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?
50 Cent’s two-minute cameo in the horror film “Skill House” turned into a full-blown legal battle over credits, contracts, and control. In this episode of The Briefing, Weintraub entertainment and IP attorneys Scott Hervey...more
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
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Please accept my sheepish apology—I had planned to use this week’s Spotlight to announce Taylor Swift’s latest album, “The Life of a Showgirl” but Jason and Travis Kelce beat me to the punch on...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! In many cultures, the number eight is considered lucky—one that is associated with wealth, prosperity and good fortune. So, it’s only appropriate then that on the eighth day of the eighth month,...more
From movie titles to podcast logos, trademarks are everywhere in the entertainment industry. But how do you get one—and what does it actually protect? Weintraub attorneys Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley talk about the...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Allow me to be among the first to welcome you to August. If you’ve made it this far into summer, congratulations on plodding along through joy-blunting, sizzling hot temperatures. That is not to...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
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Somehow, we’re nearly in the month of August, which feels both like this year has been going by really quickly, despite it feeling at times like it has gone by really slowly. Time is truly a...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! This past week has been an interesting mish mash of Sports and Entertainment candy. Following on the heels of the Wimbledon Tennis Championship across the pond in England and the FIFA Club World...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
SB 22, a sweeping film and television incentive bill that dramatically expands the state’s support for the moving image industry, was officially signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 22, 2025. Following the Texas...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
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Last week you may have celebrated the Fourth of July with hot dogs on the grill (70.5 of them, if you’re Joey Chestnut), your favorite beverage of choice in hand and fireworks. This week, you...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! I write this week with a heavy heart, as I was not selected by a team in the NBA Draft for the 37th straight year. To the naysayers out there who would try to tear me down by pointing out that...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Allow me to be among the first to welcome you to the official start of Summer and to ask that you turn up your air conditioning. Like clockwork, the temperatures outside are running up toward...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
The Copyright Act does not expressly address the protection of individual characters in expressive works, but courts have long recognized that certain characters, particularly those with strong visual or narrative identities,...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! For time immemorial (since 1906, to be exact), the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) so-called amateurism rules sought to enforce a bright-line distinction between college sports...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Although men’s basketball in New York City is on hiatus with the Knicks falling short of an NBA Finals appearance (I don’t want to talk about it), women’s basketball is picking up the slack,...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
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Given the volume of rain across the country recently, I may have to temporarily change the title to “Floodlight.” Yikes. I’d say these late nights watching the NBA Playoffs have made me a little...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! In the past 7 months, I have borne witness to monumental postseason collapses by two of my favorite professional sports teams: my beloved hometown New York Yankees and New York Knicks. Last...more
Family offices have long been part of Hollywood’s DNA, quietly shaping its most iconic moments and technological progress. Paramount Pictures was one of Hollywood’s first family-controlled studios under business titan Adolph...more