Legal Current
Legal Current is a podcast from Thomson Reuters, Legal, that features information and commentary on the business and practice of law.

We’ve got a terrific episode for you this month highlighting the legal aspects of some major news stories. To start, our “Chaos in the Courts” segment highlights an unusual way a woman tried to ditch law enforcement which included being “slightly pregnant and slightly in labor”. 

Then in our “On the Blawgs” segment we feature a blog post about social media privacy laws.

Our interview segment is with Jon Steinsapir of Kinsella Weitzman, who talks about the controversial “mockbuster” industry and the legal implications concerning these knockoffs of Hollywood’s biggest hits.  

We then wrap-up with our “In the News” segment featuring a story from Thomson Reuters News & Insight about recent agreements between branded and generic drug companies allegedly colluding to delay generic competition.   

Direct download: LegalCurrent_Aug2012.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:58pm EDT

Political Campaign Music Strikes Sour Notes

As the political conventions kick into high gear, there'll be balloons, speeches and....lots  of music. But along the long and winding road that is the campaign trail, the music used by campaigns can often hit a sour note with the artists and musicians whose works are blared at campaign rallies or used on Internet videos.

Last week, former Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snyder got into the act, demanding that Republican vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan stop using his hit song "We're Not Gonna Take It."  It's not the first time artists have pulled the plug on the music.  Attorney Larry Iser with Kinsella Wietzman Iser Kump & Aldisert has been at the center of some landmark cases on the use of music by campaigns involving some of the biggest names of both the political and musical stages.

Larry Iser discusses the fight to ensure that political campaigns play by the rules when it comes to using music

Direct download: LegalCurrent_political_campaign_music.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:55pm EDT

Mockbusters - Hollywood's Knockoff Competition

Have you seen any of these movies?  Puss in Boots - A Furry Tail?  American Battleship?  Chop Kick Panda?

They're not what you think they are.

With plots and designs that depict an obvious resemblance to Hollywood’s major movie titles, smaller entertainment companies are playing off of big-name studios and attempting to deceive consumers into thinking their movies are the same films found in the theatres.

Since the start of knockoff films, with the first studios creating an obvious depiction of a major movie title in the 1950s, knockoff films have continuously been on the rise and have become a bigger and bigger problem each year with significant advancements in technology.

Jon Steinsapir, partner at Kinsella Weitzman, shares with us the story behind the controversial mockbuster industry and some of the legal implications concerning these knockoff films.

Direct download: LegalCurrent_Mockbusters.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:00pm EDT

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