20 years. Louboutin first registered the red sole in 2008 and has since sued such brands as Carmen Steffans, Oh…DEER!, and most recently Yves Saint Laurent (“YSL”). Louboutin claimed YSL, another brand associated with luxury, infringed their trademark with YSL’s new line of shoes, that include red-soled shoes amongst other colors.

In the complaint, Louboutin claimed YSL sought to take advantage of their brand recognition as an attempt to confuse the public and thereby impaired Louboutin in their ability to control their recognition through the dilution of their mark. The Court will apply the “likelihood of confusion” test to determine whether the consumer will be confused by the source of the shoes.

When the courts use the “likelihood of confusion” test they look at the following factors: the strength of the mark, the proximity of the goods, the similarity of the marks, evidence of actual confusion, the similarity of marketing channels used, the degree of caution exercised by the typical purchaser, and the defendant’s intent. In the case of YSL, the Court will have to balance these factors, as both the plaintiff and defendant are luxury brands servicing a very similar consumer.

Although trademark owners who fail to enforce their marks risk losing them as a matter of law, the question arises whether registering a color is an overreaching use of trademark law. Those who believe it is argue that registering a color provides an unfair competitive advantage. However, supporters argue that it strengthens the market by providing consumers with easily recognizable brands they can associate with the quality they desire.

Louboutin is not the first to vigorously enforce his trademark, as the color argument in association with “Trademark Dilution” is a widely debated issue. The outcome of this case could lead to other businesses using alternative means to keep their brand recognizable in the eyes of the consumer… or at least it may deter them from using red soles on their shoes.

Defendant’s Attorney's Fees Awarded After Successfully Defending Against Infringement Claim

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 09:22:00 MDT

The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publisher’s (“ASCAP”) successfully defended against a claim of copyright infringement asserted by Latin American Music Company (“LAMCO”) and, as a result, was awarded over $82,000 in attorney’s fees and costs. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit stated that the Copyright Act did not prohibit the recovery of attorney’s fees in a case of non-infringement where the defendant prevails against the assertion.

LAMCO, a music publishing company based in New York, claimed that ASCAP along with other defendants, infringed their rights in over 500 music compositions. As ASCAP, successfully defended against the case by jury verdict, they moved for and were awarded attorney’s fees. LAMCO promptly appealed the decision.

At heart of their argument LAMCO referenced Section 412 of the Copyright Act. They claimed the disputed song “Caballo Viejo” was not timely registered, therefore recovery of attorney’s fees was prohibited as a matter of law. However, this argument fails on its merits because it is impossible for a defendant to comply with this requirement as it applies to plaintiffs asserting their copyrights, not those defending against infringement.

The ramifications of this case could elicit a demand for changes in the law to prevent all defendants from moving for the Court to grant attorney’s fees when they successfully defend against an infringement claim. As the award of attorney’s fees shifts to the prevailing party in Copyright Law, this case serves as a reminder for potential plaintiffs that their costs could be beyond what they anticipated if they are not the prevailing party. Let the plaintiff beware.

How Much Is Too Much? Transformative Works vs. Derivative Works: Photographer Wins Appropriation Art Copyright Case

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 08:23:00 MDT

Patrick Cariou, a professional photographer won his case in District Court in New York against well-known appropriation artist Richard Prince and the Gagosian Gallery after several of Cariou’s pieces were appropriated without consent in Prince’s “Canal Zone” series showing at the Gagosian in 2008.

Prince admits to appropriating a total of 41 photographs from Cariou’s book, “Yes, Rasta” published in 2000, for his show but claimed the “fair use” defense, citing that his work was sufficiently transformative to be deemed a new work of art. The District Court disagreed. Judge Deborah Batts, granted a Motion for Summary Judgment in favor of Cariou on the issue of copyright infringement and ordered Prince to deliver all infringing copies of the work for impounding and destruction.

Embodied in Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act are four elements courts must consider when determining whether fair use is an adequate and applicable defense: (1) the purpose and character of the work (i.e. the extent to which the work is transformative, not merely derivative of a earlier work), (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole, and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The heart of this case focused on the first element and examining whether Prince’s work was merely derivative of the original photos or transforms them. While the Defendants argued use of copyrighted materials as “raw ingredients” when creating “appropriation art” is always transformative and fair use, the Judge disagreed stating there was no precedent that would deem this use fair absent transformative comment on the original work.

The preamble of Section 107 describes certain types of works that fit within the purpose of fair use, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching scholarship or research. The four factors are to be considered in examining the purpose. Courts have distinguished infringing derivative works from transforming fair use by requiring that the new work must “supersede the objects of the original creation…altering the first [work] with new expression, meaning or message.” A derivative work is one that merely “recasts, transforms, or adapts an original work into a new mode of presentation.”

The Judge’s analysis highlights the distinction between a derivative work that requires consent from the underlying copyright owner and a transformative work in situations where an artist appropriates the work of another artist’s as the “raw ingredients” for their own work. As the term “transforms” is included in the definition of a derivative work, if the new work is absent any comment on the original or on the broader culture associated with the underlying art, it will be infringing. To hold otherwise would be eviscerate the original artist’s right to authorize derivative works. There would be no need for the distinction and no limitation on how one artist can appropriate the aesthetic value of another artist’s work.

