Orange County Man Sentenced to Jail for Home Loan Modification Fraud

Posted by on Jun 8, 2012 in Business Transactions, Commercial Transactions, Consumer Debt, Debt Collections Defense, News | 0 comments This week, a Mission Viejo man named Andrew Michael Phalen has been sentenced to 1 year in jail for defrauding hundreds of homeowners nationwide. Mr. Phalen pleaded guilty last month to several conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to charge illegal upfront fees for loan modification services and conspiracy to to commit grand theft. Mr. Phalen and his four co-defendants were involved in a...
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“Battleship” Movie Featuring Rihanna Makes $170 Million

Posted by on May 15, 2012 in Art, Business Transactions, Commercial Transactions, Entertainment, Film, Music, News | 0 comments You may have read this title and said quietly to yourself…what movie named “Battleship” featuring Rihanna? You may also be thinking… isn’t Rihanna a singer? Well, there is a perfectly good explanation why you don’t know what movie we are referring to. The movie “Battleship” has been released in countries around the world,with the exception of the U.S. It is not...
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Sandra Bullock Sues ToyWatch USA for Using Her to Sell Watches: Rights to Publicity at Issue

Posted by on Mar 27, 2012 in Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Entertainment, Film, News, Television | 0 comments It’s no secret to most consumers these days that celebrities and the corporations they team up with make tons and tons of cash selling products. These celebrity endorsements can help skyrocket sales of nearly any product or service. The bottom line is that celebrity endorsements work. The law makes clear that celebrities have a right of publicity, which basically means the celebrity has a...
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Google Takes a Stand in MPAA Lawsuit Against Hotfile

Posted by on Mar 27, 2012 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Television | 0 comments The Motion Picture Association of America has filed a summary judgment motion in its lawsuit against Hotfile,which could allow the court to decide fairly soon whether or not Hotfile will be held liable for encouraging and facilitating copyright infringement. Many consumers may be unfamiliar with the Hotfile website and more familiar with past websites like Napster and Limewire. Similar to Napster...
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Netflix Pays Out $9 Million for Class Action Lawsuit Asserting Privacy Violations

Posted by on Mar 6, 2012 in Commercial Transactions, Entertainment, Film, News, Television | 0 comments Although Netflix has been in the news lately for its recent price hikes, it is has been in court facing a huge lawsuit regarding its retention of private customer information. Netflix is a large corporation that offers customers live streaming movies and television shows straight to their home television. The company also offers services that allow for dvd rentals delivered straight to...
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Compulsory Licenses in the Music Industry

Posted by on Nov 7, 2011 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Television | 0 comments Compulsory copyright license is the exception to copyright law. It is the government’s attempt to correct a market failure or a monopoly. A compulsory license allows a person to exercise one or more of the copyright’s exclusive rights without having to obtain the copyright holder’s permission. All the individual has to do is pay a licensing fee. This is why it is called a...
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