Media & Entertainment

  • May 28, 2025

    Flamin' Hot Cheetos Defamation Suit Snuffed Out, For Now

    A California federal judge Wednesday granted Frito-Lay Inc.'s motion to strike a former employee's discrimination and defamation suit claiming he invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos and had his livelihood destroyed when the company disavowed his story, finding he's unlikely to win his claims, but giving him another shot at amendment.

  • May 28, 2025

    Amazon Seeks To End FTC's Prime Subscription Case

    Amazon and the Federal Trade Commission have both asked a Washington state federal court to hand them wins ahead of trial in the agency's case accusing the e-commerce giant of trapping consumers into Prime subscriptions.

  • May 28, 2025

    Telecom Groups Ask Trump To Push BEAD Program Ahead

    A bevy of broadband industry groups are seeking help from the White House in nudging the U.S. Department of Commerce to hasten the distribution of federal funding for internet deployment projects in underserved areas of the country.

  • May 28, 2025

    Disney Cut Loose From Singing Turtle IP Case

    A California federal judge has thrown out a copyright and trademark suit by a man who claimed The Walt Disney Co. copied his singing turtle character, finding Disney had already created its singing turtle 'Olu Mel by the time the man was depicting his turtle character as playing a ukulele.

  • May 28, 2025

    Ex-WWE Exec To Aid Accuser In Suit Against Vince McMahon

    A former World Wrestling Entertainment executive named by a former staffer in a graphic sexual assault and trafficking suit will now cooperate with the staffer against WWE and co-founder Vince McMahon after he was dismissed from the suit Wednesday.

  • May 28, 2025

    Vail Ski Instructors Can't Expand Collective In Wage Suit

    Snow sport instructors cannot revisit previous court orders denying class treatment in their wage and hour lawsuit against Vail Resorts, a Colorado federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the case will proceed in its current form as a collective action.

  • May 28, 2025

    Smartmatic Says Fox Is Trying To 'Bury Proof' In Defamation Row

    Voting technology company Smartmatic has asked a New York state court to lift the "veil of secrecy" on evidence it alleges Fox News is trying to keep hidden from the public as it faces allegations of defamation related to conspiracy theories it aired about a stolen election in 2020.

  • May 28, 2025

    Alex Jones Is 'Defending Journalists,' Texas Court Hears

    A Texas appeals court seemed taken aback after counsel for conspiracist Alex Jones claimed a $45 million default judgment relating to Jones' defamatory Sandy Hook statements should be thrown out, suggesting during oral arguments Jones was "thumbing [his] nose" at the trial court.

  • May 28, 2025

    Hill Dems Blast 'Indefensible' Delay In Multilingual Alert Regs

    More than two dozen congressional Democrats called on the Federal Communications Commission to complete the rollout of a bipartisan rule meant to provide wireless emergency alerts in multiple languages, claiming untenable delays in the process.

  • May 28, 2025

    Harvard To Give Slave Photos To Museum, Ending Legal Battle

    Harvard University on Wednesday settled a suit over the ownership of photographs of enslaved people taken for a racist 1850 study, agreeing to transfer the images to a museum and to pay an undisclosed sum to a woman who says she is a descendant of the subjects.

  • May 28, 2025

    Nielsen Rival Wants To Ditch Viewing Data Patent Case

    A rival of Nielsen Co. LLC has asked a Delaware federal judge to toss a suit by Nielsen that claims infringement of a patent covering a way to measure audience viewership outside the home through mobile phone data, arguing that the subject matter is patent-ineligible.

  • May 28, 2025

    Ex-Benghazi Investigator Sworn In As Interim NorCal US Atty

    A longtime Los Angeles attorney and former investigator into the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans was appointed on Tuesday as interim U.S. attorney in California's Northern District, where he'll be allowed to serve up to 120 days pending Senate confirmation.

  • May 28, 2025

    Audacy Gig Squelched By Soros Fund, Radio Executive Says

    A Connecticut radio executive who claims he played a key role in Soros Fund Management LLC's acquisition of Audacy Inc. is suing the fund and one of its leaders, saying he was boxed out of an alleged deal to become CEO or receive a 5% cut of the fund's profits.

  • May 28, 2025

    Judge Won't Stop Ex-Copyright Office Director's Firing

    A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday declined to stop the Trump administration from ousting the former director of the U.S. Copyright Office, saying the recently fired official had not shown she would be irreparably harmed absent the court's intervention.

  • May 27, 2025

    OneTaste Co-Founder Tells Jury Of Group's Pressure Tactics

    The co-founder and former chief operating officer of OneTaste on Tuesday testified that he and ex-CEO Nicole Daedone manipulated adherents of the sexual wellness company's teachings and described how psychological pressure was used to keep workers in line, as the trial of its former top executive and the head of sales entered its third week. 

  • May 27, 2025

    Anthropic Declaration Partly Stricken Over AI Hallucination

    A California federal magistrate judge has partially stricken an expert report filed by Anthropic in copyright infringement litigation that cited a nonexistent study — an error created by the artificial intelligence company's own Claude AI tool — calling the issue "serious," but "not quite so grave as it first appeared."

  • May 27, 2025

    'Gone In 60 Seconds' IP Appeal 'Stalls At Starting Line'

    A Ninth Circuit panel held Tuesday that the customized Ford Mustangs called "Eleanor" that were featured in four films — most recently in the 2000 Nicolas Cage film "Gone in 60 Seconds" — is not a copyrightable character.

