A buyer of a business is often concerned about whether the buyer will be faced with liability for legal claims arising from past operations of the business. Under state law this “successor liability” is often minimized by structuring the sale of the business as a sale of assets alone, coupled...
Two weeks ago on October 27, 2016, New York City passed the “Freelance Isn’t Free Act,” (the “Act”) which provides legal protections for freelancers. The Act will go into effect 180 days after it is signed by Mayor de Blasio. Prior to this Act, a freelancer’s sole remedy for nonpayment...
Recently, California state enacted a new law that allows actors and other entertainment industry professionals to require removal of their ages posted on certain websites. Specifically, A.B. 1687 requires commercial entertainment employment providers like the Internet Movie Database (“IMDb”), that offer paid subscription services for actors and other professionals to...
After discovering her grandfather’s diary, written in the Holocaust-era village of Sokal (formerly in Poland, now considered part of Ukraine), Israeli-American documentarian Judy Maltz traveled to an address recorded in the diary—the home of Francizska Halamajowa, a woman who offered safe haven to Maltz’ grandfather, three Jewish families and a German soldier...
This month, the Massachusetts legislature passed landmark equal pay legislation, making it the first state to ban the common practice of employers asking job applicants for their salary histories. Bill S.2119 189th, also known as “An Act to establish pay equity,” is being hailed as “the most robust equal pay...
Recently, Congress enacted, and President Obama signed, the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”), the first comprehensive federal trade secrets legislation. This landmark legislation provides a federal civil remedy for the misappropriation of trade secrets, thereby allowing trade secret owners to protect their innovations and seek redress in federal...
By Deena R. Merlen The United States Department of Labor (the “DOL”) recently issued an updated rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”) that will have a tremendous impact on employers and employees across the country. For information on which employers and employees are covered by the FLSA,...
Recently, a divided panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a copyright decision in favor of the pop star Madonna. The plaintiff, VMG Salsoul, LLC, alleged that Madonna and producer Shep Pettibone improperly copied a 0.23 second segment of horn hits from Salsoul’s song Love Break and used...