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
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
This blog provides an update on the ongoing litigation involving Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. If the original blog explored how this case began, this chapter is about what it has become....more
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania charged 26 individuals, including more than a dozen former NCAA Division I basketball players, in what the U.S. Attorney for the District described as an...more
Fifth Circuit affirms ruling that statutory termination of copyright grant, as well as contingent copyright renewal rights, apply worldwide and are not limited to rights in United States. In 1962, Cyril Vetter and Don Smith...more
For years, concussions were described as temporary disruptions in brain function that could not be seen on any medical test. Patients were often told that because their CT scan or MRI was “normal,” nothing serious had...more
Welcome back to the Spotlight! Many people ask me the same question: “how do you write the Spotlight week after week?” After feigning thinking about it for a moment, I reply: “one keystroke at a time.” In all seriousness it...more
For sports fans, January is usually a pretty fun month. To borrow from a great (non-sports-related) movie, it’s Everything Everywhere All at Once. You’ve got the NFL Playoffs, the College Football Playoff, and regular-season...more
Keith Fullenweider is Chair of Vinson & Elkins and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He maintains an active practice with private equity firms and their portfolio companies on their investments, financings, and...more
After decades of minimal federal activity, the Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act (SPARTA) is drawing renewed attention. A January 2026 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) inquiry into sports agent practices may signal a...more
As 2025 fades into the rearview mirror, many of the entertainment and media industry’s biggest legal questions remain unresolved. In this episode of The Briefing, Weintraub Tobin partners Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler take a...more
On January 8, the College Sports Commission (CSC) issued guidance in direct response to a recent news report from Yahoo Sports that examined college football student-athletes being offered third-party NIL deals that violate...more