The clause in question has two important elements: • ‘best endeavours’, and • ‘first class manner consistent with the standard expected of a first class production company’ Best endeavours The endeavours obligation is relevant to an understanding of the clause as a whole because it means that the obligation of the producer is not absolute. Rather, the producer must use no less than its best efforts to meet the required standard. See Practice Note: Reasonable and best endeavours. First class manner consistent with the standards expected of a first

For the purposes of this Q&A we have assumed this refers to the ability of a local planning authority (LPA) under section 178(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) to take any steps required by an enforcement notice which have not been taken by the landowner and to recover from a landowner any expenses incurred by the LPA in taking those steps. Regulation 14(2) of the Town and Country

Many commercial leases will have the benefit of statutory security of tenure through the application of Part II of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (LTA 1954). The LTA 1954 provides that notwithstanding the expiration of the term of the lease, that lease continues unless terminated through the procedures contained within the LTA 1954. Further, the tenant is entitled as of right to claim a new lease by service of a notice pursuant to LTA 1954, s 26. The landlord can agree or oppose the grant, but opposition can only be raised based on certain specific grounds. In the event that the landlord opposes or the parties cannot agree terms, an application can be made to the court for the grant of a new lease. It is possible to contract out of the provisions of LTA 1954, but this must be done expressly. For a lease of 99 years, which may have commenced prior to the

The rapid spread of generative AI is changing the nature and scale of trade mark infringement. AI tools can now be used to generate at scale ‘lookalike’ logos, deepfake endorsements, and synthetic product listings. The legal framework, and copyright law, in particular, has struggled to keep pace, and recent litigation—including Getty Images (US) Inc v Stability AI —highlights both the weaknesses of current copyright law and the steps brand owners should now take. Despite dropping the primary copyright claims, Getty Images continued pursuing claims for trade mark infringement, passing off, and secondary infringement of copyright in the UK. The trade mark claim focused on the reproduction of Getty's watermarks in AI-generated images, while secondary infringement addressed the potential illegality of the AI models themselves if they are considered ’infringing articles’ imported into the UK. For more information, see News Analyses: Trade marks through the lens of AI generated photos (Getty Images v Stability AI) and Copyright through

What issues might arise? Businesses who manufacture products using chemicals managed by the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) may be experiencing disruptions to their normal working schedules due to staff and resources shortages. ECHA acknowledges that in these circumstances timely compliance with its decisions may not be possible. The supply of disinfectants, which are biocidal products regulated by the ECHA, has also been affected due to increased demand for such cleaning agents. How is ECHA responding? The normal functioning of ECHA has been disrupted as a result of restrictions set by national governments to help contain the spread of the virus. According to the chemical and safety regulatory intelligence network Chemical Watch, all ECHA meetings with external participants from abroad are being held remotely or cancelled ‘until further notice’. The European Commission conference on alternatives to animal testing originally due to run from 12–13 May 2020 has also been rescheduled. ECHA has been publishing information on its response to the current situation (COVID-19) to thededicated

Section 133 of the Highways Act 1980 (HiA 1980) applies to damage caused to the highway by 'excavation or other work on land adjoining the street'. A creating a dropped kerb would in fact be work carried out within the highway, and

A default costs certificate is an order of the court and subject to CPR 40.4 which deals with service of judgments and orders. For further guidance, see Practice Note: Detailed assessment—default costs certificate. The Foreign Process Section of the High Court has confirmed that service of England and Wales court documents into the Isle of Man can be done using

In this Q&A we have assumed that the lending in question is between two companies (or is within the same company) rather than between individuals, partnerships or other sorts of unincorporated organisations. A UK company that lends money to or borrows money from another company to which it is related (or to be precise, where the participation condition in section 148 of the Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010 is met) may be subject to transfer pricing adjustments if the loan is not on arm’s length terms. This applies both to the amount of the loan and the interest rate. Equivalent

There are several avenues which a landowner can explore in such a situation and what may be appropriate will depend on the circumstances. Fist of all, it is worth noting that, once the developer derives title in the land bound by section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) agreement from the landowner, the s 106 agreement will, by operation of TCPA 1990, s 106(3), be enforceable against: • the landowner (as person entering into the agreement), and • the developer (as person deriving title from the landowner) However, TCPA 1990, s 106(4) provides that a s 106 agreement can provide that a person shall not be bound by the obligations in respect of any period

Available delivery methods Chapter 9 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024 applies whenever notice is given under the Act or Rules (IR 2016, SI 2016/1024, r 1.36), unless a rule or order makes different provision including one requiring service of the document. IR 2016, SI 2016/1024, r 22.4 does not make different provision as to the manner of delivery, so unless the court has ordered to the contrary, the ordinary rules on delivery apply, which include postal, personal, document exchange and electronic delivery (IR 2016, SI 2016/1024, rr 1.42–1.45). However, IR 2016, SI 2016/1024, r 1.45 stipulates that there must be

Can a costs order be enforced in the same way as a judgment? Note, only a costs order for a stated amount is enforceable. If you have just an order for costs in your favour, the amount of which are to be assessed if not agreed, then you must reach agreement or get the costs assessed before you can take enforcement steps. Time for payment of assessed costs is 14 days after the certificate of assessment unless the court states otherwise (CPR 44.7). See Q&A: How can I enforce an order for pre-action disclosure and costs? (section on enforcing costs orders) and Practice Note: Cost orders—interest, payment and enforcement. Enforcement of a judgment You can execute your judgment by using one or several enforcement methods at once (some methods are mutually exclusive). The options available are set out in CPR

Coterminous financial years for group companies clearly have practical advantages as regards preparing group accounts however there may be circumstances in which different financial years are unavoidable. Section 390(5) of the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) anticipates this. Examples of such circumstances might include an overseas group company with a financial year that is determined by law. Other examples however may arise in groups entirely comprised of domestic companies. Commentary: Chapter 3 A company's financial year: Buckley