In a state where the sun always shines, California’s film tax credits seem to be the script for success. On July 10, 2023, Governor Newsom signed legislation to extend and expand California’s $330 million-a-year Film and TV Tax Credit Program 3.0 for an additional five years, meaning the original expiration date of June 30, 2025 has been extended through June 30, 2030.[1] Following this recent expansion, the program, now dubbed “Program 4.0,” has already enticed upcoming productions scouting other locations to reconsider. Colleen Bell, the Director of the California Film Commission, says that just during the first half of 2024, the state has already attracted 12 new and one relocating television series to California.[2] As evidence of that, we see Universal Content Productions LLC received one of the largest credits worth $12 million for the first season of “Suits: L.A.”, which helped ignite the shift from production in Canada to production in California.[3] This spinoff alone is expected to spend $50.7 million and create about 2,600 jobs in California.[4]Continue Reading Lights, Camera, Tax Breaks: California’s Updated Film Incentives

YouTube has announced a slate of new AI detection tools to enhance its ContentID system. The tools are designed to address the challenges posed by AI-generated content, which is becoming increasingly prevalent and sophisticated. The announcement coincides with industry-wide calls for more robust detection mechanisms as the lines between AI-generated and human-produced content continue to blur.Continue Reading YouTube Unveils AI Detection Tools: Advancing ContentID for the AI Era

In the ongoing legal battle of Yellow Rose Productions, Inc. v. Pandora Media, LLC, a group of high-profile comedians, including Lewis Black, George Lopez, and the estates of Robin Williams and George Carlin, has filed a motion for partial summary judgment claiming that Pandora is infringing on their copyrights by streaming over 2,000 comedy routines without the necessary licenses. In response, Pandora contends that its existing licenses from record labels sufficiently cover these performances. Not only does this case raises critical legal questions regarding the scope of rights necessary to license non-musical content like comedy, podcasts, and audiobooks in the streaming era, but is emblematic of broader shifts in the entertainment industry, where traditional boundaries of copyright law are being tested by emerging technologies and distribution methods, prompting content creators to be increasingly proactive in safeguarding their rights and monetization opportunities.Continue Reading Funny Business: Comedians Push for Music-Style Licensing

After almost 2 years of negotiations over a new interactive media agreement with video game industry giants such as Activision, Electronic Arts, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., video game performers voted to strike as of Friday, July 26, 2024. The crux of the issue being negotiated surrounds artificial intelligence (“AI”) and performers’ fears that its unbridled use could provide game makers with a means to replace them by training AI to replicate an actor’s voice, or to create a digital replica of their likeness without consent and without fair compensation.[1]Continue Reading Game On: SAG-AFTRA’s Video Game Performer Members Strike Over AI Concerns

Effective July 1, 2024, new California Senate Bill 478 (SB 478)[1] bans the practice of “drip pricing,” where the price for product or service is advertised without including all mandatory fees and charges that consumers must pay.[2] This law applies to nearly all businesses that sell or lease goods and services to California consumers[3], excluding only commercial transactions and certain industries that are already subject to pricing regulations. The ramifications of SB 478 are likely to significantly impact advertising and pricing practices across various industries, including businesses outside of California.Continue Reading California’s New Price Transparency Law May Reshape Pricing Practices in Broad Range of Industries

In recent years, the surge in athlete trademarks has marked a strategic shift in how sports personalities approach their personal brands. Having recognized their inherent commercial value, athletes today are viewed as powerful brands with marketable identities.Continue Reading Guarding the Name of the Game: The Role of Lawyers in Safeguarding Athlete Trademarks

The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Endorsement Guides have evolved over the past forty years from regulating celebrity endorsements and testimonial advertisements to policing social media advertising, including influencer endorsements and native advertising. On February 12, 2020, the FTC announced that it had voted 5‑0 to approve a proposed Federal Register Notice, seeking comment on whether to make changes to its Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (“the Endorsement Guides”), which were enacted in 1980[1] and amended in 2009,[2] as part of a systematic review of all current FTC rules and practices. The Endorsement Guides have steadfastly required transparency in advertising and, if there is a connection between an endorser and the company selling the product or services being advertised or promoted which, if disclosed, might affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement, such connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously.Continue Reading FTC Finalizes Revisions to the Endorsement Guides, Proposes New Rule for Consumer Reviews and Testimonials and Updates FTC Staff Guidance

Just like Napster triggered a global, technological shift in the way music is consumed and distributed, we are now on the precipice of another major revolution certain to disrupt the music industry. Artificial intelligence, or “AI” as it is more commonly referred, has quickly emerged as a game changer across a myriad of industries and music is no exception. AI offers the promise of innovative opportunities and avenues for music creation, publishing, recording, synchronization, distribution, consumption and revenue generation. However, these opportunities also present significant, novel challenges for music rights holders and users alike—and the legal challenges have just begun.Continue Reading Rise of the Machines: How AI is Shaking Up the Music Industry

Now more than ever, access to quality data translates to monetization opportunities and this is especially true in the world of collegiate and professional sports.  In the past two decades, data analytic tools measuring athlete health and performance have come a long way, and now, it is not just players or teams that stand to potentially profit.  In particular, the advent of wearable technology has produced a sports biometrics boom that could soon become a gold rush for players, teams, universities, and companies looking to use or sell biometric data.
Continue Reading Navigating the Sports Biometrics Boom

Background

The first domino fell in late 2019 when Governor Newsom signed The Fair Pay to Play Act into law.[1]  This was the first statute allowing collegiate student-athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness (NIL).  Specifically, the statute bars universities, athletic conferences and the NCAA from preventing student-athletes in California from profiting off their NIL.  Despite the NCAA’s vigorous opposition initially, close to 30 states have since enacted similar legislation or have otherwise legalized NIL deals in their own states.[2]  Moreover, last year’s unanimous Supreme Court ruling in NCAA v. Alston may not have reached the issue of NIL, but it did chip away at the NCAA’s ability to regulate student-athlete compensation.[3]  Sensing the inevitably of its waning grip over its NIL policies, the NCAA then committed to a dramatic policy shift within days of the Alston ruling by permitting all student-athletes to begin profiting off their NIL as of July 1, 2021.[4] Even if a state has not yet passed NIL legislation, the NCAA policy change applies nationwide and now brands can partner with student-athletes in every state.Continue Reading What Brands Can Expect from College Sports’ Ever Evolving NIL Landscape