A redefinition of the fair use defense as sought by Prince and his gallery would create a level of disrespect to the original artist’s work because it would promote a devaluation of the art as its only seen as “ingredients” to “play with” in the creation of a new piece. Their work would have no more value than the cloth of a designer before they create fashion design or paint to a painter before it graces the canvas. As Prince testified that he did not “really have a message” in using the photographs, the judge ruled there was little to no transformative intent.

As the history of the fair use defense makes evident, the doctrine calls for a case-by-case analysis. But if the applicability of the fair use defense hinges on whether the artist has the intent to create a new message, why should caveats exist for “appropriation art” that do not exist in other mediums?

Supreme Court to Consider Constitutionality of Act Restoring Certain Foreign Copyrights

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:24:00 MDT

On March 2, 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in a 10^th Circuit case to review whether the Court of Appeals correctly upheld the constitutionality of §104A of the Copyright Act, which created or restored U.S. copyright protection to foreign works in 1996 which never had U.S. protections or had earlier fallen into the public domain in the U.S. because they failed to comply with certain formalities of U.S. copyright law. Petitioners claim that the 15 year-old statute violates the Copyright Clause by restoring copyrights of public domain works and violates a First Amendment right to exploit these restored works without permission from the owners.

This will be a decision of great interest to foreign copyright owners and rights holders of foreign works.

The article by CDAS attorney Al J. Daniel, Jr. can be viewed here. It was published in the MLRC MediaLawLetter, March 2011, pp. 9-10, and is reprinted with permission.

What’s Protectable?: Claim of Copyright Infringement of LaChapelle’s Photos in Rihanna’s ‘S&M’

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:20:00 MDT

Shira Scheindlin, a U.S. District Court Judge in the Southern District of New York, recently denied Robin “Rihanna” Fenty’s (“Rihanna”) Motion to Dismiss the copyright infringement element of a claim instituted by famed photographer David LaChapelle regarding Rihanna’s highly sensationalized ‘S&M’ video. LaChapelle asserts that the protectable elements of eight of his photographs were used in the creation of the video. The court ruled that LaChapelle successfully proved that a Motion to Dismiss was improper because the video was “substantially similar to particular original expressions of the subjects in the photos.”

LaChapelle argued that although certain themes were not protectable (e.g. S&M, bondage), the way he “selects and orchestrates the themes, props, settings, wardrobe, and colors” while controlling the “angles posing, and lighting” are uniquely his way of expressing those themes which remain copyrightable. The court agreed, stating that if the work is so substantially similar that the ‘Ordinary Observer’ would recognize the copy as having been appropriated from the copyrighted work, copying each detail is not necessary to meet a threshold of infringement. The court did dismiss the federal trade dress claim and other state common law claims brought by LaChapelle.

This case raises the issue of what elements of a photographic work are protectable under the Copyright Act and what visual elements are free to copy as the law does not protect ideas but only their tangible expression. How does one determine what is merely a theme in the work verses the expression of that theme? In the motion, the court references unprotectable elements as those that “flow naturally and necessarily from the choice [subject].” This line between permissible “inspiration” and infringing “duplication” is one that is difficult to articulate when comparing two works of visual art. The Southern District of New York has had its fair share of these cases, and courts have attempted to distinguish between photographing a similar theme on the one hand, while on the other “borrowing” details specifically chosen by the photographer to illustrate the theme. Relying on these past decisions, Judge Scheindlin saw too much similarity in color and in the staging of scenes labeled “Striped Face” and “Pink Room” in particular. She also rejected the fair use defense as there was no evidence of commentary on LaChapelle’s work.

While these visual art case decisions are often controversial, particularly for those artists in the appropriation art movement, the distinctions established by the courts based on these previous rulings will shape how LaChapelle and other visual artists can benefit from copyright protection while leaving room for artistic expression to flourish. Where more intricate details from the original -- not necessary to the scene -- are “borrowed”, the more likely a judge will allow a case to move forward to a jury. At that point, most of these cases settle and we have no further judicial guidance.

(For more see LaChapelle v Rihanna 11 Civ 0945, SDNY July 20, 2011)

CDAS a Founding Member of Copyright Alliance’s Legal Advisory Board

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 08:08:00 MDT

Washington, August 9, 2011 - The Copyright Alliance announced the establishment of a Legal Advisory Board that includes CDAS as a founding Advisory Board member. Committed to promoting the cultural and economic benefits of copyright, the Copyright Alliance brings together a broad panoply of parties, from artists’ unions to major publishers. Its Legal Advisory Board will work with the Alliance and its membership to advance copyright strategy and develop a variety of projects and programs, including providing assistance to individual artists and creators, hosting educational events and webinars, expanding work with law schools and young lawyers, and contributing writing and research.

Legal

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:18:00 MDT

Buzz Aldrin Grounded

By Nancy E. Wolff

November 19, 2011

CLIENT ADVISORY: Sunrise Period for Trademark Owners Seeking to Defensively Block Registrations of .xxx Domain Names Is Now Open

Background and Key Dates

What types of trademarks are eligible for Sunrise B reservation?

How much will it cost?

How long does the block last?

After the sunrise period there will be no permanent opt-out. Non-members of the community may register a non-resolving site and keep the registration by paying annual renewal fees.

If you have any questions on this advisory, please contact your CDAS attorney.

Good Day for Green Day: Judge Rules in Favor of Fair Use

By Nancy E. Wolff

Sept. 18, 2011

Either way, the fair use defense leaves much to be debated regardless of which side the court rules.

