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Week In Review

Elissa D. Hecker - Editor

By Eric Lanter Edited by Elissa D. Hecker


Below, for your browsing convenience, the categories are divided into: Entertainment, Arts, Sports, and Media/Technology, and General News:


Entertainment

Dozens of Women in Gaming Speak Out About Sexism and Harassment

In recent days, there has been an outpouring of stories from dozens of women in the gaming industry of instances of "gender-based discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault. Those women have posted their stories "to Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, and the blogging platform TwitLonger," and some have begun to say that the sharing of the stories is "the beginning of real change in the industry."


James Brown's Estate: Is It Inching Toward Closure After 14 Years?

Litigation has plagued the estate of James Brown; an estate which was meant to be "largely bequeathed to underprivileged students in South Carolina and Georgia." One major piece of the puzzle was resolved last week, however: a court in South Carolina found that the marriage between Brown and Tommie Rae Hynie was not legal, as Hynie had not annulled a previous marriage. Consequently, experts say that it should smooth the way for finally administering the estate.


David Guillod, Hollywood Executive, Charged With Sexually Assaulting Four Women

A former talent manager and executive producer, David Guillod, has been charged with 11 felony counts, including rape, with respect to four women. The Santa Barbara District Attorney's office announced that the charges were brought regarding instances of sexual assault while each of the four women was unconscious, and the instances occurred over the period of approximately three years. He surrendered to authorities and bail was set at $3 million.


Bill Cosby's Appeal to Be Heard by Pennsylvania's Supreme Court

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court is set to hear the appeal in the sexual assault action against Bill Cosby, and the arguments will be centered on whether the trial court erred in permitting the testimony of five women other than the accuser Andrea Constand, whom Cosby sexually assaulted and drugged at his home outside Philadelphia in 2004. The arguments give Cosby's attorneys "another opportunity to challenge a verdict that represented one of the most high-profile convictions of the #MeToo era."


Arts

Seventh Circuit Rules on Contours of Copyright Infringement and Trademark

When a former employee of a wellness store founded his own vitamin shop and used similar layout and design features, his prior employer, Apple Wellness, sued alleging infringement of its trademark, trade dress, and copyright. As Apple dismissed its claims voluntarily based on the commonlaw copyright not existing since 1976 and lack of success on trademark (because no show of likelihood of irreparable harm), there was no evidence that Apple filed suit with an improper motive and no need to deter future frivolous filings and thus the defendant was not permitted to recover fees.


Ninth Circuit Rules on Copyright Infringement Regarding "The Shape of Water" and "Let Me Hear You Whisper"

David Zindel, the son of author Paul Zindel, brought action for copyright infringement alleging that his father's play, "Let Me Hear You Whisper", infringed on the copyright of "The Shape of Water". The district court dismissed the matter, but the Ninth Circuit reversed on the basis that "reasonable minds could differ on whether there is substantial similarity between Let Me Hear You Whisper and The Shape of Water." The court ruled that additional evidence, "including expert testimony, would aid in the objective literary analysis needed to determine the extent and qualitative importance of the similarities" identified, "particularly the plausibly alleged shared plot sequence."


Southern District of New York Rules on Copyright Infringement Action

Photographer Stephanie Sinclair brought suit against Mashable over the use of "embedded" Instagram posts, and the Court granted the defendants' motion to dismiss, finding that the photographer gave Instagram broad power to relicense the works that she posted, based on the Instagram's Terms of Service.


Trump Family Asks Court to Stop Publication of Tell-All by President's Niece

The Trump family sued in Queens County Surrogate's Court to stop the publication of a tell-all by the President's niece, Mary L. Trump. The allegations are centered on her signing a nondisclosure agreement in connection with settling the estate of Fred Trump, the President's father and her grandfather. Later in the week, a judge dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, and it is expected that the action would be filed in New York State Supreme Court.


