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
The allure of prizes offered in a sweepstakes promotion can be an effective means of attracting consumers to a brand and/or its specific products/services. This is especially true when the prize in question involves...more
Utah AG Sean Reyes has filed a lawsuit against TikTok Inc. alleging that it violated state consumer protection laws by designing its livestream feature—TikTok LIVE—in a manner that facilitates the use of virtual currency for...more
Recent research showed that social media is an incredibly powerful platform for marketers, achieving the highest ROI of any channel (according to HubSpot’s 2023 Marketing Strategy Trends Report). For social media marketers,...more
It’s time to be thankful – for eDiscovery case law! Our November 2023 monthly webinar of cases covered by the eDiscovery Today blog discusses permissive inference sanctions for destruction of video, sanctions for failing to...more
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation recently published the Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising (“Measures”), which will take effect on 1 May 2023. The Measures, containing a number of...more
China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) recently issued the Measures for the Administration of Internet Advertising (New Measures), which will take effect on May 1, 2023, and replace the Interim Measures for...more
Digital marketing is constantly evolving. Tactics that help firms find success in one year may not in others. As we watch 2022 come to an end, we can take stock of legal marketers’ most common tactics. Here is a summary of...more
Like streaming services and professional content creators, law firms can create bingeable thought leadership content that wins over clients and referral sources. When I say bingeable content, I know the first thing you think...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a district court’s summary judgment of noninfringement in a copyright dispute, finding that the transfer of ownership prior to the display of the copyrighted work...more
As the content industry moves inexorably toward a streaming model, linear broadcast and cable channels are looking increasingly to live sports to gain competitive advantage. In the past, streamers have turned away from live...more
In a previous alert, we covered the Delaware Chancery Court’s decision in Stream TV Networks last year. After Stream TV’s independent directors negotiated a consensual transfer of collateral to its lenders in full and final...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a district court’s noninfringement decision that was based on a negative claim construction and remanded with instructions for the district court to determine what...more
For decades, there has been an ongoing controversy about whether esports are sports. While some consider this sort of labeling issue trivial, it is critically important in the legal context. Classification rings especially...more
Whether it’s through mobile gaming or live streaming, young people are spending more time than ever participating in the virtual world. Yet, in-game chat functionality, online trolls, loot boxes and advertising are posing...more
While streaming has taken off as a new entertainment vertical, particularly during the pandemic, streamers face many challenges. When streamers take time off from their regular broadcast schedules, they lose viewers and...more
We all know what happened when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down life as we know it back in March 2020. Workers were forced into remote work environments because of social distancing requirements and the US court system ground...more
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the esports community has witnessed an explosive year of investment growth in 2020 and early 2021. Here is a brief summary of just some of the more significant esports acquisitions and...more
To the surprise of viewers and fans, while livestreaming Call of Duty on Twitch, Miami Heat Center Meyers Leonard made an anti-Semitic slur and used vulgar language, and video of Leonard making these comments on his...more
On October 22, 1939, the first NFL game aired on television. Over 80 years later, the first NFL game was exclusively accessible via a streaming platform. What started as two cameras and eight staffers broadcasting to 1,000...more
It has been more than a year since the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court have held in-person oral arguments. Thankfully, the appellate courts have been able to continue their important work by utilizing technology to hold...more
Streaming is a widespread form of entertainment for millions of Americans and its popularity has soared during the pandemic. However, according to a study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Global Innovation Policy...more
As it closed out 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sent out requests to nine social media and video streaming companies asking them to provide more information about how they treat consumer information. The FTC...more
During the first few months of the COVID-19 lockdown, with virtually all major sporting events cancelled, sports betting and gambling companies turned their eyes toward the esports universe in search of a solution. While...more
Creation and distribution of content containing creative works belonging to third parties or implicating other third-party rights can easily run afoul of copyright and other laws in the shelter-in-place era. And the potential...more