(Click here for Civil Minutes, Derek Seltzer v. Green Day et al).

Madonna’s Not the Only “Material Girl”: Judge Denies Summary Judgment

By Nancy E. Wolff

Sept. 18, 2011

(Click here for Civil Minutes, L.A. Triumph v. Madonna, MG Icon, LLC).

Update On Google Books Settlement

By Mary E. Rasenberger

Sept. 18, 2011

(PLEASE CLICK HERE to read Ms. Rasenberger's entire article on the EASL blog of the NYSBA, reprinted here by permission).

Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum: District Court Erred in Finding Statutory Copyright Damages Unconstitutional

By Eleanor M. Lackman

September 18, 2011

Background of the appeal

The First Circuit’s decision and order

What does this decision mean for future copyright litigation?

What’s Protectable?: Claim of Copyright Infringement of LaChapelle’s Photos in Rihanna’s ‘S&M’

By Nancy E. Wolff

(For more see LaChapelle v Rihanna 11 Civ 0945, SDNY July 20, 2011)

War for your “App Store”: Apple vs. Amazon: Federal Judge Unconvinced

By Nancy E. Wolff

For more see Apple Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc., 11-1327, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).

Christian Louboutin and the Fight for Your Red Sole!

By Nancy E. Wolff

Defendant’s Attorney's Fees Awarded After Successfully Defending Against Infringement Claim

By Nancy E. Wolff

How Much Is Too Much? Transformative Works vs. Derivative Works: Photographer Wins Appropriation Art Copyright Case

By Nancy E. Wolff and Kenneth N. Swezey

Supreme Court to Consider Constitutionality of Act Restoring Certain Foreign Copyrights

By Al J. Daniel, Jr.

This will be a decision of great interest to foreign copyright owners and rights holders of foreign works.

The article by CDAS attorney Al J. Daniel, Jr. can be viewed here. It was published in the MLRC MediaLawLetter, March 2011, pp. 9-10, and is reprinted with permission.

News

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:17:00 MDT

Eleanor M. Lackman Speaks at PLI's "IP Licensing Issues"

December 3, 2011

On Thursday, January 19, 2012from 3:30pm to 5pm, Eleanor M. Lackman speaks on the panel “IP Licensing Issues” at the IP Issues in Business Transactions 2012 conference at the Practising Law Institute (PLI). She will address IP strategies and protections necessary to achieve a timeline of goals for transactions involving copyright, trademark and publicity rights. Topics include grant backs, sublicensing rights, first sale issues, enforcement, quality control and more.

Mary E. Rasenberger on the Google Books Settlement

November 19, 2011

Nancy E. Wolff on Art Law Panel at NYCLA

November 12, 2011

On Friday, November 18 (8:45am – 5:30pm) Nancy E. Wolff joins a panel of experts on art law at the NYCLA, 4th Annual Art Litigation and Dispute Resolution Institute. (CLE credit available).

CDAS Congratulate Clients’ Films Opening Today!

Friday, November 11, 2011

And Immortals opens across the country today including in 3-D.

Mary E. Rasenberger at Anti-Piracy Summit

November 11, 2011

Mary E. Rasenberger Speaks on Righthaven at IPLJ

November 10, 2011

Eleanor M. Lackman – The New Frontier: Clouds

November 10, 2011

Jennifer Fox’s My Reincarnation In Theaters

November 10, 2011

Andrea F. Cannistraci at Stock Footage: Creative Uses, Licensing and Fair Use at PIIP

November 10, 2011

Spreecast Launches Today!

November 10, 2011

Mobcaster Launches Today!

November 10, 2011

Kenneth N. Swezey @ Storyworld

November 3, 2011

Planet B-Boy In Production

November 3, 2011

DOC NYC features Unraveled, First Position, Into the Abyss, No Look Pass, On Being There with Richard Leacock, and Project Nim

Updated: 11/411

Werner Herzog’s Into the Abyss will open DOC NYC on November 2^nd. Co-produced by CDAS client Creative Differences, this documentary takes us inside a Texas prison to meet inmates convicted of triple homicide. Mr. Simon has handled the legal services and negotiations for the distribution of both films and has also handled the financing and production for First Position. North American distribution rights for Into the Abyss as well as First Position have been picked up by Sundance Selects, a sister company of IFC Films, which enjoyed solid success with Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams. (Mr. Simon also provided legal counsel for the distribution of Dreams as well).

Melissa Johnson's award-winning documentary, No Look Pass will make its East Coast debut at Doc NYC on November 5^th and 7^th. The film follows Harvard basketball superstar Emily Tay, who struggles to balance the rigors of playing for a professional basketball team in Germany while trying to maintain a relationship with her conservative Burmese-American immigrant parents, and gains the courage to “come out” in her lesbian relationship with a U.S. servicewoman on the cusp of the demise of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”. Winner of the Special Programming Award for Freedom at LA's Outfest, it has been hailed as a “A masterful piece of documentary filmmaking… the most honest show of a lifetime.” CDAS’ Marc H. Simon and Janis C. Nelson represent No Look Pass director/producer Melissa Johnson and production company High Hip Productions.

And Project Nim screens at DOC NYC November 10 at the close of the festival. Following his Oscar-winning Man on Wire, director James Marsh turns to another iconographic story rooted in 1970s New York. Nim Chimpsky was the chimpanzee subject of a Columbia University experiment led by psychologist Herbert Terrace that sought to discover how much chimps and humans could communicate through sign language. On November 18 the film was officially shortlisted for the Oscar. (Legal: Andrea F. Cannistraci for co-producer Maureen Ryan).