The Transformation of American Culture Continues

With ongoing debate about where antiquated statues and public displays, like Mississippi's state flag, there is a continuing transformation underway about what pieces of antiquity are appropriate for America in the 21st Century. Outside the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, the statue of Theodore Roosevelt will be removed, and other statues throughout the country and in Western Europe also face scrutiny and ire from protesters. Other cultural elements are changing as well: the country trio, The Dixie Chicks, have announced that they will rename themselves The Chicks, and Disney has announced that it will remove certain portions from its Splash Mountain ride. Others have used the moment of heightened activism to attack systemic racism, even in institutions as large as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim.


Black Gallerists Press Forward Despite a Market That Holds Them Back

Despite having increased "attention being paid to black artists," the "number of black-owned galleries representing artists in the United States remains strikingly, stubbornly low." Additionally, with organizations like the Art Dealers Association of America and Art Basel having hundreds of galleries and dealers, there is "only one African-American gallerist."


Facebook Bans Historical Artifact Sales

Facebook has "announced the prohibition after researchers reported that looters were using the platform to identify and sell illegally excavated antiquities." As a result of criticism that the website had "become a bazaar for the sale of looted Middle Eastern antiquities," the company announced that "it would remove any content 'that attempts to buy, sell, or trade in historical artifacts.'"


Opera Has Vanished. So Have Their Dream Jobs at the Met

In any other time, receiving a job offer from the Metropolitan Opera would be an extraordinary opportunity, but those hired at the beginning of 2020 and those with tenure have had a frustrating season. Gone are the operas that go late into the evenings and the morning practices the following day. The next show, at the earliest, will be held on New Year's Eve, and furloughs have become more widespread as the shows have been cancelled.


Museum of Jewish Heritage Lays Off Over 40% of Its Staff

The Museum of Jewish Heritage's finances have suffered during the pandemic, and cuts are starting to be implemented. Over 40% of the staff has been laid off, and many employees are facing "new roles or reduced hours." According to audio from a meeting obtained by the New York Times, there "were no pay reductions for executive and senior managers," however.


Founder of Virginia's Signature Theater Steps Down

In the wake of sexual harassment allegations, the founder of the Virginia theater, Signature Theater, is stepping down. Eric Schaeffer had spent 30 years with the organization after founding it, and he has resigned after allegations from Thomas Keegan, an actor, suggesting that "Schaeffer had grabbed his genitals at an awards ceremony in 2018."


For the Actors of "Take Me Out", a Coming-Out Party is Postponed

The baseball play "Take Me Out" was set to make its Broadway debut, and five actors in the play were also set to have their first appearances on Broadway. Now, those five actors are "bunking with family, grappling with unemployment, and fighting injustice." The difference between a Broadway show and an Off Broadway contract is significant in most cases: whereas a "steady paycheck and guaranteed health insurance" comes to those on Broadway, an Off Broadway contract will have significantly less pay.


The Flea Will Begin Paying All of Its Artists

The Flea Theater has relied on "a troupe of volunteer actors," which has drawn criticism for years, but an angry letter "prompted a promise of change" recently. The letter accused the theater of "racism, sexism, gaslighting, disrespect, and abuse," and the Flea announced that it would pause its production activity "to enact sweeping changes, including the elimination of unpaid roles for its artists."


Neolithic Site Near Stonehenge Yields an "Astonishing Discovery"

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of a "circle of trenches at a nearby ancient village" near Stonehenge that "promises to offer significant clues about life more than 4,500 years ago in the Neolithic period." The discovery "also makes the site the largest prehistoric structure in Britain and possibly in Europe."


Sports

Coronavirus Rates Ramp Up Throughout the United States and Around the World

The South and West of the United States have seen a jump in Coronavirus cases that have brought the country to its highest rates of confirmed cases. Those increased rates in Texas and Florida have caused their state governments to halt and reverse the reopening that was previously underway. Stock markets have reacted negatively to the news, as it has become increasingly clear that the infection rates will continue to plague the United States and cause more economic devastation. Even with this news comes different approaches to how to handle future events: the Kentucky Derby announced that it will proceed with spectators in September, whereas the New York City Marathon, scheduled for November, has been cancelled. Additionally, the European Union announced that it will not permit tourists to visit Europe unless those travelers are coming from a select few countries that have low Coronavirus cases. The United States did not make that list. Sports have begun to develop plans to start their seasons, and it appears that many professional sports will have games played in environments that are highly secure so as to insulate the athletes and staff from infection.


