works

Judges to Hear Appeal in Lawsuit Over John Steinbeck Works

It was up to the Los Angeles jury to decide if Thomas and Gail Steinbeck interfered with deals and should pay up. She also said Gail Steinbeck learned of projects and threatened moviemakers, saying she and her husband had legal rights to the work. In the same case, a judge earlier ruled the couple breached a contract between Kaffaga’s late mother and Thomas Steinbeck and his late brother, John …


Universal Music Group Fire Class Action Could Come Down to One Thing: Who Owns the Masters?

On June 21, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against Universal Music Group on behalf of artists whose master recordings are believed to have been destroyed in a 2008 fire on the Universal Studios backlot where they were stored. But most recording contracts don’t explicitly mention that responsibility, and there’s a legal distinction between the physical recordings and the intellectual …