Legal News

The AM Roundup: ?A Tough, New Cop on the Beat,? More . . .

By Ashby Jones

There’s a lot on the docket this morning, so we’re going to just give it to you all in one big juicy smooch of a roundup. Here goes:

SEC Says No More Messin’ Around: The WSJ’s Kara Scannell weighs in with a story on Tuesday that gives giving solid confirmation to what we’ve been suspecting for a few weeks now: that you ain’t gonna have the SEC to kick around anymore — at least if chief Mary Schapiro (pictured) has her way. Scannell quotes Paul Weiss’s Walter Ricciardi:

Clearly the message going out is that the SEC is going to be much tougher with regard to settlement postures, in terms of penalties. They want to demonstrate there is a tough, new cop on the beat.

Lego Says No-Go to Film: A nice story in the NYT on Tuesday reminds us that the legal concept of 2009 is shaping up to be, yes, fair use. Lego has objected to the depiction of its toys in, of all things, a DVD made by the band Spinal Tap. Spinal Tap isn’t going to fight, though it’s lawyer Kia Kamran (whose Web site features a picture not of Learned Hand or Clarence Darrow, but the Clash’s Joe Strummer), says: "In my heart of hearts, I do think this is fair use" of copyrighted material.

Qualcomm Wins Dismissal of Antitrust Suit: Qualcomm said Tuesday that a California court has granted its motion to dismiss a consumer class-action lawsuit that accused the chip maker of antitrust violations and unfair competition. San Diego federal judge William Hayes rejected plaintiff Christopher Lorenzo’s arguments in his amended complaint, standing by his previous ruling that Lorenzo lacked standing on the antitrust allegations. (AP)

The Yosemite Judge: Ever wondered just who presides over disputes involving alleged lawbreakers in Yosemite? That job would fall to a federal magistrate judge, who plies his trade in a small courthouse in the middle of the park. Sounds like a good gig; the seat’s currently open. (NYT)

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 11, 2009 (boomark / email).