Entertainment Law, Media Law and Telecoms Law

Highway Contract Route carriers and brokers operating in the USPS surface transportation network face critical legal developments in 2026, including the Supreme Court's Montgomery v. Caribe decision eliminating federal preemption for negligent-selection claims and the ongoing nuclear verdict crisis with jury awards exceeding $10 million. These developments demand heightened attention to compliance, documentation, and risk management strategies to protect against significant liability exposure in today's tru

The Department of Justice’s new National Fraud Enforcement Division (“NFED”) has told the market exactly where it intends to focus: (1) public trust and financial integrity, (2) health care, (3) internal revenue, (4) global trade and commerce, and (5) corporate misconduct. NFED plans to target these five priorities in parallel under one roof with a shared data infrastructure, compounding the risk to companies that operate at the intersection of multiple priorities and raising the stakes for any company considering a voluntary self-disclosure of potential misconduct.

When a legal research startup trained its AI on lawyer memos derived from Westlaw's editorial summaries, it sparked a landmark copyright case that exposes how artificial intelligence extracts not just content, but the accumulated judgment and authority publishers spent decades building. As Google referral traffic plummets and AI-generated content farms proliferate, the question shifts from "was a copy made?" to "was the expert ever hired?"

In the last few months, California and New Jersey enacted legislation to protect children online: California’s 13-bill package targets risks to children arising from emerging technologies, while New Jersey’s 3-bill package includes an age-appropriate design code. Despite their differences, these laws share a common focus on protecting children as technology evolves.

Meritas hosted an interactive discussion exploring how artificial intelligence and legal technology are transforming M&A legal service delivery across borders. The conversation brought together international experts to examine practical applications, implementation challenges, and the evolving skill sets required for modern M&A practitioners.

The California Invasion of Privacy Act has spawned an assembly line of lawsuits targeting common website features like chatbots and cookies, with plaintiffs claiming statutory damages of $5,000 per violation even without actual harm. California's legislature has passed S.B. 690 to curb these claims, while new federal legislation seeks to provide broader relief by barring CIPA and similar state law claims related to digital commerce activities.

The Federal Communications Commission has established a new Variable Trajectory Space Station licensing category to accommodate spacecraft with non-traditional orbital characteristics, including orbital transfer vehicles, rendezvous and proximity operations platforms, and lunar missions. This framework introduces an operational envelope approach that allows operators to conduct missions across multiple orbital regimes without seeking modifications for each trajectory change, while maintaining space safety r

A federal judge in Florida has ruled that cell phone users cannot sue under the TCPA's do-not-call provisions, determining that the FCC exceeded its authority when it extended protections to wireless subscribers in 2003. The decision challenges decades of regulatory interpretation and could fundamentally reshape telecommunications privacy litigation if adopted by other courts.

Texas Senate Bill 140 (SB 140) took effect 1 September 2025, and applies to conduct occurring on or after that date. The bill amended Section 302 of the Texas Business and Commerce Code to extend registration and disclosure requirements to text messages by expanding the definition of “Telephone solicitation,” which previously applied only to a “telephone call,” to include certain transmissions of text or graphic messages and images. In addition, SB 140 added a definition of “Telephone call” that incorporates the definition found in Section 304, which includes certain text or graphic messages and images, but excludes certain agreed-to transmissions.

Episode 50 of the Deserve to Win podcast features Gayla Huber, president of Integrishield and R.E.A.C.H. executive board member, discussing her groundbreaking work in consumer protection and fraud prevention. The episode also covers critical TCPA developments including new MSJ rulings on Jornaya records, DNC policy training requirements, and the dramatic decline in class action filings for July 2026.

The FCC has announced sweeping revisions to TCPA opt-out rules that fundamentally change how businesses must handle consumer revocation requests. These new regulations distinguish between informational and marketing messages, allow businesses to designate exclusive opt-out mechanisms, and promise to significantly reduce frivolous litigation. Will these changes apply retroactively to existing cases, and how will they reshape the landscape of telemarketing compliance?

A federal court in Florida dismissed a false advertising lawsuit against Hershey over Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins, where consumers claimed the packaging showed carved jack-o-lantern faces that didn't appear on the actual candy. The court ruled that consumers failed to demonstrate concrete economic injury, finding their disappointment over the product's appearance insufficient to establish legal standing.