Congress Passes CASE Act Ushering in Crucial Copyright Reform
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the long-awaited Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (the “CASE Act”), as part of its omnibus spending and COVID-19 relief bill, H.R. 133. The law was enacted on December 27, 2020 and is poised to reform copyright litigation in the United States in the coming year, creating
California District Court Dismisses “Tiger King” Case, Citing First Amendment Interests
After captivating home-bound viewers earlier this year, Netflix’s documentary series “Tiger King” had its day in court recently when a California district judge dismissed a case brought by the publisher of Hollywood Weekly Magazine (“HW”) against the producers and distributors of the show. See Prather Jackson v. Netflix, Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-06354-MCS-GJS (C.D. Cal. Dec.
New York Enacts a Post-Mortem Right of Publicity Law and Addresses Deep Fakes
Joining the majority of states, New York recently enacted a new right of publicity statute that extends the right past death. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation on November 30, 2020, establishing a right of publicity (N.Y. Civ. Rights Law § 50-f) for deceased persons (and their descendants) domiciled in New York to
New York Passes Anti-SLAPP Legislation to Protect Speech Rights
On November 10, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed into law a robust expansion to New York’s existing anti-SLAPP legislation, in a significant effort to curb lawsuits filed with the goal of intimidating and suppressing free speech. Amending New York’s current statute—Sections 70-a and 76-a of the New York Civil Rights Law—the law addresses the problem of
Homeowner Turns to Copyright to Protect Against Unauthorized Use of Home in Adult Films
What recourse exists when a tenant hands over a rental home to an adult film production company, which proceeds to film fourteen feature-length adult movies onsite, without the owner’s knowledge or permission, over the course of five months? Turns out, copyright law. This was the crisis facing Martha’s Vineyard homeowner Leah Bassett in 2015, when
SDNY Judge Dismisses “Hustlers” Invasion of Privacy and Defamation Claims
In an opinion rife with references to adult entertainment and drugs, a judge in the Southern District of New York recently dismissed an invasion of privacy and defamation case over a plaintiff’s apparent depiction in the 2019 film “Hustlers.” See Barbash v. STX Financing, LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-00123-DLC (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 10, 2020). For the uninitiated,
Five Qualities of Next Generation Entertainment Platforms
If your only exposure to TikTok is seeing the occasional funny video pop up on Facebook or watching your nieces studiously rehearse one of Charli D’Amelio’s signature dances, then you could be forgiven for wondering what all of the fuss about a potential ban is about. Likewise, if you’ve heard of Fortnite but you have
The Copyright Discovery Rule: Living on Borrowed Time?
A statute of limitations is often called a statute of repose, “repose” meaning the “elimination of stale claims, and certainty about a plaintiff’s opportunity for recovery and a defendant’s potential liabilities.”1 By mandating “repose,” a statute of limitations expresses the judicial system’s understanding that, despite its “instinct to provide a remedy for every wrong[,] . .
Copyright Office Procedures During COVID-19
As COVID-19-related disruptions and social distancing measures continue across the country and throughout the summer, many public institutions are seeing continued curtailment to their operations. It can be overwhelming to parse through ever-changing, institution-specific pandemic protocols, which is why we have put together an overview of the Copyright Office’s current practices in response to the
When Social Media Finally Holds Feet to the Fire, Trump Fires Back: Undermining the Communications Decency Act’s Safe Harbor by Executive Order
Like most other providers of interactive computer services, such as websites or mobile applications that allow their users to post or contribute their own content, Twitter through its Terms of Service and community guidelines has long prohibited its users from posting or communicating, among other things, defamatory, profane, infringing, obscene, unlawful, exploitive, harmful, racist, bigoted,