  • May 27, 2025

    11th Circ. Says Producer's Defamation Claims Came Too Late

    The Eleventh Circuit refused Friday to revive a movie producer's defamation suit against The Hollywood Reporter over its article on his feud with a former business partner, ruling that a district court correctly applied California's statute of limitations, rather than Florida's, to dismiss the suit.

  • May 27, 2025

    Greenpeace Fights To Walk Back $666M Pipeline Verdict

    Greenpeace on Tuesday continued its post-trial attack on a $666 million defamation and property damage case against Dakota Access pipeline builder Energy Transfer, telling a North Dakota judge that a lack of evidence requires overturning numerous jury findings.

  • May 27, 2025

    Renaissance Fair Co. Says Landlord Planned 'Knock-Off' Event

    The operator of a New England Renaissance fair has accused its landlord of stalling on a long-term lease extension in order to plan a "knock-off version" of the event.

  • May 27, 2025

    11th Circ. Won't Revisit FCC Ownership Ruling

    The Eleventh Circuit won't take a second whack at its order upholding a Federal Communications Commission finding that Gray Television had broken agency ownership consolidation rules by owning one too many stations in Anchorage, Alaska.

  • May 27, 2025

    Trump To Pardon 'Chrisley' Stars Convicted Of Tax Evasion

    President Donald Trump is planning to pardon reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, the Georgia duo sentenced to prison after being convicted of running a yearslong bank fraud scheme and dodging federal taxes, according to a post Tuesday on X by Trump's communications adviser.

  • May 27, 2025

    Judge Follows The Users And The Money In Meta's FTC Case

    A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday looked for the right metrics to measure the effect that Meta Platforms Inc. has had on Instagram and WhatsApp in terms of users, growth and money spent buying the apps in deals the Federal Trade Commission says were designed to buy or bury the competition.

  • May 27, 2025

    Debate Over Moratorium On State AI Oversight Goes To Senate

    Before going on recess, the U.S. House of Representatives passed their budget reconciliation bill that includes a hotly debated moratorium on states' enforcement of artificial intelligence-related legislation, and the debate continues as the bill heads to the U.S. Senate, where at least a few Republicans have voiced opposition.

  • May 27, 2025

    Trump's Media Co. To Raise $2.5B For Bitcoin Purchase

    Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., the parent company of President Donald Trump's social media platform, said Tuesday it plans to raise $2.5 billion from institutional investors to buy bitcoin to create what it is calling a bitcoin treasury.

Expert Analysis

  • Best Practices For Influencer Trademark Protection

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    Though the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently decided that an influencer couldn't qualify for a retail services trademark registration for posting affiliate links to a third-party website, there are other trademark protections that influencers can pursue for their branding and marketing services, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

  • Mitigating Defamation Liability Risks Of AI-Generated Content

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    Until Congress and the courts provide clear guidance about defamation liability stemming from generative artificial intelligence tools, companies should begin building controls to prevent the creation of defamatory content, says Michael Gerrity at Accenture.

  • What Trump's Next Term May Mean For Biz Immigration

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    Leonard D'Arrigo at Harris Beach discusses the employment-based immigration policies businesses can potentially expect during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, based on policies enacted during his first administration, statements made during his campaign and proposals in Project 2025.

  • Compliance Considerations Of DOJ Data Security Rule

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    Under the U.S. Department of Justice's proposed rule aiming to prevent certain countries' access to bulk U.S. sensitive personal data, companies must ensure their vendor, employment and investment agreements meet strict new data security requirements — or determine whether such contracts are worth the cost of compliance, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • Purse-Case Scenarios: 'MetaBirkin' Appeal Tests TM Rights

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    A federal court's finding that "MetaBirkin" nonfungible tokens infringed on Hermes' iconic Birkin bag imagery is now on appeal in the Second Circuit, and the order will have a lasting effect on how courts balance trademark rights and the First Amendment, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • The AI Consumer Class Action Threat Is Not A Hallucination

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    As regulators scrutinize whether businesses can deliver on claims about their artificial intelligence products and services, the industry faces a wave of consumer fraud class actions — but AI companies can protect themselves by prioritizing fundamental best practices that are often overlooked, say Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein and Richard Torrenzano at the Torrenzano Group.

  • Del. Dispatch: Clarifying Charter Amendment Vote Obligations

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery recently held in Gunderson v. The Trade Desk that only a majority stockholder vote is needed to approve a company's proposed reincorporation from Delaware to Nevada through a corporate conversion, which bodes well for other companies also considering leaving the First State, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Opinion

    Efficiency Dept. Should Consolidate Antitrust Enforcement

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    President-elect Donald Trump's planned Department of Government Efficiency should transfer the authority of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition into the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, because there is no justification for two federal entities to enforce antitrust and competition laws, says retired judge Susan Braden.

  • A Look At 2024 NIL Rights And Economies In College Sports

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    Permutations in the arena of name, image and likeness affecting collegiate athletics have continued unabated this year, and practitioners and industry representatives should anticipate significant activity at schools and continuing legal changes at the state level, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • What Trump's 2nd Presidency Could Mean For Crypto Sector

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    Trump's second term will bring a fundamental shift from the Biden administration's approach to crypto-asset regulation and banking supervision, with the most significant changes likely taking effect in the first two quarters of 2025 and broader policy shifts emerging over the next year, say attorneys at Cahill.

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