Blog Posts
Emily Ratajkowski v. The Paparazzi: A Look at Requirements for Originality
Feb. 15, 2022—By Emmy Jewell With the recent attention on the Free Britney movement, the detrimental impact pervasive paparazzi attention on celebrities has gained attention and criticism. The paparazzi takes photos of celebrities doing mundane tasks just so they can be sold to the highest bidders – all in pursuit of selling magazines and news articles. However,...
Dodging a Bullet: Where does Legal Liability Lie with the “Rust” Shooting?
Feb. 15, 2022—By Alex Bernard In October of last year, Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun, a task not unusual to action film stars. What followed, however, was entirely out of the ordinary—the gun, which an assistant director announced was “cold,” actually fired and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchens and wounded director Joel Souza. The incident has spurred controversy...
Show Me the Money?: No Liability for Major Talent Agency After Live Music Covid Cancellations
Feb. 15, 2022—By Harrison Halberg When the pandemic turned the world upside down, no industry was hit as hard as the live music industry. All shows were cancelled, and the industry is only now starting to slowly recover. In consideration of the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, it was unclear who would bear the burden of these...
Who is Liable for the Astroworld Tragedy?
Feb. 15, 2022—By Dean DiBello Rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival left eight fans dead and dozens severely injured after the crowd surged toward the stage during Scott’s performance. While Astroworld undoubtedly ended in tragedy, it was not an entirely surprising result given Scott’s history of inciting crowds. This fact, among others, might inform the ultimate civil and...
Can the EU’s Digital Services Act Provide a Roadmap to Modifying Section 230?
Feb. 15, 2022—By Tifenn Drouaud As the “primary statute governing hosting of user-generated content online,”[1] Section 230 of the Communication Decency Act of 1996[2] has shaped the Internet as we know it. In response to a 1995 New York state court decision ruling that platforms who policed their users were legally liable for harmful content found on...
Nashville’s New Regulation of Transportainment: Are the Days of Seeing Drunk Bachelorette Parties on a Tractor At 11 AM Over?
Feb. 15, 2022—By Casey Caruso Anyone who has been to Nashville recently has seen a “transportainment” vehicle on the streets—they are everywhere, in many variations. Almost all-day Thursday through Sunday, pedal taverns, party buses, the Nashville Wagon, “Hell on Wheels” tanks, tractors, and even hot tubs traverse the streets of Nashville, full of loud drunken people out...
What happens when you can’t go behind the curtain? Deep Neural Networks and their implications for medical malpractice liability
Feb. 15, 2022—By Stephanie Higdon Technological advancements are critical mechanisms for improving medical imaging, surgical practices, and the treatment of disease. Breakthroughs like x-rays, ultrasounds, and MRIs give medical practitioners earth-shattering insight into patient care and create an imperative for the law to respond to these radical alterations to the landscape of the medical field. One such...
Did Facebook Wag the Dog with Its New Name and Expansion into the Metaverse?
Feb. 15, 2022—By Josh Dahan Facebook Inc. has rebranded as Meta in an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future known as the metaverse. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement on October 28 at the company’s Connect virtual reality conference.[i] The company owns Meta.com, which now redirects to a landing page, “about Facebook”, that...
Who Should Decide?: Musical Performances by Holograms of Deceased Artists
Oct. 26, 2021—By Madison Frandina In 2012 Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival; however, they were not alone. A hologram of Tupac Shakur performed alongside the other rappers. While the concert seemed shocking at the time, this technology now enables deceased artists to go on full-fledged stadium “tours.” Using...
The “End” of Hollywood? New IATSE Deal Highlights Power of Unionization
Oct. 26, 2021—By Olivia Pitten Throughout history, a key feature of Hollywood’s business landscape has been the presence of unions. While many other industries felt considerable decline in worker union density, the entertainment industry has consistently remained active in unionization. This is likely due to the infeasibility of individuals negotiating with large, prominent studios on their own....