On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | May 16, 2016 | Business Litigation, Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law
Last fall, Jonathan Goldsmith, known as the “most interesting man in the world” of Dos Equis advertisement fame, was sued for breach of contract by his former talent agency after allegedly withholding commissions owed to the agency. Goldsmith, who began portraying the...
On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | Dec 30, 2015 | Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law, Intellectual Property
Producers of the hit TV show The Big Bang Theory got a legal ‘bazinga’ in a new lawsuit contesting the show’s allegedly unauthorized use of nursery rhyme lyrics written eight decades ago by a New Hampshire school teacher. The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court...
On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | Jan 30, 2015 | Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Sly Stone has been awarded $5 million by a Los Angeles jury in a breach of contract case claiming that Stone’s former manager and business partners cheated Stone out of more than a decade’s worth of royalties. Stone is best known as...
On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | Jan 23, 2015 | Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law
San Diego-based rapper Tiny Doo, whose real name is Brandon Duncan, faces prosecution on nine counts of alleged criminal street gang conspiracy, which collectively carry a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. The charges arise from a rash of shootings in California...
On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | Aug 21, 2014 | Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law, Intellectual Property
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit recently heard the appeal of a trademark infringement suit arising out of Christopher Nolan’s 2012 blockbuster film The Dark Knight Rises, the latest installment of films featuring Gotham City’s Caped Crusader known as...
On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | Apr 17, 2014 | Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law, Intellectual Property
To most people, music piracy means illegally streaming or downloading a copyrighted work without payment to its creator. In other words, there is a realization that each and every illegal download of a song deprives the creator of payments he or she would have...
On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | Apr 10, 2014 | Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law
Some things never change. It is true that the American music industry looks nothing like it did at the dawn of the new millennium, but major industry executives (and smaller, independent players) still have one central goal when signing new talent: high yield with low...
On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | Apr 8, 2014 | Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law, Intellectual Property
Last summer, a small band performed at a bar called 69 Taps in Medina, Ohio, near Cleveland. That evening, the band covered a number of popular songs that the mostly middle-aged audience had grown up listening to. The bar had not asked for a set list, nor had the band...
On behalf of Berenzweig Leonard, LLP | May 29, 2013 | Entertainment, Sports, & Media Law
Actions must speak louder than unsigned contract, says Virginia Federal Court. The failure to obtain a fully signed agreement is not always fatal to a breach of contract claim. However, a recent Virginia federal court case reminds us of the need to ensure signed...