CDAS is proud to once again co-sponsor DOC NYC.

Jim Harrison's The Great Leader on the NY Times' Bestsellers List

October 20, 2011

Hitting the New York Times Bestsellers List this week, Jim Harrison's newest novel The Great Leader finds his aging protagonist, Sunderson, hunting a cult leader. Pete Dexter in the New York Times writes, "it carbonates page after page. You might go so far as to compare it to Joe DiMaggio's 56-page hitting streak."... "30 odd books down the road and you can still feel the excitement every time he (Harrison) pulls something out of his ear, which pretty much happens on every page he writes."... "Jim Harrison can break all the rules he wants and come out smelling like a rose." J. Stephen Sheppard represents Mr. Harrison.

Screen Media Acquires Pic About Fifty

October 20, 2011

The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes

October 20, 2011

Food writer, cookbook author, and brisket zealot Stephanie Pierson's The Brisket Book: A Love Story with Recipes is now available in hardcover and e-book. "Some foods will improve your meal, your mood, your day, your buttered noodles. Brisket will improve your life," Ms. Pierson declares. From Scandinavian Aquavit Brisket, to a Barbecued Brisket Sandwiches with Firecracker Sauce, to a vegetarian Seitan Brisket, there are recipes for every taste and occasion. "Brisket is a cross-cultural wonder," Ms. Pierson writes, "a Jewish dish cooked in a Dutch oven with a Sicilian sauce served in North Dakota." J. Stephen Sheppard represents Ms. Pierson.

CDAS Client NDI Gets Its Own Stage

October 16, 2011

Eleanor M. Lackman Named to INTA’s Internet Committee

October 5, 2011

Eleanor M. Lackman has been appointed to INTA’s Internet Committee for the 2012-2013 term. The International Trademark Association (INTA) is an organization of several thousands of members from over 190 countries. Its Internet Committee advises INTA on policies and advocacy related to trademarks and the internet including domain name issues and matters involving general online trademark use. “It is an honor to be selected to join leading trademark practitioners from law firms, technology companies and other major corporations from around the world, to discuss and advise on legal and policy issues that will impact trademark owners and online trademark use in particular,” Ms. Lackman reports.

Wishful Drinking’s Chicago Run Opens to Raves

October 5, 2011

Hot off two Emmy nominations for the filmed HBO special of her Broadway one-woman live performance, Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher’s Chicago run has opened to raves.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is Brazil’s Oscar Bet

October 4, 2011

Mary E. Rasenberger (at left) and Eleanor M. Lackman (at right)

CDAS Brings In Two New Partners to Expand Its Copyright, Trademark & Digital Media Practice

Also, Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP is pleased to announce:

Lisa K. Digernes, Matthew A. Kaplan and Joshua B. Sessler have all been promoted to partner.
David E. Ashley and Joshua S. Wolkoff have joined the firm as associates.
Janis C. Nelson joins the firm as Of Counsel in the firm’s Beverly Hills Office.

Motherhood Out Loud & The Fartiste

September 21, 2011

Relatively Speaking Now in Previews

September 20, 2011

Timothy J. DeBaets & Robert I. Freedman: Super Lawyers

September 20, 2011

Client FilmDistrict’s Drive Owns the Road

September 19, 2011

Toronto Film Festival: Into the Abyss, First Position, Think of Me & Dark Horse

September 19, 2011

Variety reports that following the standing ovation for First Position, buyers were “immediately on the phone” and that the film “looks like this year’s Spellbound.”

Congratulations to Our Emmy-Nominated Clients

Frederick P. Bimbler’s client Sofia Vergara was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress for a Comedy Series, for her work in Modern Family.

Stand Up To Cancer was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special. Stephen Sheppard, with assistance from Andrea Cannistraci and Robert Epstein, represents Stand Up To Cancer.

Smash His Camera (HBO) directed by Leon Gast was nominated for Outstanding Arts & Culture Programming. Marc H. Simon was production and distribution counsel.

Robert Freedman’s client Jerry Foley was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series for his work on The Late Show with David Letterman.

The Pee-Wee Herman Show On Broadway (HBO) was nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special. CDAS Partner M. Kilburg Reedy co-produced the Broadway show.

CDAS a Founding Member of Copyright Alliance’s Legal Advisory Board

Susan H. Bodine & Nancy E. Wolff Named as Among the Top Women Lawyers in the Northeast

We congratulate CDAS Partners Susan H. Bodine and Nancy E. Wolff at both having been named as among the Top Women Lawyers in the Northeast by Martindale-Hubbell. With over one million lawyers in over 160 countries in its database, Martindale-Hubbell tapped its list of Peer Review Ratings to identify women attorneys on the Northeast rated by peers as AV Preeminent -- the highest Peer Review Rating available.

Timothy J. DeBaets on Panel Helping Guide the Future of Dance/NYC

Timothy J. DeBaets is part of a panel of experts asked to help determine the future of Dance/NYC. (Mr. DeBaets is the panel's legal expert). Dance/NYC is a satellite of Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance. Dance/NYC's mission is to sustain and advance the professional dance field in New York City, serving as the voice, guide and infrastructure architect for local dance artists, audiences and managers.

