Neil J Rosini

December 23, 2005 | New York Law Journal

Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini, partners in Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo, write that just a few years ago, the average U.S. consumer might have had a difficult time defining a ring tone. Now, an estimated 30 million Americans have downloaded musical ring tones, paying $2 to $4 per tone and generating domestically an estimated $600 million per year.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

10 minute read

October 28, 2005 | New York Law Journal

Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini, partners in Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo, report that Last month, the Authors Guild and three individual authors commenced proceedings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Google Inc. for copyright infringement. They were joined last week by five large publishing companies in a separate action brought against Google, also in the Southern District.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

14 minute read

December 26, 2008 | New York Law Journal

Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini, partners in Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo, write that a goal of most not-for-profit theaters is to assist in the support and development of new plays without regard to profit. Nonetheless, nonprofits must sustain themselves, which has become increasingly difficult in this turbulent economy. Each nonprofit nurtures the hope that at least some productions will play to sold-out houses and cover the losses of those less successful, they say, while also attracting favorable attention and higher donations. Over the years, some nonprofits have fulfilled those hopes by producing plays that achieved great critical and commercial success.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

11 minute read

June 24, 2011 | New York Law Journal

In their Entertainment Law column, Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo partners Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini discuss how, in the wake of changing economic and industry conditions, new business structures have evolved to bolster the production and exploitation of cast albums while shifting the risk and reward from large labels to the authors, investors and producers of the Broadway shows themselves.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

10 minute read

June 25, 2010 | New York Law Journal

In their Entertainment Law column, Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini, partners in Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo, write that focusing on right clearances required to make optimal use of Web sites at early stages of creating or acquiring content can save performance organizations time, effort and expense.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

13 minute read

January 03, 2011 | New York Law Journal

In their Entertainment Law retrospective, Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini of Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo discuss industry cycles and happenings in film, television, music, and theater.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

13 minute read

April 24, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini, partners in Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo, review a Southern District case where the copyright owner of "When You Wish Upon a Star" sued Twentieth Century Fox and others who were responsible for creating, distributing and publicly performing the song "I Need a Jew," which had a similar melody, in an episode of the cartoon "Family Guy." The decision presents an opportunity to reconsider the distinction between parody and satire in applying the fair use defense.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

14 minute read

August 26, 2011 | New York Law Journal

In their Entertainment Law column, Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini, partners in Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, write that television spinoffs that are spawned from highly successful parent series can bring substantial financial rewards - including continued employment - to those who helped create the originals. Whether or not those rewards will be realized, however, they caution, depends substantially on the language of the claimant's contract that sets out conditions to be satisfied.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

11 minute read

April 26, 2007 | New York Law Journal

Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini, partners in Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo, write that last month's decision holding that a company offering a remote storage digital video recorder service directly infringes program copyrights also reflected on further developing issues of digital entertainment, including the legality of a service like TiVo and whether a requested playback from allocated memory in a remote computer by a consumer at home is sufficiently "public" to be deemed a public performance.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

13 minute read

August 28, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini, partners in Franklin Weinrib Rudell & Vassallo, review a recent decision in which the court refused to find that a grant of film rights in the Superman copyright from DC Comics to its much larger corporate sibling Warner Bros. Entertainment represented a "sweetheart deal." The court considered other film rights agreements from the 1990s and early 2000s as it weighed whether direct and indirect economic terms in the DC-Warner agreement placed the overall deal within the range of fair market value for the rights granted. The lengthy decision makes notable distinctions between "comparable" and "incomparable" deals but gives determinative weight both to a lack of key evidence and to the timing of the action itself.

By Michael I. Rudell and Neil J. Rosini

14 minute read