Baseball Has a Plan to Begin Its Season

Major League Baseball has announced that it will proceed with a shortened season in 2020. Teams "will play only 60 games, with opening day set for July 23 or July 24," which effectively means that each game that a team plays "will count 2.7 times more than usual, infusing daily urgency to a sport in which teams often have time to coalesce."


Talladega Noose Incident Puts Spotlight on NASCAR's Troubles With Racism

Investigators have determined that a noose found in NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace's garage was "not meant as a hate crime." However, NASCAR as an organization has "long had complaints of racist behavior from people within the sport."


Softball Team's Tweet to Trump Leads Players to Quit Mid-Series

Two professional softball teams, the USSSA Pride and Scrap Yard Fast Pitch, played a seven-game series in Melbourne, Florida, and that series took on new political meaning when one of the team's manager's tweeted to President Trump a photograph showing both teams standing during the national anthem. The politicization of the moment caused players to quit the team this week.


CrossFit Owner Fostered Sexist Company Culture, Workers Say

Greg Glassman, the chief executive of CrossFit, has resigned, and many former employees and athletes have come forward and revealed a "management culture rife with overt and vulgar talk about women: their bodies, how much male employees, primarily Mr. Glassman, would like to have sex with them and how lucky the women should feel to have his rabid interest."


Australia and New Zealand Will Host 2023 Women's World Cup

FIFA has announced that Australia and New Zealand will be the joint hosts for the 2023 Women's World Cup. FIFA also announced that its council "approved $1 billion in investment in women's soccer over the next four years," and the tournament will be the first 32-team women's tournament.


Bundesliga TV Rights Deal Suggests a Softening Market

Germany's soccer league, the Bundesliga, has been a bellwether for how soccer will proceed following the pandemic, and now, after the league negotiated its broadcast deal, the Bundesliga has showed other leagues in Europe that the market has softened. The deal covers four years, starting with the 2021-22 season, but fell beneath the record $5.1 billion deal, although the precise figure is not publicly known.


Media/Technology

Google Sets Limit on How Long It Will Store Some Data

Google has long faced criticism for the length of time it stores data regarding its users, and Google has responded to that criticism by announcing that "it would start automatically deleting location history and records of web and app activity as well as voice recordings on new accounts after 18 months." Settings for "existing accounts will remain unchanged."


Another Tweet From Trump Gets a Label From Twitter

President Trump, on Twitter, threatened "serious force" if protesters attempt to set up an autonomous zone in Washington, D.C. akin to the one set up in the city of Seattle. Twitter promptly labeled that tweet as one that "violated its policies" as it contained "a threat of harm against an identifiable group." The labeling is likely to further escalate the "company's battle with the president over his often incendiary tweets."


Tennessee Newspaper Apologizes for "Utterly Indefensible" Anti-Muslim Ad

A newspaper in Nashville, The Tennessean, has apologized for publishing "a full-page ad on Sunday by a biblical prophecy group claiming 'Islam' would detonate a bomb in the city." The ad featured photographs of "President Trump, Pope Francis, and burning American flags," and "urged readers to visit a website offering more details." The ad warned of "another civil war" and that "Islam is going to detonate a nuclear device" in the city of Nashville.


United States Designates Four More Chinese News Organizations as Foreign Missions

The United States federal government has announced that it has designated four more Chinese news organizations as foreign missions, bringing the total number to nine. It is expected that China will retaliate in some form, as the designation sends the message to Americans that the organizations are viewed "as propaganda organs for a foreign government."