Park Pictures Features Launches with Robot and Frank

Park Pictures, a well-known and respected commercial production company, has launched its feature film division, Park Pictures Features, and their first film, Robot and Frank, starring Susan Sarandon, Frank Langella and Liev Shreiber, has just been announced and is in production. Several other projects will follow including an adaptation of The Ask, Sam Lipsyte’s bestselling novel. Marc H. Simon represents Park Pictures, its producer Galt Niederhoffer and CDAS is providing all legal services on Robot and Frank.

CDAS Sponsors ASPP's Annual Summer Garden Party

CDAS is proud to sponsor the NY Chapter of the American Society of Picture Professionals’ 2011 Annual Summer Garden Party at Bridgeman Art Library, August 3, 7pm – 10pm. As always the Annual Summer Garden Party is a great chance to meet and network with picture professionals from all sides of the business.

Nancy E. Wolff on Licensing Panel

Nancy E. Wolff will appear on the panel "Five Things You Need To Know About Licensing" at the Practicing Law Institute, July 18^th at 3:30pm. The discussion will cover a range of licensing issues in music and sound recordings, software, photography, film, video, internet and media considerations. Tickets are still available.

CDAS Nantucket Film Festival Honors

We congratulate CDAS Partner Marc H. Simon and our client Stick Figure Productions. Their film Unraveled, which Marc directed and produced with Stick Figure as the lead production company, won Best Storytelling in a Documentary Film at the Nantucket Film Festival.

And kudos to firm client Amy Wendel, co-writer and director of All She Can (formerly known as Benavides Born). Amy is the proud recipient of the Adrienne Shelley Excellence in Filmmaking Award at Nantucket. CDAS Partner Andrea Cannistraci represents Amy and the film.

CDAS is also proud to have sponsored the Nantucket Screenwriting Colony.

CDAS Client Takes Awards at Gen Art

We congratulate CDAS client Khorageous Films on the NY Premiere of its film The Pill at the Gen Art Film Festival June 12^th where the film won the Audience Award, as well as the Stargazer Award for one of its leads, Rachel Boston. Robert L. Seigel represents the production company.

Marc H. Simon’s Unraveled Premieres at L.A. Film Festival

We congratulate CDAS Partner Marc H. Simon on the premiere of his newest documentary, Unraveled, Friday June 17th (with screenings June 19th and 20th as well) at the L.A. Film Festival.

Directed and produced by Mr. Simon and co-produced by CDAS client Stick Figure Productions, Unraveled is an intimate portrait of Marc Dreier, a prominent Manhattan attorney, who was arrested for orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that netted hundreds of millions of dollars from hedge funds. Unraveled is set in the "purgatory" of house arrest -- an upper East Side penthouse -- where the Court has ordered Dreier confined until his sentencing day. The film weaves Dreier's struggle to prepare for the possibility of life imprisonment with candid interviews and first-person flashbacks which reveal his audacious path of destruction.

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, at L.A. Film Festival

Susan H. Bodine is on hand at the L.A. Film Festival as her client, director José Padilha's Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (Tropa de Elite 2) screens at the festival's International Competition (June 17th and 21st). This action-packed thriller, Brazil’s most successful movie of all time, uncovers a far-ranging web of corruption amongst the special military police assigned to clean up the crime-ridden favelas of Rio. Next up, Mr. Padhila helms the re-boot of Robocop.

Nancy E. Wolff a Panelist for New York Women in Film & TV Event

Nancy E. Wolff will be a panelist for New York Women in Film and Television’s “Moviemaking on the Web: Legal and Business Issues for Emerging Platforms”, Thursday, June 9 at 6:30pm. NYWIFT has assembled a panel of experts to help guide creators through the rapidly evolving terrain of emerging digital platforms and the business and legal concerns that often change just as quickly.

They will overview a winning gameplan for low-budget streaming productions, covering union agreement with writers and actors, distribution contracts, co-production agreements, licensing models, chain of title and more. Joining Nancy on the panel will be Steven Beckman (Head of Content Acquisitions at Cinetic / Filmbuff), Julia Ahumada Grub (actor, writer and producer) and Kevin Kearney (Managing Director of All Day Everyday, a leader in multi-platform marketing and entertainment). CDAS’ Lisa K. Digernes will moderate what promises to be an informative and enjoyable discussion. Registration is free.

CDAS is proud to be one of the sponsors of the 2011 annual meeting of the Copyright Society of the USA, which this year will be held June 6-7 at Bolton Landing, New York. Topics will include recent developments in copyright law, mass copyright infringement claims, and the hotly debated URAA.

CDAS is pleased to help support a dialogue on such important intellectual property issues. (Registration is still open).

Clients' The Tree of Life wins Cannes’ Palme d’Or

The critically praised film The Tree of Life won the Palme d’Or, Best Picture at the Cannes Film Festival. The award was accepted by producers Bill Pohlad and Sarah Green.

Susan H. Bodine, Frederick P. Bimbler and everyone at CDAS who provided production counsel services for film, and worked so closely with Ms. Green in particular, applaud the film's producers, crew, cast and of course Terrence Malick. This meditative metaphysical drama starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn has been more than five years in the making.

Congratulations from all of us.

Clients Drive off with Cannes Honors

CDAS client FilmDistrict continues its winning streak, as its recent acquisition Drive was honored at Cannes. Drive helmer Nicholas Winding Refn won with the festival’s Best Director award. This high-octane action-drama stars Ryan Gosling as a wheelman who drives movie stunts by day and robberies by night. Marc H. Simon, who represents FilmDistrict, congratulates his client on continuing to pick the winners.

