This Practice Note was originally written for Lexis Practice Advisor®, in the US. This Practice Note provides an overview of the US Communications Decency Act Section 230 immunity, including who it covers, what types of claims it covers, and how to avoid losing its protection. Section 230 provides broad protection to internet service providers (ISPs) and internet users from claims arising from the speech of third parties. Anyone who hosts a website or publishes third party information on the internet, available in the US, should understand how Section 230 operates. This Practice Note begins with background information concerning Congress’ attempts to regulate obscenity on the internet and the liability landscape prior to Section 230. Next, it discusses key terms and provisions of Section 230, and the protections it provides for hosting, editing, encouraging and purchasing third party content. Last, this note identifies the limits to those protections, including areas of law excluded from Section 230 altogether. Enactment of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 Congress enacted the US Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) to shield

This Practice Note was originally written for Lexis Practice Advisor®, in the US. This Practice Note explains how online companies that host user-generated content (UGC)—such as social media platforms, video-sharing sites, and online marketplaces—can limit their legal exposure to copyright infringement by complying with the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c). The DMCA provides four ‘safe harbor’ provisions (section 512(a)–(d)) that shield service providers from liability for copyright infringement. This note focuses on the UGC safe harbor, section 512(c), the most commonly invoked protection. To use this defense, companies must follow specific steps, including implementing a notice-and-takedown process and adopting a copyright policy. The safe harbor protects service providers from monetary damage, even if users infringe copyrights by uploading unauthorized content. Even if a company qualifies for this safe harbor, it can still be sued—but will only face limited remedies like injunctive relief. Companies may also use other defenses, like fair use, whether or not they qualify for the safe harbor. Who

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note was originally written for Lexis Practice Advisor®, in the US. IP ‘due diligence’ is the process of uncovering and understanding information about the status, value and risks associated with the transfer of IP assets as part of a business deal. Prior to conducting due diligence, the parties should consider entering into a confidentiality agreement or nondisclosure agreement (NDA), which protects the disclosure and potential misuse of sensitive, non-public information exchanged by one party (ie a unilateral agreement) or multiple parties (ie a mutual agreement). In addition to business sensitive documents, privileged material may also be shared during the deal negotiations. In this case, the disclosing party must understand that without the formation of a common or community interest between the involved parties, reduced to writing, the privilege can be destroyed when otherwise privileged information is shared with third parties. Understanding the deal is key for any due diligence analysis. In addition to examining

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note was originally written for Lexis Practice Advisor®, in the US. This Practice Note compares and contrasts the types of protection that are available for common types of IP, including literary works (copyright and trade secret); marketing images, characters and slogans (copyright and trademark); product designs (design patent, copyright and trade dress) and inventions (patent and trade secret). Literary works—copyright versus trade secret protection For something to qualify as a trade secret, it must actually be a secret, the owner must expend efforts to protect the secrecy, and it must provide the owner with a competitive economic advantage. Trade secrets generally tend to include commercial or business information and can last indefinitely, as long as the secret is not disclosed. Copyright protection, on the other hand, covers such matter as literary works, audiovisual works, and sound recordings and merely requires that the work be fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note was originally written for Lexis Practice Advisor®, in the US. This Practice Note discusses the procedural steps of trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB or Board), including filing an answer (and common defenses), conducting discovery, filing and responding to dispositive motions, serving pretrial disclosures, taking testimony and presenting evidence during the testimony period, filing trial briefs, and seeking reconsideration or an appeal of a final Board decision. Overview of opposition/cancellation proceedings Trademark owners that may be damaged by a pending trademark application may challenge the application by filing an opposition/proceeding before the TTAB pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1063. Trademark owners may also challenge the registration of a damaging existing trademark registration by filing a cancellation proceeding before the TTAB pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1064. Opposition and cancellation proceedings commence once a notice of

This Practice Note provides key practice tips for advising a client considering a liability management transaction. Given recurring periods of market volatility, issuers in a wide range of industry sectors from time to time evaluate potential liability management transactions, including debt repurchases, tender or exchange offers, and consent solicitations. Liability management transactions allow an issuer to retire, refinance or restructure its outstanding obligations. Issuers may derive significant benefits from a liability management transaction including, but not limited to, evidencing a positive outlook for the issuer in an uncertain market environment, extending debt maturities, recording an accounting gain, deleveraging, obtaining potential regulatory capital benefits, increasing financing flexibility and potentially avoiding a more fundamental restructuring or bankruptcy. Choosing the most appropriate liability management transaction is critical and requires that the issuer and counsel consider a number of factors, as discussed below. Consider whether the transaction is an opportunistic or a distressed transaction Choosing the right liability management alternative to restructure or retire outstanding debt securities or to manage risk and reduce