Apple to Ditch Intel Chips in Macs as It Consolidates Its Power

The 15-year partnership between Intel and Apple is coming to an end. Apple announced at its developers' conference that it will make its own chips to put into its devices, but that the process of transitioning away from Intel chips to Apple chips will be one that requires two years to complete.


Facebook Loses Antitrust Decision in Germany Over Data Collection and Faces Confrontation With Advertisers

In Germany, its top court ruled that "Facebook had abused its dominance in social media to illegally harvest data about its users," making it a victory "for proponents of tougher regulation of the world's largest technology companies." Facebook has also announced that it will "add more context to problematic political posts on its site" as advertisers and others began to boycott and pressure Facebook.


General News

Trump and Senate Republicans Achieve a Milestone

President Trump and Senate Republicans have worked during the three and a half years of this administration to fill as many federal judge seats as possible, and last week, they filled the 200th judicial seat, which was the "final appeals court vacancy" in the country.


Supreme Court Hands Down Several Decisions

The United States Supreme Court has rejected a request that it limit the Securities and Exchange Commission so that it can "never sue for disgorgement of profits obtained by fraud." In its decision, the Court ruled that the SEC can continue to sue, but that there should be limits on what kinds of disgorgements may be sought. In a second decision, the Court rejected asylum seekers who "feared persecution and sought to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus." In a third decision, the Court turned down a request to allow all Texans to vote by mail.


Trump Fired Her Boss. Now She's Taking Cases That Incensed White House

Audrey Strauss had been a "behind-the-scene forces in the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan as it pursued cases against people connected to President Trump," and she has now been pushed into the spotlight as the "acting U.S. attorney" in the Southern District of New York's office, which leads "politically sensitive investigations." Her appointment came after Attorney General William Barr oversaw the firing of the top attorney in the district, Geoffrey Berman.


Appeals Court Panel Orders End to Michael Flynn Case

Two appellate judges ruled that a lower court should dismiss the charges against President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. A third judge accused the other two judges "of overstepping their powers." It is possible that the full appeals court will review the matter, but Judge Emmet Sullivan of the lower court still had not dismissed the case in response to the ruling.


Appeals Court Rejects Trump's Diversion of Military Funds for Border Wall

A federal appeals court in San Francisco has ruled that the Trump administration "did not have the authority to transfer $2.5 billion from the Pentagon to President Trump's border wall without congressional approval." It is expected that the matter will now be appealed to the United States Supreme Court for review, and the ruling "will not immediately halt construction."


Billions of Dollars to Be Paid Out Regarding Roundup and Talc Powder

An appellate court in Missouri upheld the damages against Johnson & Johnson at more than $2 billion and reiterated the previous finding that the company "knew there was asbestos in its baby powder." Additionally, the giant Germany company Bayer settled a case against it regarding the weedkiller Roundup and its link with cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Bayer is expected to pay approximately $10 billion to settle the actions with those affected by its product.


Hospitals Sued to Keep Prices Secret, and They Lost

A federal judge upheld "a Trump administration policy that requires hospitals and health insurers to publish their negotiated prices for health services, numbers that are typically kept secret." The administration has sought "to improve transparency in health care" as "insurers and health providers usually negotiate deals behind closed doors, and patients rarely know the cost of services until after the fact."


Senate Democrats Plan to Block GOP Police Bill, Stalling Overhaul

Democrats in the Senate have urged Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to "negotiate a new, more expansive bill both parties could support" regarding police reform. In the meantime, Democrats have stalled the overhaul that Republicans proposed. The effort could result in "a clash that could mark the death of a fledgling congressional effort to address racial bias in law enforcement."


House Approves Statehood for the District of Columbia

For the first time, a chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, has approved "establishing the nation's capital as the 51st state." It is almost "certain to die in the Republican-led Senate," but it may pave the way for statehood if and when Democrats retake a majority in the Senate.


Pompeo's Human Rights Panel Could Hurt LGBT and Women's Rights, Critics Say

Last July, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo created a commission "to provide a new vision for human rights policy" that would "uphold religious freedom as America's most fundamental right." Human rights scholars have criticized the panel and warned that the commission "sidesteps the State Department's internal bureau responsible for promoting human rights abroad."


