Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.
|
Minimizing Exposure in the Digital Age
By Erin Reid and Connie Pendleton
Social networking websites can serve as first impressions for employers, investors, friends, and potential romantic partners. From Twitter to Facebook to YouTube, use of social networking sites has become ubiquitous. Yet, for all the talk of social networking and social media, many users lack a clear understanding of the ramifications of using such websites. So, what is online social networking and how does it work? As use of social networking sites grows, what kind of exposure could sites face for programs and policies that disclose user information? Will online social networking change how courts, lawyers, and juries conduct discovery, prepare for trial, and deliberate? This article examines these questions in turn.
Read More
|
|
|
Beware of Killer Apps: Platform Provider Liability for Third-Party Apps (and the Availability of Online Safe Harbors)
By James Rosenfeld
Apple's iPhone may currently be the most popular platform for which third parties can develop software applications, but it has growing company from Google, RIM, and others. Tablets like the Apple iPad and, to a lesser extent, e-readers like the Amazon Kindle also host third-party apps. Consumer electronics manufacturers have also devised platforms that run on digital televisions, Blu-ray players, gaming consoles, and separate set-top boxes like the Boxee Box, with several manufacturers unveiling new or planned platforms for third-party apps at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. Third-party applications may soon appear on almost any imaginable consumer electronics device.
Read More
|
|
|
Bonds Juror Questionnaires to Be Made Public During Voir Dire; Juror Names to Be Withheld Until Trial End
By Duffy Carolan, Thomas R. Burke, Kelli Sager, Jeff Glasser
The United States District Court, Northern District of California (J., Illston) issued a 10-page ruling on March 14, 2011, granting the public and press access to completed juror questionnaires during the voir dire process in the upcoming perjury trial of former San Francisco Giants baseball player Barry Bonds. The Court however ordered the names of jurors to be withheld until the end of trial. Citing to United States Supreme Court precedent, the Court stated:
'The process of juror selection is itself a matter of importance, not simply to adversaries but to the criminal justice system.' Historically, an open selection process has given 'assurances to those not attending trials that others were able to observe the proceedings and enhanced public confidence.'
Read More
|
|
|
The Basics of Music Licensing in Digital Media: 2011 Update
By David D. Oxenford and Robert J. Driscoll
Businesses that are involved in digital media use music in many ways—and most require some sort of license to make the use legal. Whether the music is used in an advertisement or a music video, on a website or delivered via another digital platform, licenses are usually required. Unfortunately, there are a variety of rights that may be needed, depending on how the music will be used, so knowing what you need to do to avoid liability is not always easy.
Read More
|
|
|
Ninth Circuit Revives California Idea Submission Claims
By Anna Buono
At some point, everyone has come up with an idea for a television show or movie. In Hollywood in particular, it often seems that everyone – from the waiter to the lawyer to the personal trainer – is writing a screenplay or treatment of some sort. On the one hand, these authors are not laboring over their works for nothing – they obviously hope to be able to sell their work. But on the other hand, with so many people creating, it is just as obvious that not all writings will become productions. Writers must get a foot in the door for the opportunity to get their work produced. Yet studios, broadcasters, and production companies (collectively, "producers") that take pitches hear dozens upon dozens of ideas before hitting on one that will get a green light. For more than 50 years in California, plaintiffs asserting idea submission claims have alleged that the "custom and practice" of the
industry is for producers to hear these pitches with the understanding that they will compensate the writer if the disclosed idea is utilized. The reality, however, is that producers do not assume that they have entered into a contract with every person that pitches an idea to them or sends them unsolicited material.
Read More
|
|
|
State of Evolving Media 2011: 10 Top Trends
By Jimmy Nguyen
The evolving media landscape continues to transform at a rapid pace. Throughout 2011, expect more developments in the way entertainment is digitally distributed to consumers, more growth in capability for apps and social media, and more ways for users to participate in their entertainment experience. In no particular order, here is my annual list of 10 Top Trends to expect for the year.
Read More
|
|
|
Protecting Access to Information: An Interview with Duffy Carolan
Duffy Carolan, a media lawyer in our San Francisco office, represents news, entertainment, and online content providers. She is newsroom counsel to over 40 newspapers, providing 24/7 advice to reporters and editors on deadline. Her commitment to freedom of the press recently earned Duffy a James Madison Freedom of Information Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California chapter (her second such award from the chapter). Her pro bono work for the Chauncey Bailey Project, which sought to uncover the truth about the murder of a journalist, was recognized by numerous organizations including The American Lawyer.
Read More
|
 | |
DWT Media Group is on Facebook and Twitter
Stay up to date on advisories, blogs, articles of interest, upcoming events, multimedia, commentary from our media lawyers, and more.
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
|
|
|
|