This survey addresses choice of law for insurance coverage disputes. The survey covers all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For an overview article that supplements this survey, see Choice of Law for Coverage Disputes. Whenever a policyholder headquartered in one state is sued or has a claim arise in a different state, an issue frequently arises as to which state's law applies to the interpretation of the insurance policy. Either the insurer or the policyholder may be forced to file suit to determine controlling law if the two states have reached differing interpretations of the policy language and have differing approaches to choice of law. This survey highlights the choice of law regime in each state, which may include statutory, lex loci contractus, Second Restatement, and case law. State Choice of Law for Coverage Disputes Alabama An Alabama statute provides: ‘All contracts of insurance, the application for which is taken within this state, shall be deemed to have been

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note was originally written for Lexis Practice Advisor®, in the US. These charts provide a quick, at-a-glance view of the copyright terms (also referred to as copyright duration or duration of copyright) for works first published on or after 1 January 1978 (post-1978 works) and for works first published prior to 1 January 1978 (pre-1978 works), including whether renewal terms are required or available for such works. For an overview of copyright law, see: US—copyright fundamentals [Archived]. Post-1978 works All original works of authorship created and fixed in a tangible medium of expression on or after 1 January 1978 (the effective date of the Copyright Act of 1976) are automatically protected by copyright law upon fixation. The duration for such works depends upon the nature of the work, as follows: Type of work Term of copyright Works of an individual author Life of the author plus 70 years Works of joint authorship Life

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note was originally written for Lexis Practice Advisor®, in the US. It provides an overview of key US law copyright principles, including the types of works that are eligible for federal copyright protection, the requirements for copyright protection (originality and fixation), ownership, preemption of state law, the exclusive rights afforded to copyright owners under the Copyright Act,, limitations on copyright protection (e.g., functionality, fair use, the first-sale doctrine, compulsory licensing), enforcement, and remedies. What is a copyright? A copyright protects an original work of authorship that has been fixed in a tangible medium of expression (see: Requirements for copyright protection below). Common works of authorship include literary, musical, and dramatic works, motion pictures, and sound recordings (see: Copyright eligibility below). Copyright does not protect underlying ideas of the work, but rather the expression of ideas. For example, an original story in the abstract is not the subject of copyright, but the written story is protectable. Registration in the US Copyright Office, though beneficial, is not required

This Practice Note addresses the two major duties that an insurer finds itself obligated to an insured for—the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify. Insurers draft special contracts (insurance policies) providing certain coverages to insureds and certain duties by insurers in the event of a covered loss. Covered loss will be defined in each type of policy and will vary based on the type of policy sold to an insured. The duty to defend is a term that describes an insurer's obligation to provide an insured with a defense to claims made under an insurance policy. The duty to indemnify describes an insurer's obligation to pay a claim for loss or damage against an insured. Put another way, if a claim is made against your insured, you may have a duty to defend your insured against that claim or may have to pay for that claim, called the duty to indemnify For additional insight into these concepts, see: US—duty to defend and duty to indemnify—checklist. Basics of an insurance policy The

This checklist addresses the major duties an insurer commits to under an insurance policy. The duty to defend describes an insurer's obligation to provide an insured a defence to claims made under a policy. The duty to indemnify describes an insurer's obligation to pay a claim for loss or damage against an insured. For additional insight into these concepts, see Practice Note: US—duty to defend and duty to indemnify. The starting point Counsel giving advice to clients, whether the policyholder or the insurer, must start by obtaining the insurance contract. Insurers draft special contracts, called insurance policies, providing certain coverages to insureds and certain duties by insurers in the event of a covered loss. Covered loss will be defined in each type of policy and will vary based on the type of policy sold to an insured. The two major duties that an insurer finds itself obligated to an insured for are the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify. Finding the two duties The duty to defend is a term that

This Practice Note was originally written for Lexis Practice Advisor®, in the US. This Practice Note summarises the exclusive rights of US copyright owners, namely to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies or phonorecords, to perform the copyrighted work publicly including by means of a digital audio transmission, and to display the copyrighted work publicly. Explanation of exclusive rights Although people generally refer to owning ‘a’ copyright in a work, in fact copyright comprises a bundle of six separate and independent rights that are exclusively held by the copyright owner, ie a monopoly over those rights, for the period of time that the copyright remains in effect. Exclusivity means that only the copyright owner has the right ‘to do and to authorize’ others to do any of the six activities enumerated in Section 106 of the Copyright Act. When someone other than the copyright holder engages in one of the activities without obtaining authorisation from the copyright holder, without a license, copyright infringement occurs (unless