Justice Department Officials Outline Claims of Politicization Under Barr

Attorney General William Barr has divided those in the Justice Department who were of the mind that the Department was meant to protect the federal government as opposed to the President. Barr's firing of the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan only exacerbated that division, as it came only after "a disagreement over a case linked to President Trump." In his approximate year and a half as Attorney General, he has sought to limit the transparency of the administration and slow investigations into the administration's actions, which prompted the Senate's Judiciary Committee to approve a bipartisan measure to empower the Justice Department's independent watchdog and "to investigate allegations of ethical violations and professional misconduct by department lawyers."


Jail Only Allowed White Staff to Guard Ex-Officer Charged With Killing George Floyd

Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged with murder in killing Georgia Floyd, is in a Ramsey County jail in St. Paul, and staff workers have said that "only white employees were allowed to guard him when he was first brought to the facility last month." Officers have said that the superintendent had required white guards for Chauvin's cell, which was a policy that "amounted to segregation and indicated that he thought they could not be trusted to do their jobs because they are not white."


Pandemic Creates Backlog in New York of 39,200 Criminal Cases

The New York City judicial system has struggled with the pandemic, as it has caused "lengthy delays in criminal proceedings and raising growing concerns about the rights of defendants." The backlog of pending cases has now risen to 39,200, and hundreds of trials "have been put on hold indefinitely." Prosecutions have dropped, but some have grown concerned as there are "arraignments, pleas, and evidentiary hearings" held by video and "with little public scrutiny."


New Rule in California Will Require Zero-Emissions Trucks

California will require zero-emissions trucks in a staggered way: more than half of trucks sold in the state will be zero-emissions by 2035, and all of them will be zero-emissions by 2045. The move comes after the state faced enormous pressure from industry. The new regulation is meant to "improve local air quality, rein in greenhouse gas emissions, and sharply curtail the state's dependence on oil."


Russian Criminal Group Finds New Target: Americans Working at Home

Two revelations came out in the past week regarding Russians' activities as related to Americans: Russian hacking groups have "shown up in corporate networks with sophisticated ransomware," and American officials are growing increasingly concerned about "election infrastructure." Additionally, it has come to light that Russia offered "Afghan militants bounties to kill U.S. troops," according to intelligence. The Trump administration "has been deliberating for months about what to do about" the "stunning intelligence assessment."


Brazilian Ex-Minister Makes Quick Exit to U.S. as Inquiries Rattle Government

Abraham Weintraub, one of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's top lieutenants, has resigned as education minister and fled to Miami "under the cloud of a criminal investigation." The crisis had been in chaos as a number of arrests and "judicial orders targeting supporters of the Brazilian leader" became known, and it is unclear how Weintraub entered the United States, given the bar on visitors from Brazil with the exception of diplomats, which Weintraub was not given his resignation.


Kosovo President Indicted for War Crimes Related to War With Serbia

The White House had planned to host the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo, but the Kosovan president, Hashim Thaci, has been indicted on war crimes charges relating to his actions during the 1998-99 Kosovo War and its aftermath. The charges were filed in the Netherlands, and they are yet to be accepted by judges.


Poland's President Meets With Trump and Gets Pre-Election Boost

In a boost to Polish President Andrzej Duda, he met with President Trump and Vice President Pence at the White House. Democrats called the meeting "an unseemly effort to boost a European ally whose country is tilting toward autocracy days before a close re-election vote," and analysts said that there was "no clear official purpose" for the visit.


A Sexual Harasser Spent Years on Australia's Top Court, Inquiry Finds

A judge on the top court of Australia is accused of sexually harassing at least six women, according to a court inquiry, but the judge, Dyson Heydon, has denied the accusations. The allegations were revealed in the Sydney Morning Herald, and the instances were spread over the course of years. Heydon has denied "any allegation of predatory behavior or breaches of the law" and apologized if "any conduct of his has caused offense."

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