Entertainment Law update with legal and commentary news podcast. The hosts are Gordon Firemark and Tamera Bennet. The podcast has interesting Law updates for Entertainment professionals. On this podcast episode 33, several intellectual property violations were discussed. The first being the 50/50 trademark dispute, were Lionsgate and Mandate Pictures was accused of using the 50/50 name, a music group that has been using this name since “2000”. The Music group filed a case in the Federal court to stop the release of Lionsgate’s DVD release. The U.S. Judge George Lindberg watched the movie and after careful consideration dismissed the trademark allegation.
The case of Rogers v. Grimaldi was referenced in the Judge’s decision to dismiss the case, which clearly states,” A title must be explicitly misleading and devoid of any artistic relevance to the work” (Gardner, 7/20/12). Copyright infringement has a variety of forms. Although, the plaintiff was not successful in the case, it would be in the best interest of my company to ensure that our clients pay close attention to Industry trends and other group’s names in the industry. It would be proper to advise our clients to conduct a name search properly to avoid these types of issues.
In additions to the case above episode 14 showcased the case with Joel Tenenbaum. The scope of this case was interesting because it was also a copyright statutory damage. In this case the Jury awarded the plaintiff $675,000 and the Judge over turned the decision stating that although Tenenbaum did intentionally commit the unconstitutional act he was not compensated or did not received any compensation. Therefore the Judge cut his punishment 90%; the Judge did affirm that it was not fair use. The Judge also stated that the punishment must, match the crime.
The Podcast cases that were reviewed in all three of the podcast, reviewed enlighten my business scope. The Podcast assisted me in deciding to offer my clients additional services that will guide them and inform them of the risk of copyright infringement.
A companies intellectual property, must be protected from infringement as well as ensuring our companies are protected from violation of copyright laws.
When advised by legal counsel in regards to best business practices, were to always remember, I.R.A.C., First the issues at hand ensuring facts are taken into consideration. Next, rules and analytical information to protect the client’s interest at all times. Finally, in the conclusion of business affairs, be sure to pay close attention to legal contract and agreements and be sure that all negotiation is win-win situations. Satisfaction is offered in consideration, for the substitute performance. Acceptance is the substitutes for what was suppose to be received. Benefit is the consideration, what is the benefits if its not benefit there is no contract. This is the LAW! I was also advised, to install LawNet on my computer to be able to research case relevant to the industry professionals.
Sources:
1) Entertainment Law Update Podcast Episode 13
Episode 13 Link:
2) Entertainment Law Update Podcast, Episode 33 – Cease and desist, but nicely
3) Entertainment Law Update Podcast 032 – Lawyers, Libel, Logos and Lollipops
4) Lionsgate Defeats '50/50' Trademark Lawsuit
6:07 PM PDT 7/20/2012 by Eriq Gardner
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