In an opinion dated yesterday, Judge Hellerstein ruled that a service called “TVEyes,” which “monitors and records all content broadcast by more than 1,400 television and radio stations twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, and transforms the content into a searchable database for its subscribers,” was “fair use” under the copyright laws, and thus largely granted summary judgment against the plaintiff, Fox News. The decision was based on the fact that the service is “transformative”:
Continue Reading Judge Hellerstein Rules That Searchable TV Database Service is “Fair Use”

In an opinion Friday, Judge Scheindlin dismissed as time-barred a case alleging that certain mortgage-backed securities were not as represented.  The plaintiff claimed that the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the defendant refused to repurchase or cure the defects, but Judge Scheindlin, relying largely on the First Department’s recent decision in ACE Sec. Corp. v. DB Structured Products (see here, starting at pg. 26), disagreed:
Continue Reading Judge Scheindlin Rules MBS Repurchase Suit is Time-Barred; Splits With Judge Hellerstein

In an opinion today, Judge Hellerstein confirmed a nearly $400 million arbitration award in favor of “COMMISA,” an affiliate the Houston-based contracting firm KBR, against “PEP,” a subsidiary of Mexico’s state-owned oil company, notwithstanding that a court in Mexico, where the arbitration was held, ruled the dispute was not arbitrable and nullified the award:
Continue Reading Judge Hellerstein: Mexican Court Violated “Basic Fairness” in Attempting to Nullify $400 Million Arbitration Award Against State Oil Company