Three Tips for Broadway Producers Recording their Shows for Streaming Platforms

Broadway producers interested in recording musicals for streaming platforms should pay attention to a new lawsuit. The complaint was filed by Chapman Roberts, a Broadway music arranger, and alleges that a team of Broadway producers entered into an agreement with the plaintiff in 1994 to make original vocal arrangements of some famous songs from Jerry

CDAS IP Group and Partner Nancy Wolff Recognized in Chambers USA 2020

The highly regarded “Guide to the Top Lawyers and Law Firms” described CDAS as a “highly skilled boutique offering excellent capabilities handling trademark and copyright infringement cases, as well as substantial portfolio management matters. [CDAS] exhibits expertise acting for market-leading entertainment, media and digital platform clients.” In addition to recognizing the firm for Intellectual Property:

Nancy Wolff Featured in ABA Grassroots Initiative Discussing the CASE Act

As part of ABA Day, Nancy participated in a CASE Act Introduction and discussed implications of The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act of 2019 and its creation of the Copyright Claims Board as an alternative forum to pursue low-value claims of $30,000 or less. Listen to the panel here.

S.D.N.Y. Holds that Publishers May Embed Content Publicly Posted on Instagram Platform — (Sinclair v. Ziff Davis, LLC et al.)

Since the emergence of social media, courts, content creators, and publishers alike have been grappling with legal issues concerning the practice of “embedding” copyrighted content.  Following the controversial February 2019 decision in Goldman v. Breitbart News, LLC – rejecting the Ninth Circuit’s “server test” and holding that an embed constitutes a “public display” exposing a

Allen v. Cooper: Supreme Court Upholds State Sovereign Immunity in Copyright Row Over State’s Unauthorized Use of Videos and Images of Blackbeard’s Famed Shipwreck

In a technical win for states facing federal claims under the Copyright Act, on Monday, March 23, 2020, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Copyright Clarification Act of 1990 (the “CRCA”), which had allowed states to be sued in federal court for copyright infringement.  Allen v. Cooper, No. 18-877, 2020 WL 1325815 (U.S.

Contractual Disruptions: How They Arise and How to Prepare

With the recent spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and its unprecedented precipitation of social-distancing, work-from-home policies, shelter-in-place orders, and limitations on foreign travel, many individuals may be questioning whether certain contractual obligations are excused. This article provides a primer on the contract concepts of force majeure, impossibility and impracticability, and related provisions that affect,

Gray v. Perry: The Pendulum Swings on Copyright Infringement Verdict against Katy Perry

Following hot on the heels of the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision clearing Led Zeppelin of copyright infringement allegations relating to the classic “Stairway to Heaven” (which we reported here), a California federal judge last week overturned a jury’s finding of copyright infringement against Katy Perry regarding the pop hit “Dark Horse.”  Songwriters still nervous

Marc Hershberg was cited in the Fordham IPM&E Law Journal

“Anything You Can Use, I Can Use Better: Examining the Contours of Fair Use as an Affirmative Defense for Theatre Artists, Creators, and Producers,” by Benjamin Reiser, Fordham Intellectual Property Media & Entertainment Law Journal, Vol. XXX, No. 3 (2020).  Find the article here.