Bad Blood: Taylor Swift’s Ongoing Battle with Big Machine Records Raises Questions About Re-Recording Clauses

Arizona State Law Journal Blog
By Delilah Cassidy. Taylor Swift is one of the best-selling singer-songwriters of all time. At fifteen, she signed her first record deal with Big Machine Label Group (“Big Machine”) and created six albums with the label. Upon expiration, Swift signed with Universal Music Group (“UMG”). Under the UMG agreement, she owns all original sound recordings of new songs (original sound recordings are “masters”). However, about eight months after her switch, talent manager Scooter Braun purchased Big Machine, including the masters to Swift’s first six albums. Swift publicized her frustration with the deal because she was not offered the chance to buy her masters. Swift said in an August interview that she will begin re-recording her Big Machine-era songs in November 2020, the first opportunity her contract with Big Machine allows…
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The Dignity Crutch: Understanding Sovereign Immunity After Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt

Arizona State Law Journal Blog
By KC Hooker. In May 2019, the Supreme Court decided Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, which overturned Nevada v. Hall and held that citizens cannot sue a state in another state’s courts. The decision was not surprising given the Court’s expansion of sovereign immunity—or the idea that governments are immune from suits by private parties—since the mid 1990s. As the Court expanded sovereign immunity during that decade, it departed from the literal text of the Eleventh Amendment, which limits federal court jurisdiction to entertain suits against states, and began to rely on a principle called the “dignity rationale.” The dignity rationale is the idea that States are immune from suit because it is an affront to their dignity, as sovereign entities, to be dragged into court at the…
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Arizona’s Compulsory Arbitration Program: Is It Time for a Reform?

Arizona State Law Journal Blog
By Christian Fernandez. What is Arizona’s compulsory arbitration program? Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution where an independent third party hears the case and determines the result. Arizona courts have adopted a compulsory arbitration program for all civil lawsuits that meet the requirements listed in Rules 72–77 of the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. All civil disputes valued under a specific amount are resolved through this arbitration program instead of litigating in court. This program applies to plaintiffs that are only seeking money damages. In addition, this program does not apply to criminal lawsuits. How does the compulsory arbitration program work? A person that brings a lawsuit in Arizona is required to fill out a form stating the type and estimated value of damages they seek. The compulsory…
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Do plaintiffs in data breach cases have a leg to stand on?

Arizona State Law Journal Blog
By Kacie Donovan. Data breaches and resulting amounts of compromised personal information are increasing rapidly. The FBI has said “[T]here are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that will be. And even they are converging into one category: companies that have been hacked and will be hacked again.” Unsurprisingly, plaintiffs affected by these ever-common data breaches are seeking relief in court. Standing doctrine is a hotly contested battleground for the parties to litigation following a data breach. In some courts, plaintiffs experience difficulty demonstrating that the theft of their data alone gives them standing. Several courts require that the data be misused in order for a plaintiff to establish standing. Background on Standing in Data Breach Litigation Justice Scalia once described standing in “pedestrian terms,”…
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CBD: The Legality & Regulation of the “Other” Cannabis Ingredient

Arizona State Law Journal Blog
By Abby Dockum. Over the past several years, products containing cannabidiol—better known as CBD—have spread across the shelves of grocery stores and pharmacies. Sales of CBD products are expected to surpass $5 billion dollars in 2019, up 700% from 2018. This may be attributed in part to increased research on the health benefits of CBD, but it is more likely due to changes in CBD’s legal status. What is CBD? CBD, like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is an active ingredient of cannabis. Unlike THC, however, CBD has no psychoactive effect, meaning it does not cause a “high.” CBD is not addictive, and the World Health Organization reported that there is no evidence that CBD poses any public health risk. While scientists are still working to determine the health benefits of CBD, there…
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Defective Work & Offers to Cure: Do Contractors Have a Common Law Right to Cure?

Arizona State Law Journal Blog
By Caitlin Doak. No published Arizona opinion provides for an implied right to cure. However, a recent unpublished Court of Appeals opinion suggests that Arizona is inching closer to adopting an implied right to cure absent a contractual right to cure. In Fisher v. Rondo Pools, 1 CA-CV 18-0343 (Ariz. App. 2019), the court found no error in the superior court instructing the jury that “in determining whether Rondo materially breached the contract, it could consider Rondo’s ‘ability to cure or fix the alleged breach’ and whether Rondo ‘can make any reasonable assurances that it would cure the alleged breach.’” Fisher v. Rondo Pools In Fisher v. Rondo Pools, an owner terminated a contractor mid-project for various defaults. The owner sued, and the jury found the contractor did not materially breach…
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