Thanks for Making Our 2011 Spring Party a Success!

Thank you all so much for making our 2011 CDAS Spring Party so special!

Nancy Wolff Speaks at CEPIC, Istanbul

Nancy E. Wolff will speak at the 2011 CEPIC Congress in Istanbul on May 20on solutions for orphan works in the picture industry.

Nancy‘s presentation will focus U.S. legislation on orphan works and life after the Google Book Settlement, which she has tracked closely throughout. CDAS knows Nancy and all CEPIC attendees will have an enjoyable and informative dialogue on these important issues.

CDAS On Hand for Client’s Paris Opening

Nancy E. Wolff will be in Paris next week at the Louvre, attending the opening of her client Michal Rovner’s exhibition, “Histories”.

Israeli multimedia artist Michal Rovner’s highly anticipated exhibition, which officially opens May 19, is created in situ, projecting her videos directly onto wall inscriptions, sarcophagi, and other ancient objects. The exhibit spans widely, from the medieval moat, to an esplanade where Rovner presents “Mokom” (Hebrew for “space”) -- one ruined and one standing temple built by stonemasons of various faiths and origins with stones from the ruins of houses in Jaffa, Gaza, Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Nancy and all of us congratulate Michal Rovner on this honor.

Raves Pave the Way for Cave's Opening Today

Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams, which opens in theaters today, has already drawn well-rounded critical praise. Cave of Forgotten Dreams gives the viewer a detailed look into the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave in southern France, which holds the earliest known visions of mankind. Marc H. Simon negotiated domestic distribution rights and also represents the filmmakers in connection with the exploitation of the picture’s rights internationally.

CDAS Clients’ Work Nominated for Outer Critics Circle Awards

The Outer Critics Circle Nominations are in and Freckleface Strawberry has been nominated for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical, (Marc H. Simon and M. Kilburg Reedy , production counsel). Evan Jonigkeit has been nominated for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his work in High on Broadway, (Frederick P. Bimbler, production counsel on High). Congratulations to all!

CDAS Seminar at Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) a Great Success!

Josh Sessler’s and Chris Marino’s seminar for the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic (BLIP) on selected legal topics of relevance to technology start-ups, was a great success. Addressing some of the needs of the companies who are “graduating” from the clinic, Josh outlined the current investment landscape (the continued difficulty in raising funds from angel groups and strategies for successful VC and institutional funding) and presented an overview of employee incentive vehicles used to compensate and incentivize early employees, including Stock Options and Restricted Stock, Phantom Stock/Units and Profit Interests.

Chris addressed the importance of confidentiality and protecting trade secrets from inception, including non-disclosure agreements and other safeguards against employee leaks. This was the first seminar targeted to the clinic graduates and we thank Professor Jonathan Askin, David Kwon and everyone at the Brooklyn Law Incubator and Policy Clinic for inviting us to take part in their excellent program.

FilmDistrict "...proved it has the goods..."

The recent Variety article FilmDistrict: Riding a B.O. Wave, describes the success of our client FilmDistrict, which recently has released its first two films, the horror hit Insidious and the popular sports-themed biopic Soul Surfer. Combining both tried and true and non-traditional marketing schemes and leveraging key distribution partnerships, FilmDistrict’s strategy of wide releases to target audiences has helped turn worthy, often modestly-budgeted genre films into box office hits. Marc H. Simon who represents FilmDistrict, and all of us at CDAS congratulate our client and affirm Variety’s view that “FilmDistrict means business.”

High on Kathleen Turner's Return to Broadway

Kathleen Turner returns to the stage in the much-anticipated High, opening April 19^that the Booth Theater on Broadway. Ms. Turner portrays Sister Jamison, a brassy, foul-mouthed, ex-alcoholic nun/addiction counselor, who agrees to sponsor a 19 year-old drug user; a relationship that ultimately tests her faith. (Frederick P. Bimbler, who represents the production as well as the producer Leonard Soloway, joins the rest of CDAS in expressing our excitement and delight as opening night nears).

#zOMG - Carrie Fisher Wins NewNowNext Award!

The gay and lesbian cable network Logo has announced the winners for its 2011 NewNowNext Awards. The prizes were presented in a ceremony held on April 7 at The Avalon in downtown Los Angeles and was broadcast April 11 on Logo. Carrie Fisher's twitter feed (@CarrieFFisher) tied in the #zOMG Internet Award category. Congratulations from Frederick P. Bimbler and all of us.

Insidious Scares Up Major Box Office Earnings

The independent horror film Insidious enjoyed a strong opening weekend, posting nearly $13.5 million across 2408 theatres. Directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell, the duo behind the record-breaking Saw franchise, Insidious was distributed by CDAS client Film District, represented by Marc H. Simon.

Spotlight Shines On Legendary Producer Jerry Weintraub

The documentary His Way premiered this week on HBO. His Way shines the spotlight on Jerry Weintraub, the legendary film producer and personal manager. Spanning the five-decade career of this self-made Brooklyn impresario, His Way features rare personal video and one-on-one interviews with Weintraub, his family and friends, including many luminaries from political circles and Hollywood. Susan H. Bodine and Marc H. Simon served as production counsel on the film.

