The Briefing: Court Says “No Way” To 50 Cent’s Battle Over Skill House
The Briefing: Trademark Basics - Protecting Names, Logos, and Brands in Entertainment
Will I Get Sued if I Create Another Hospital Drama? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: The Ninth Circuit Puts the Brakes on Eleanor’s Copyright Claim
(Podcast) The Briefing: The Future of TV? A 2025 Digital Media Trends Analysis
The Briefing: The Future of TV? A 2025 Digital Media Trends Analysis
Season 6 Ep #1 IP State of the Union- Billion Dollar Character Acquisitions- Part 1
Recognizing and Avoiding Trademark Scams and Hoaxes
(Podcast) The Briefing: Bad Spirits – How a Dog Toy Changed TV Title Clearance
The Briefing: Bad Spirits – How a Dog Toy Changed TV Title Clearance
Into the Darkness: Unmasking ‘Mare of The Night’: A Sherlock Holmes Reimagined with Filmmaker CJ Goodwyn
The Briefing: Paramount Splashes Top Gun Maverick Copyright Lawsuit
The Briefing Filmmakers Express Concern Over Impending Death of ‘Biographical Anchor’ Fair Use Basis (Podcast)
The Briefing Filmmakers Express Concern Over Impending Death of ‘Biographical Anchor’ Fair Use Basis
The Briefing: Netflix Defamation Lawsuit About Inventing Anna – Not an Imposter
The Briefing: Netflix Defamation Lawsuit About Inventing Anna – Not an Imposter (Podcast)
The Briefing: Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film
(Podcast) The Briefing: Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film
Podcast: The Briefing - Is Linda Fairstein’s Portrayal in Netflix’s “When They See Us” Fair?
The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more
When The White Lotus returned to HBO for its third season, it came with the usual dose of dramatic tension, along with one unexpected intellectual property wrinkle. [WARNING – Potential Plot Spoiler Ahead!] In a particularly...more
A former Major League Soccer marketing executive sued the league in New York federal court Friday, alleging he was fired in retaliation for repeatedly complaining of racial discrimination by his superiors....more
In this episode, Rusty and Austin explore the potential legal hurdles they might encounter if they were to venture into creating their own hospital drama. With the television landscape already saturated with series like ER,...more
Superman has soared back onto the big screen, and unless you’ve been locked in the Fortress of Solitude, you already know his origin story: Rocketed from the doomed planet Krypton. Raised in Kansas. Secretly, a mild-mannered...more
The release of Skillhouse, a horror film streaming on the platform GenTV, shares headlines with a high-profile lawsuit brought by rapper 50 Cent based on alleged violations of his intellectual property (IP) rights....more
Can a car be a copyrightable character? In Carroll Shelby Licensing v. Halicki, the Ninth Circuit said no — ruling that “Eleanor,” the iconic Mustang from ‘Gone in 60 Seconds,’ lacks the distinctiveness and consistency...more
District court grants Disney’s motion for summary judgment, holding it did not infringe plaintiffs’ copyright in blue-eyed ukulele-playing turtle character, but rather independently created its own musical turtle character,...more
Ninth Circuit holds that custom Ford Mustang called “Eleanor,” which appeared in four films from 1974 to 2000, is not entitled to character copyright protection under Towle test and that licensor of custom car design did not...more
Court Narrows Scope of Character Copyright, Drawing Sharp Line Between Props and Protectable Expression - Not every film icon gets legal protection. On May 27, 2025, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Eleanor—the legendary Mustang...more
District court dismisses claim for copyright infringement against writers, producers and distributors of television show Yellowjackets, holding no substantial similarity between protectable elements of Yellowjackets and...more
A New York federal judge has tossed several school district lawsuits seeking to void a state law banning the use of Native American team mascots and names, throwing out individual board members’ free speech claims but saying...more
Twelve current and former tennis professionals filed a proposed antitrust class action in New York federal court on Tuesday, accusing the sport’s governing bodies of operating as a “cartel” that manipulates pay and rankings,...more
On March 6, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York confirmed that historical events are not subject to copyright protection....more
Every year, the world celebrates the first of January as Public Domain Day, marking the release of copyrighted works into the public domain. In 2024, we saw popular intellectual properties enter the public domain, including...more
Celebrated on the first day of every year, Public Domain Day marks the day works with copyrights that expired the year prior enter the public domain. While the calculations to determine copyright expiration can be complicated...more
A federal judge late Wednesday ordered the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to lock down UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium on the VA’s West Los Angeles campus at noon Thursday until the university comes up with a proposal for...more
A former Olympian is suing New Balance over the end of her career. Khamica Bingham, a two-time Olympic sprinter from Canada, is suing the Boston-based shoe company alleging that a malfunction in her running shoes led to a...more
Floyd Mayweather finds himself deep into a lawsuit, as fraud and theft claims have been put against his name. The American boxer and rapper Tyga are now part of a suit by Leonard Sulaymanov, who has alleged the non-payment of...more
The Eleventh Circuit on Monday refused to reopen a former football coach’s lawsuit accusing a Georgia school district of unlawfully refusing to renew his contract because he’s white, backing a lower court’s determination that...more
Paramount triumphs in the Top Gun Maverick copyright case. Join Scott Hervey and Jamie Lincenberg of Weintraub Tobin on 'The Briefing' as they dissect the court's ruling....more
Paramount triumphs in the Top Gun Maverick copyright case. Join Scott Hervey and Jamie Lincenberg of Weintraub Tobin on 'The Briefing' as they dissect the court's ruling. ...more
Major League Baseball announced Friday that it has opened an investigation following allegations involving Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, who has been at the center of a potential theft and sports betting scandal...more