In a highly anticipated decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, reversed a prior panel opinion (Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin, 905 F.3d 1116 (9th Cir. 2018)) that had held that a new trial was required in a high-profile copyright case involving “Stairway to Heaven,” one of the most […]
In Allen v. Cooper, No. 18-877, slip op. (U.S. March 23, 2020), the Supreme Court held that a 1990 statute permitting copyright holders to sue States for infringement was unconstitutional under the Eleventh Amendment and sovereign immunity.
Just in time for the holidays, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) gifted investors and other financial market participants with a notice of proposed changes to the “Accredited Investor” definition to expand access to private capital markets. The proposed rule would add new categories of persons that qualify as accredited investors based on professional […]
Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker signed into law recreational marijuana legislation this Tuesday, after the Illinois legislature voted by large margin to approve the landmark 700-page Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (“the Act”). A copy of the bill voted upon is located here but the Act has yet to be fully published online. The new […]
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted “Regulation Best Interest” (“Reg BI”) on June 5, 2019, requiring broker-dealers to act in the best interest of their retail customers when recommending securities or a particular investment strategy. Additionally, the SEC adopted a new Exchange Act Rule 17a-14, 17 CFR § 240.17a-14, that requires broker-dealers to […]
On Friday, May 31st the Illinois House approved a law legalizing recreational cannabis, or marijuana, in the state, making Illinois the 11th of the United States to do so. The law, referred to as the Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act (“CRTA” or the “Illinois law”) is on the desk of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who […]
On April 3th, 2019 the US Securities and Exchange Commission staff released a "Statement on Framework for "Investment Contract" Analysis of Digital Assets" and the first no-action letter.
On April 25, 2019, the New York Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) announced that it obtained a court order against the operators of Bitfinex[note]Here, “Bitfinex” refers to the online platform and is operators, iFinex Inc., BFXNA Inc., and BFXWW Inc.[/note] demanding the online digital asset exchange turn over a plethora of important documents related to […]
Blockchain technology, if you believe the hype, is going to revolutionize, well, everything. In an effort to bring a little sobriety to the Blockchain party, Forbes last year identified ten industries in which Blockchain genuinely seemed likely to disrupt the status quo. Banking, healthcare, and politics topped the list. Alas, Forbes failed to spot Blockchain’s […]
On April 3, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, a.k.a. the SEC FinHub, released its “Framework for ‘Investment Contract’ Analysis of Digital Assets,” (the “Framework”)[note]The Framework “is not a rule, regulation, or statement of the Commission, and the Commission has neither approved nor disapproved its content. . […]