Kenneth N. Swezey Speaks at 26th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference

Kenneth N. Swezey will be speaking at the 26th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference's program "Termination Rights - Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You" on April 8th. (Registration for this event is still open to ABA members). In 2013, major changes involving termination rights in intellectual property law take effect and many expect a surge of copyright / trademark litigation in the courts. Mr. Swezey prepares us for what lies ahead.

CDAS Client Broadcastr Launches!

Susan H. Bodine, Joshua B. Sessler, Lisa K. Digernes and all of us congratulate CDAS client Broadcastr on its web launch and exciting mobile app (now available on their site and soon on iTunes and through the Android market). Broadcastr is a social media platform for location-based stories. It enables the recording, indexing (create playlists) and sharing (follow friends, share on Facebook) of short pieces of audio content -- like mini-podcasts -- which get pinned to a Google map based on location. Users can then take a GPS-enabled walk as stories about their surroundings stream into their headphones, "like a museum tour of the entire world". (-- Co-founders Andy Hunter and Scott Lindenbaum).

CDAS Client Tweak.com Launches!

Nancy E. Wolff and all of us applaud client Jerry Kenneally (Ernst & Young’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year) on the launch ofTweak.com, which was featured recently on Fox Business. Tweak.comempowers business owners to create their own marketing/promotional products, providing “a complete design solution in a web browser”. Nancy worked with Tweak from inception on all legal issues, including licensing digital assets, trademark and domain name work, site terms/conditions, vendor contracts, etc).

CDAS Clients Win at Independent Spirit Awards

Marc H. Simon and all of us at CDAS congratulate our clients on their films' wins at the Independent Spirit Awards. Winter's Bone won Spirit Awards for both Best Supporting Actress, Dale Dickey, as well as for Best Supporting Actor, John Hawkes. The Kids Are All Right won the Spirit Award for Best Screenplay, written by director/co-writer Lisa Cholodenko and co-writer Stuart Blumberg.

CDAS Hosts NY as Part of Worldwide Social Media Week

As part of the global Social Media Week events from Paris to Hong Kong to Istanbul, CDAS' New York event last night was a great success. The Social Network Startup: Navigating the Web of Legal Issues presented by Kenneth N. Swezey outlined a variety of legal issues surrounding social media startups, including corporate formation options, angel investments, designated agents, insurance, file sharing issues in "open web", and the impact of key statutes such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and Communications Decency Act. Nancy E. Wolff was also on hand and shared valuable insights.

Our special thanks to all those who attended and helped make this lively, informative evening so special. (Don't forget to follow us and link in through social media and to sign-up for our newsletters!)

Multiple Oscar Nominations for CDAS Clients’ Films

Susan H. Bodine, Lisa K. Digernes and everyone at CDAS congratulate the film Biutiful, and Marc H. Simon and everyone here congratulates The Kids Are All Right and Winter's Bone. These clients’ films have each been nominated for multiple Academy Awards.

Biutiful has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, and its lead Javier Bardem has been nominated for Best Actor.

The Kids Are All Right has been nominated for Best Picture (Celine Rattray, Producer), Best Actress for Annette Bening, Best Supporting Actor for Mark Ruffalo, and Best Screenplay written by director/co-writer Lisa Cholodenko and co-writer Stuart Blumberg. Congratulations on winning the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay.

Winter's Bone has been nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence, Best Supporting Actor for John Hawkes, and Best Adapted Screenplay by director/co-writer Debra Ganik and co-writer Anne Rosellini. Congratulations on winning the Independent Spirit Award for both Best Supporting Actress, Dale Dickey, as well as for Best Supporting Actor, John Hawkes.

Poster Girl has been nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject (Mitchell W. Block and Sara Nesson, Portrayal Films). Congratulations to Poster Girl from Robert L. Seigel and all of us.

CDAS Clients’ Silent House Acquired at Sundance

Susan H. Bodine and all of us congratulate our clients' Sundance horror hit Silent House on its acquisition by Liddell Entertainment for domestic and worldwide rights.

Last year, Liddell backed the acquisition of another CDAS client film,Biutiful, which today received Oscar nominations for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor for its lead Javier Bardem. CDAS was production counsel on and represent the filmmakers of Silent HouseChris Kentis and Laura Lau who previously thrilled us with Open Water.

CDAS Represents Films in Abundance at 2011 Sundance Film Festival

Following 2010’s highly successful campaign at Sundance, CDAS and its clients are out in numbers for the 2011 Sundance Film Festival which kicks-off January 20. Last year, CDAS-represented films includedWinter’s Bone (Sundance Grand Jury Award, and which was nominated for multiple Oscars), Smash His Camera (which won Best Director at Sundance), and multiple Oscar and BAFTA nominated / multiple Golden Globe winner The Kids Are All Right, as well as José Padilha’s widely-heralded Secret of the Tribes.

This year at Sundance, CDAS is involved with eight films with great expectations for the festival. We were production counsel on and represent the filmmakers Chris Kentis and Laura Lau (Open Water) on their film Silent House. Our client José Padilha returns with the sequel to his Brazilian box office hit Elite Squad, for which CDAS is handling sales and distribution. José also serves as a juror on the World Cinema Documentary Competition Panel. Our attorneys provided production legal and continue to provide legal services for the U.S. Dramatic Competition selection Benavides Born directed by Amy Wendel.

