BizTech Law Blog
Practicing entertainment law, I am repeatedly asked to read different film scripts or book manuscripts. Sometimes I agree, but I always preface my review with a specific conversation. Here is my initial answer to the question, "Will you read my script?"
Unmanned aircraft systems - drones - are become increasingly popular and less expensive. From drone pilot hobbyists to online retailers, recreational and business use of drone technology is likely to increase over the coming years. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has taken notice.
Obtaining the proper music licenses helps protect your production from a copyright lawsuit, which can ultimately prevent the release of your final product. Watch the short video clip below for these three practical tips on music licensing.
- Recognize the need to obtain a license for ALL music.
- Know "sync" and "master use" rights.
- Start the licensing process early.
On June 25, 2014, the United States Supreme Court ruled that cloud-based television-streaming service, Aereo, violated U.S. copyright law and its subsequent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing has come to a dramatic conclusion. We have followed this case throughout its lifecycle, and updated this blog with posts like this one to keep you up-to-date on its implications for copyright and telecommunications regulations. Now, as reported by Inc. and other media, the company’s sale of its technology – once considered disruptive and wildly innovative – for a “disappointing” $2 million brings the technology company’s story to an end.
Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, Aereo filed for bankruptcy, and recently conducted an auction sale of its intellectual property and hardware in order to raise funds to pay creditors. The company sold its name and customer list to TiVo, and its patent portfolio to RPX Corporation, which has been categorized by some as a patent troll. Aereo sold off its remaining equipment to Alliance Technologies. Aereo had expected the sale to raise up to $40 million.
A decision in a copyright infringement case concerning the song “Blurred Lines” casts ambiguity on the future of expression and copyright protection in the music industry. On Tuesday, March 10, an eight-person jury in Los Angeles concluded that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, the performer and songwriter-producer of the most successful song of 2013, “Blurred Lines,” committed copyright infringement by using elements of the 1977 Marvin Gaye song, “Got to Give it Up,” without proper credit.
Have your filed your individual tax return? Be sure to read the blog post, "One Reason You May Want to File Your Tax Return Early this Year: Identity Theft," on Foster Swift's Tax Law Blog and file early this year.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) just released proposed rules regarding unmanned aircraft systems ("UAS" or "drone") in United States airspace. The rules are not final, and the FAA is expecting public comments regarding the proposed rules in the next 60 days.
The current unmanned aircraft rules will remain in place until the final new rule is approved by the FAA.
Here is a quick summary of what the FAA proposed. The stated goal of the new rules is to balance aviation safety with the regulatory burden on UAS operators.
Michigan’s economy has made notable strides in recent years toward retaining and attracting business and creating more high-quality jobs. On Dec. 18, Gov. Rick Snyder announced an executive order aimed at keeping that forward momentum alive. Snyder said that the newly created Michigan Department of Talent and Economic Development will organize the state’s job training and economic development efforts under one unified department.
This new organizational structure brings to bear more state resources to train Michigan workers for in-demand jobs – in the skilled trades and in fields like IT and advanced manufacturing – that employers are having trouble filling.
What does the reorganization look like?
- The new Department of Talent and Economic Development will house a newly created state agency, the Talent Investment Agency, both of which are scheduled to begin operations in March.
- The Talent Investment Agency will absorb the Michigan Strategic Fund – the governmental entity in charge of incentivizing business development – as well as the Michigan Economic Development Association, the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority, the Workforce Development Agency, the Governor's Talent Investment Board, and the Unemployment Insurance Agency.
The term "competitive intelligence" is the process of legally gathering information about one's competitors to gain a strategic advantage in the marketplace. Large corporations will have strategic intelligence experts as a part of their marketing department. These experts specialize in discovering promotional activities, sales figures, and other information about the company's competitors. Ideally, strong competitive intelligence enables a company to predict the strategy of a competitor and adapt with a strategy of its own that will result in an advantage in the marketplace.
The good news is that small and medium-sized businesses are not usually the targets of professional competitive intelligence experts. However, a business owner would be wise to protect itself from amateur intelligence gathering by its competitors. Competitive intelligence gathering begins by identifying the strategy of your own business and how your competitor's strategy will interfere. Then the intelligence gathering begins.
As part of the recent tax bill, Section 181 of the U.S. Tax Code was renewed allowing a 100 percent tax write-off for the first $15 million of the cost of producing a film in the U.S.
