New York Entertainment Lawyer | The Law Offices of Vince Manapat

Suing is Not Always As Easy As It Seems

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:35:22 +0000

People rarely understand how costly, time consuming, and grueling a lawsuit can be. In a sense, being right is not enough. Earlier this month, the U.S. Copyright Group partnered with some independent studios to sue thousands of file-sharers. But Time-Warner is resisting the lawsuits because of the unreasonable burden the suits place on the ISP. [...]

Navigating the Complexities of Termination Rights

admin — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:26:39 +0000

I’ve written about termination rights in the past with respect to John Steinbeck’s works. The issue of termination rights is a complex one, but Shourin Sen at Exclusive Rights has made the subject much simpler with his “Copyright Termination Calculator.” According to Sen, “The calculator will run a user through the questions and permutations necessary [...]

2nd Circuit’s Salinger v Colting Decision

admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:19:53 +0000

The Second Circuit remanded the Salinger v. Colting case, holding that: eBay abrogated parts of this Court’s preliminary injunction standard in copyright cases, and accordingly, this case must be remanded to the District Court to reevaluate Salinger’s preliminary injunction motion. In light of that holding, we need not decide whether the preliminary injunction issued by [...]

Sam Moore Lawsuit Against Weinstein Company Will Go to Trial

admin — Sat, 15 May 2010 23:43:26 +0000

In late 2008, Sam Moore sued the Weinstein Company over the production of its film “Soul Men.” The premise of the film is that “two estranged soul-singing legends agree to participate in a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater.” One of the “soul-singing” legends happened to resemble “Sam & Dave,” an R&B group to which [...]

The Net Profit Pitfall

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 13:35:06 +0000

Net profit definitions are notorious in the film industry. In on of the most egregious examples, the film Forrest Gump, which is the fourth highest grossing film in history, never turned a “net profit.” It seems that problems relating to net profit definitions are still coming up. THR is reporting that Marathon Funding, a company [...]

The Economist on Copyright Protection

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:19:41 +0000

There is an interesting article in The Economist concerning attempts to strengthen copyright protection. The article makes some good points about the arguments for increased protection. For instance, “The notion that lengthening copyright increases creativity is questionable, however. Authors and artists do not generally consult the statute books before deciding whether or not to pick [...]

Contract Review By a Computer Program

admin — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:53:41 +0000

Will computers replace lawyers one day? I doubt it, but some are already taking steps in that direction. JavaCoolSoftware has released the “,” a program that will “analyze license agreements in seconds, and provide a detailed listing of potentially interesting words and phrases.” Obviously, this is not a full proof method for avoiding license agreements [...]

Entertainment Industry Aspirations

admin — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:20:08 +0000

Earlier this year Victoria A. Espinel, the government’s Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, requested submissions from the public concerning the future of intellectual property enforecement in the United States. The MPAA and RIAA submitted a brief that is remarkable in its breadth. According to Zero Paid: Its outline for tackling the problem is truly frightening, and [...]

Disney Characters Explain Copyright

admin — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 13:03:02 +0000

Via the Licensing Plate — a short video wherein a number of famous Disney characters explain the intricacies of copyright law.

Current Copyright Disputes

admin — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:59:04 +0000

The Copyright Wars continue to be fought in all fronts. Here is a sampling of some current disputes: (1) Artist Dereck Seltzer has sued the band Green Day for copyright infringement claiming that Green Day used one of Seltzer’s images in their live show without a license. Examiner. (2) Robert Cabell, the owner of a [...]