CDAS teams with UTA and Submarine Entertainment to respectively represent the sale of Josh Leonard’s The Lie, produced by Das Films, and U.S. Documentary Competition Selection Resurrect Dead. CDAS client Maureen Ryan (Man on Wire) returns to the Festival with director James Marsh’s highly anticipated documentary Project Nim. Iconic and long-time CDAS client Harry Belafonte is the subject of a beautifully intimate portrayal in Sing Your Song, a selection in the U.S. Documentary Competition. And client Double Wide Media produced the Isabella Rossellini short Animal Distract Me.

CDAS attorneys Sue Bodine, Marc Simon, Andrea Cannistraci, Robert Seigel and Roger Kass will be present during the Festival. Fellow CDAS film lawyers Steve Sheppard, Fred Bimbler, and Mike Remer will not be in Park City but join their colleagues in wishing these worthy films the best of luck.

CDAS Clients’ Hit Tops Golden Globes

Marc H. Simon and everyone at CDAS congratulate their clients ’ smash indie hit The Kids Are All Right which topped the Golden Globes, with two wins, Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, as well as Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for Annette Bening. Ms. Bening also picked up a BAFTA nomination for Leading Actress as did her co-star Julianne Moore. Congratulations to our client, director/co-writer Lisa Cholodenko (also BAFTA-nominated for Best Original Screenplay along with co-writer Stuart Blumberg) and everyone involved with the film.

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard is Proud to Support the Work of Our Client, Stand Up to Cancer

This holiday season in particular, CDAS is proud to support the work of our client Stand Up to Cancer. Stand Up To Cancer is a new initiative created to accelerate groundbreaking cancer research that will get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives. SU2C’s goal is to bring together the best and the brightest in the cancer community, encouraging collaboration instead of competition. By galvanizing the entertainment industry, SU2C creates awareness and builds broad public support for this effort.

iD RELEASE Made Available Free On iPhone

As the free version of the iPhone app iD RELEASE launches on iTunes, our own Nancy E. Wolff and Andrea F. Cannistraci helped ensure and protect the intellectual property rights of its creator, CDAS client Hans Nelman, as his exciting app grows in popularity.

iD RELEASE lets photographers and filmmakers capture digital signatures for actors, models, extras and for property releases. The app is easy-to-use and can be navigated by any level photographer or filmmaker to obtain digital signatures, take the photo of the model, actor, location etc. for reference, and to email the completed form as a secure PDF to both signer and user. iD RELEASE’s standard Getty Images release-forms can be customized by developers we work with to include any other’s releases. All releases run in English or Spanish and can be organized by name, location and shoot. A security log-in feature ensures all collected information remains private.

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard is Proud to Announce the Launch of Our New Website

CDAS is proud to announce the launch of our new re-designed and optimized website. Entering 2011, we wanted a site to keep pace with our clients – leading media creators and innovators, including individuals, corporations, associations and non-profits in Entertainment, Publishing, Digital Media and Digital Arts where rapid change in technology and e-business presents new legal challenges and opportunities every day. Please check back regularly to keep on top of our latest news, events, legal alerts and continued site enhancements. If you have any trouble, or need any assistance, or would just like to let us know what you think of our website, we always welcome your feedback.

CDAS Clients Top The Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Marc H. Simon and everyone at CDAS congratulate our clients Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan -- Their film Winter’s Bonewon Best Feature Film at the Gotham Awards. Winter’s Bone also topped the Spirit Awards with 7 nominations, followed by another Marc Simon and CDAS client project, The Kids Are All Right, which picked up five nominations. Winter’s Bone was also named #1 on New York Magazine’s Best Films of 2010. Congratulations to both!

CDAS Congratulates Fair Game

CDAS congratulates our clients River Road Entertainment producers of Fair Game. The Naomi Watts / Sean Penn thriller shared the National Board of Review’s Freedom of Expression Award.

Fox Searchlight’s Campaign for The Tree of Life Launches Over Weekend

Our own Susan H. Bodine, Frederick P. Bimbler and everyone at CDAS who provided production counsel services for Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, congratulate the film’s producers on the launch of the teaser campaign this weekend. The Tree of Life, which will be released during 2011, stars Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and tells Malick’s semi-autobiographical story of growing up in the Midwest. Distributor Fox Searchlight unveiled trailers and other transmedia teasers over the weekend to set an “event feel” for the film which has been five years in the making.

CDAS Proudly Sponsors Latin American Conference on U.S. Film/TV Market

We welcome home and congratulate Susan H. Bodine as she returns from having led the successful, intensive-training LATC conference in Buenos Aires. The conference prepared entertainment producers across Latin America to better navigate the challenges of Hollywood and the independent U.S. Film and TV markets. CDAS is proud to have co-sponsored this important summit.

HBO Premieres Wishful Drinking

Frederick P. Bimbler and everyone at CDAS congratulate our client Carrie Fisher on the premiere of her HBO special Wishful Drinking, the filmed version of her Broadway and international hit.

Marc Simon: Dreams Attorney

Marc H. Simon negotiated the domestic distribution rights for Werner Herzog’s 3-D documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams which has been picked up by IFC Films at the Toronto Film Festival. Cave of Forgotten Dreams gives the viewer a detailed look into the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave in southern France, which holds the earliest known visions of mankind. Marc is also representing the filmmakers in connection with the exploitation of the picture’s rights internationally.

Which Way Home Takes the Emmy

Robert L. Seigel and everyone at CDAS congratulate Which Way Home on its Best Documentary Emmy Award win, hot off of its HBO run and Oscar nomination.

Home

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:59:00 MDT