Nicholas Valner is London Product Group Head and Head of International Arbitration for Eversheds, LLP, a full-service international law firm. He has nearly thirty years’ experience in commercial litigation and music and entertainment law, and has been heavily involved on behalf of the Beatles’ Apple Corps in their series of trademark infringement suits against Apple Computer.
In this seminar from a meeting of the American Bar Association in 2007, panelists Milton Williams, Nicholas Valner, Sandra A. Cranshaw-Sparks, and Stan Soocher conduct a review of a number of recent landmark cases in the field of entertainment law. Among the suits under discussion are: copyright infringement suits brought by the screenwriters of the film Dodgeball; a brief review of copyright cases against internet companies in order to identify the current meaning of “fair use” as applied to internet-distributed materials and parodies; suits against Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown, the estate of Marilyn Monroe, the estate of Bob Marley and others which explore different sides of contract rights, theft of intellectual property, and celebrity image use rights; the ongoing set of lawsuits by Apple Records against Apple Computer; the lawsuit brought by the band Hawthorne Heights against their label; and more.
In this segment from an ABA 2007 Forum titled “Entertainment Law Litigation Review,” the panelists discuss a case in which Bob Marley’s bassist, Aston “Family Man” Barrett, sued the Marley family and several record companies for back royalties, arguing that he and his deceased brother were parties to the recording contracts that Marley had signed over the course of his career.
In this segment from an ABA 2007 Forum titled “Entertainment Law Litigation Review,” the panelists discuss a case in which Hello and OK magazine each published photos of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ wedding, when OK were the sole authorized publishers of photographs of the event.
In this segment from an ABA 2007 Forum titled “Entertainment Law Litigation Review,” the panelists discuss Apple Records’ series of trademark infringement lawsuits against Apple Computer, Inc. which begun in 1989 when Apple Computer began putting music synthesizers into their products, and re-emerged when Apple Computer began to market iTunes. They also briefly recap a Wisconsin case in which a man ran for Sheriff in Wisconsin under the name “Andy Griffith,” which led to a lawsuit against him by the real Andy Griffith. This case clarifies the difference between commercial dilution and non-commercial use of a public persona, and the importance of demonstrating value of a trademark or persona via continued use.
In this segment from an ABA 2007 Forum titled “Entertainment Law Litigation Review,” the panelists discuss some recent copyright cases brought in the UK to answer some pressing questions of copyright, fair use, and what infringement means in that market. Cases addressed include ones brought against Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown, against the writers of the song “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” and others.
In this segment from an ABA 2007 Forum titled “Entertainment Law Litigation Review,” the panelists discuss a case brought in the UK against the estate of Jimi Hendrix, in which the plaintiff claimed to own the rights to all of Jimi Hendrix’ music. This case and its outcome illuminate what copyright, ownership and infringement mean in the UK. The panelists also contrast UK copyright law with its US equivalent, and explore some important differences.
