The attorneys at Morningstar Law Group are leaders who are frequently asked to share their legal insights and expertise. Here is a sampling of the wisdom our attorneys are sharing at industry conferences, in published articles, and at continuing legal education events.
Insight
For cybersecurity threats, get to know the CISA.
March 29, 2022
With the Russia-Ukraine conflict entering its second month, and dark warnings from the US government about potential retaliatory cyber-attacks from Russian hackers, there’s one US Agency that all companies should be familiar with – the CISA, or Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (cisa.gov). The ongoing, and increasingly important, mission of the CISA is to reduce […]
Insight
Reps and Warranties in Publishing Agreements
August 27, 2021
In the 1970 comedy Brand X Taylor Mead, playing the president, is asked by a journalist, “Sir, what will you do when the inevitable happens?” “I’m an optimist,” he responds, “I don’t think the inevitable will happen.” But inevitably it does. In publishing and other agreements each party seeks to shift liability to the other […]
Insight
World Rights in Book Publishing Agreements
August 18, 2021
A publisher typically tries to negotiate for “world rights”, asking an author to authorize an exclusive, worldwide license to exercise all of the author’s rights under copyright and the ability to authorize sublicensees to exercise one or more of those rights (e.g., foreign language translation) throughout the duration and territory of the publishing agreement. While […]
Insight
Book Publishing Agreements: Copyright Ownership & Licenses
July 19, 2021
Who Owns the Copyright in a Book? The nature of most trade book publishing agreements is not a transfer of copyright ownership from the author to the publisher but a license granted by the author to the publisher to exercise some or all of the author’s rights for a reasonable length of time in a […]
Insight
Understanding Book Publishing Agreements: Territory
July 2, 2021
What Are Martians Reading This Season? Does your publisher sell books on Mars or license rights on Venus? If not, then “throughout the universe,” which we see from time to time as the defined territory in publishing agreements, is not appropriate. Perhaps the publisher simply does not want to risk being left without a toehold […]
Insight
How Long Should a Book Publishing Agreement Endure?
June 23, 2021
This is the 2nd article in a series intended to introduce readers to publishing agreements. Click HERE for Mitch’s 1st installment. Authors don’t live to see their copyrights expire. By law those rights endure 70 years postmortem and frequently pass unheralded through their owners’ estates to uninformed or indifferent heirs. Yet every day publishers negotiate […]
Insight
New to Publishing Agreements? What You Need to Know.
June 18, 2021
In a world before self-publishing—and still today—authors with the ability to write but not the wherewithal to print and sell books in commercial quantities engaged publishers to do so. Publishers in turn undertook to manufacture and distribute books—and maybe sublicense rights to create derivative works—looking to the resulting revenues to compensate themselves for their risks […]
Insight
Employment Law Alert: ARPA Requires Employers to Pay 100% of COBRA for Certain Employees
April 2, 2021
As part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), signed into law on March 11, 2021, beginning April 1, 2021 employers will be required to pay 100% of the COBRA continuation premium for group health plan coverage for certain employees and their qualified beneficiaries for up to six (6) months. Who Qualifies for The COBRA […]
Insight
John Kivus Creates Force Majeure Clause & Contract Amendment Template for ShootProof
March 30, 2021
ShootProof is an online company whose the mission is “to be the global leader in software, e-commerce, education, and productivity solutions that empower every photographer to create, grow, and manage the business of their dreams.” One of the resources provided by the company is a contract tool that delivers lawyer-drafted templates. In response to the pandemic, […]
Insight
Morningstar Law Group's Richard Caira Contributes to Financial Times Article on Data Regulation
March 11, 2021
Richard Caira, a partner in our firm’s Intellectual Property and Technology practice group, was recently interviewed by Financial Times for their article on the increasing demand for legal services, both advisory and litigation, brought about by the growing regulations on data privacy. Richard was well positioned to contribute having over 20 years of experience advising […]
