California television fans may have heard that Fox and Leftfield Pictures have reached a settlement of the lawsuit Leftfield Pictures filed against the network. The suit was filed in New York in July 2015 and sought $4.5 million.
Video game forced to change name by trademark controversy
An intellectual property claim over the use of the word "rage" in video game titles could have ramifications for developers in California and beyond. Although the case was resolved without the necessity for legal action, it presents significant issues that must be resolved.
California class action targets streaming company Spotify
On December 28, a class action lawsuit filed in the Central District Court of California sought a $150 million sum from Spotify. The music streaming company, which had been in the process of working out a settlement with the National Music Publishers Association after it didn't pay royalties properly, was once again accused of failing to secure mechanical licenses for the music it lets its users stream.
Court orders Mark Zuckerberg to testify
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of California-based Facebook, has been ordered to testify in a deposition in the ongoing case between Oculus and ZeniMax Media. Through his lawyers, Mr. Zuckerberg had asked the court to be allowed to not testify in the case.
FTC accuses LifeLock of violating 2010 settlement
On July 21, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it is taking action against LifeLock for violating a 2010 settlement with the agency and the attorneys general of 35 states, including California. The FTC has asked the court to order the identity theft protection company to provide full redress to affected consumers across the country.
Trump and NBC headed to arbitration over "breach" of contract
Many California business owners have likely heard that Donald Trump intends to take legal action against NBC for violating the terms of a contract with the Miss Universe Organization, according to his top attorney. NBC severed ties with Trump on June 29 after the presidential candidate made offensive descriptions about Mexican immigrants in a stump speech.
ADP prevents Zenefits' clients from accessing payroll system
Zenefits, a human resources startup that is headquartered in California, is defending its business practices after ADP, a well-established corporate payroll services provider based in New Jersey, stopped sharing data with the startup, preventing some Zenefits clients from using the ADP payroll system called RUN. While the cutoff started on June 4, Zenefits says that conflict between the two companies started before then.
California ruling paves way for class action copyright suit
The increasing popularity of online media streaming services and digital radio has led to a sharp decline in record sales across the country, and artists and music labels now rely more heavily on the royalties paid to them by satellite radio and internet companies. However, some of these companies pay no royalties for music they play that was recorded before Feb. 15, 1972. California law protects the work produced by artists before this date, but federal law provides no such protection.
MicroTech suing HP Autonomy for undelivered software
A lawsuit over a breach of contract was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on May 18. The plaintiff, MicroTech, is suing the Autonomy unit of Hewlett-Packard Company for $16.5 million or the delivery of software that MicroTech says it paid for but never received.
Preventing infringement in social media
Entrepreneurs in California might benefit from understanding more about social media's impact on intellectual property and infringement litigation. Many firms have embraced the benefits that social media can offer a business, but there are still professionals unaware of the dangers that might accompany an increasing a presence online. One concern is overexposure of the brand combined within an inability to effectively monitor or safeguard the business from infringement.
