The Briefing: How “Knockoff” Furniture Landed Kim Kardashian in an IP Lawsuit
The Briefing: How “Knockoff” Furniture Landed Kim Kardashian in an IP Lawsuit (Podcast)
(Podcast) The Briefing: Beyond the Hashtag – FTC Revises Guidelines for Endorsement Use in Advertising
Podcast - The FTC Cracks Down on Celebrity Endorsers
Hsu Untied interview with Brian Anderson, Partner at Sheppard Mullin
Is the Grass Greener? Weighing the Risks and Rewards of Celebrity Branding in the Cannabis Industry – The 2022 Cannalaw Summit: Part 2
Is the Grass Greener? Weighing the Risks and Rewards of Celebrity Branding in the Cannabis Industry – The 2022 Cannalaw Summit: Part 1
On August 14, the FTC announced its much-anticipated final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials. The final rule prohibits the purchase, sale, and dissemination of fake reviews, incentivized reviews, and certain...more
This week, a federal court in California issued an 80-page opinion that painstakingly walks through claims made against several celebrities who had promoted the Ethereum Max (EMAX) cryptocurrency, also called tokens. The...more
On March 22, 2023, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint in US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Justin Sun, the owner of BitTorrent, Inc., a file-sharing platform; three...more
There is little in this world more valuable than fine art. Just ask Paul Allen, whose collection of paintings and sculptures recently fetched over $1.5 billion at auction, including $117 million for van Gogh’s “Verger avec...more
On December 1, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated and remanded a district court’s decision to certify a class of more than 200,000 retirees alleging that collateralized loans serviced by the...more
There is more news of recent investigations and charges involving people in the cryptocurrency world. The FTX cryptocurrency exchange recently collapsed. Its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, has been arrested in the Bahamas and...more
Online cryptocurrency promotion—and promotion on social media in particular—has garnered national media attention in recent months. First, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had entered into a...more
Ms. Kardashian found herself on the wrong side of the law Monday, when the SEC entered a cease-and-desist order against her (the “Kardashian Order”), finding her in violation of Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933....more
Welcome back to the "Spotlight!" One of the many peculiarities of the English language is the phrase, “family business.” The phrase can refer to a business that is owned and/or operated by several family members. It can also...more
Welcome back to the "Spotlight!" After over two and a half years, COVID-19 has finally made its way past my doorstep and throughout my home. It’s Wednesday night and I am physically and emotionally drained, I feel like I...more
In Part 1 of our two-part series about advertising in the metaverse, we summarized its history, discussed its broad implications, and analyzed the attention regulators are giving to false advertising in this area. In...more
Welcome back to the "Spotlight!" This may come as a shock to exactly none of you, but people can be really good as casting aside morality in the face of heaps of money. That statement came into sharp focus this week with the...more
Welcome back to the "Spotlight!" Perhaps you hadn’t heard, or you avoid news that lacks dep-th, but the verdict in the weeks-long, voyeuristically-watched Amber Heard/Johnny Depp defamation trial was announced Wednesday, with...more
I did not want to write this week. What more can I say other than what has already been said after yet another callous, atrocious, evil, and (perhaps worst of all) familiar mass shooting in this country? Since this is a...more
Welcome back to the "Sports & Entertainment Spotlight," your 30,000 foot view of the various goings-on in the sports and entertainment industries. This week, I am writing from, well, 30,000 feet flying cross country to soak...more
Live from New York it’s…wait, that’s not right. Two weeks off, and I’ve forgotten how I open these…ah, yes… Welcome back (both to me and to you) to the “Spotlight.” I would love to be able to say that my batteries are fully...more
Endorsement Deals, Sponsorships & Investments - Second NIL collective supporting Ohio State football launches - April 20, 2022 via Chillicothe Gazette - Gary Marcinick has spent decades around Ohio State football. He was...more
- There is that sweet sound of music as Universal Music Group’s IPO debuted as the largest in the history of the music business, with the listing on Euronext Amsterdam valuing the company at more than $53 billion. The stock’s...more
- Esteemed filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s decision to leave his 19-year-long relationship with Warner Bros. for Universal to make his next film (about Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of an atomic bomb) continues to...more
- As the pandemic continues, the question arises: Could celebrities be the key to getting the country vaccinated? - Seemingly everyone is coming up a winner in the music business with the top three major companies bringing...more
Some of this week's highlights include: - Emerging trends are showing signs of change in the sponsorships and endorsement markets. A segment once largely overlooked, athletes in the LGBTQ+ community are finally ringing in...more
Just two weeks into the name, image, and likeness (NIL) era in college sports, and we are already starting to see not only novel and creative partnerships, but also the emergence of legal gray areas and pitfalls for college...more
“The NCAA is not above the law.” Those seven words capped Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s searing concurring opinion issued in connection with Monday’s (June 21) unanimous (9-0) U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Alston v. National...more
Throughout the United States, people are eagerly preparing for this Memorial Day Weekend (MDW), which marks the unofficial start of summer (not to mention those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the country). If you listen...more
“Happy” Tax Day to those of you here in the United States celebrating/commiserating (noting of course that certain taxpayers have until May 17 to file their returns this year). Like taxes, this installment of the Spotlight...more