The Briefing: The 2026 Forecast: Resolving Some of the Entertainment Industry’s Open Legal Issues
Podcast - 2025 Equine Policy Recap and What to Watch in 2026
The Briefing: 2025 IP Resolutions Start With a Review of IP Assets (Featured)
The JustPod: Prison Artist Mark Loughney Discusses Creating Art from Prison
The Briefing: New York Times v. Perplexity AI: Copyright, Hallucinations, and Trademark Risk
The Briefing: A Very Patented Christmas – The Quirkiest Inventions for the Holiday Season (Featured)
(Podcast) The Briefing: A Very Patented Christmas – The Quirkiest Inventions for the Holiday Season (Featured)
(Podcast) The Briefing: Nudity Riders, Consent, and the Terrifier Lawsuit: What Producers Must Know
The Briefing: Nudity Riders, Consent, and the Terrifier Lawsuit: What Producers Must Know
Podcast - Art, Law and the Athlete: Protecting Equine Imagery in the Studio and Market
Is My Private TV Stream a Public Performance? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
The Briefing: The Man In Black v. Coca Cola: The New Soundalike Showdown
12 Days of Regulatory Insights: Day 6 – Sports Wagering, Player Proposition Bets, and Prediction Market Battles — Regulatory Oversight Podcast
The Briefing: What Is Fair Use and Why Does It Matter? (Featured)
(Podcast) The Briefing: What Is Fair Use and Why Does It Matter? (Featured)
The Briefing – Soup for Change: Campbell’s Sues a Congressional Candidate
From Stairway to Sailing: Can Trade Dress Protect Iconic Guitar Designs? — No Infringement Intended Podcast
Podcast - One Sport, One Rulebook: A Conversation with the CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority
(Podcast) The Briefing: Reboot or Not? The Battle Between ER’s Creator and Warner Bros Hits the Court of Appeal
Maximizing Revenue: The Future of College Sports Media Rights in a Post-House World — Highway to NIL Podcast
Key Takeaways - Public Domain Day 2026 releases thousands of creative works for free use. As of January 1, literary works from 1930 and sound recordings from 1925 are now available without copyright restrictions....more
Even if you read them at the time, you’ll want to read them again. In 2025, organizations faced significant developments in the areas of immigration, workplace policies, federal enforcement, and data privacy. ...more
The year 2025 left the media and entertainment industry with a series of significant, unresolved legal questions. As we move into 2026, several high-profile cases are poised to redefine the boundaries of fair use, the...more
Last week, another betting scandal rocked the sports world, this time directly impacting college sports. In this week’s Film Room, we highlight the allegations that are most relevant to the college game. We also circulate...more
PleasrDAO (“Pleasr”) is a decentralized autonomous organization[i] that acquires culturally significant digital art and artifacts. One such work is Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, a one-of-a-kind musical work by Wu-Tang Clan...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sustained the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s refusal to register trademark applications (over oppositions) for two character marks and a design mark based on the Board’s...more
A recent federal indictment in United States v. Smith, et al. alleged a multiyear point‑shaving and illegal sports betting scheme involving dozens of current and former Division I men’s basketball players from at least 17...more
Report - New edition of DLA Pipers' Gambling Laws of the World - The new edition of DLA Piper's Gambling Laws of the World guide is now available. Covering almost 50 jurisdictions, the guide looks into topics on...more
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it is launching an inquiry into the agents of college athletes, aiming to kick off a consumer-protection crackdown to prevent student-athlete exploitation during...more
The US Department of Education recently launched a series of Title IX investigations of 18 different colleges and universities, state departments of education, and local public school systems that have policies allowing...more
After nearly three and a half hours of argument last week in West Virginia v. B.P.J. and Little v. Hecox—consolidated cases challenging state laws barring transgender girls and women from female-designated sports teams—a...more
Trademark lawyers eventually learn a hard truth: brands often do not die; instead, they drift. Sometimes they drift quietly into nostalgia. Sometimes they drift into the hands of the entrepreneurial and well-advised. Other...more
The College Sports Commission (CSC) was established to oversee compliance with and enforcement of collegiate Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rules following the House settlement....more
The evidence against the college basketball players indicted Thursday on federal sports gambling charges, and the alleged fixers involved in enticing and paying the players, appears strong enough for the NCAA to focus on...more
Prediction markets have rapidly moved into the mainstream of financial innovation. These markets are very flexible and allow users to take a position on the outcome of a wide array of events — from elections and sport events...more
On Jan. 15, 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges and released indictments for 26 people related to an international conspiracy to fix Division I men’s basketball games. The alleged scheme involved the...more
Key Takeaways - Reputational controversy alone rarely justifies cancellation. The Kennedy Center cancellations illustrate that absent a well-drafted morals or brand-protection clause, artists who cancel in response to...more
On January 8, 2026, the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York granted Universal Music Group’s motion to dismiss, and in so doing, prevented hip-hop group, Salt-N-Pepa, from exercising its termination rights...more
As the sports industry looks ahead to 2026, sponsorship agreements are becoming more complex, more strategic, and more closely scrutinized. We sat down with Doneld “Don” Shelkey, a leading sports sponsorship and commercial...more
In a decision that may foreshadow major doctrinal change, two judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals have urged the court to rethink – or abandon – its long‑standing framework for assessing substantial similarity in...more
Fans of the iconic Betty Boop character have taken to social media to share their dream celebrity casting for Miss Boop now that Dizzy Dishes, the six-minute cartoon that first featured the Betty Boop character, has entered...more
On January 13, 2026, Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) opened its registration process for prospective operators and goods or services suppliers seeking to participate in Alberta’s new iGaming market. This follows...more
Ninth Circuit affirms jury finding that tattoo of jazz icon Miles Davis by celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D was not substantially similar to and did not infringe plaintiff’s photograph....more
District court dismisses claims by rap and hip-hop group Salt N-Pepa seeking declaration they had validly terminated grant of copyright in sound recordings to UMG Recordings’ predecessor and alleging possessory interest in...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