Media & Entertainment partner Paul Fakler was quoted by Law360 for an article on a 1976 copyright law provision that could spark trademark litigation.

Law360 reported “revisions to the Copyright Act that took effect at the beginning of 1978 gave authors of new works the ability to terminate the assignment of rights to entertainment companies after 35 years. As a result, termination rights will become available on Jan. 1, 2013, for any sound recordings for which the rights were assigned on Jan. 1, 1978, and will kick in for other 1978 works throughout the year.”

But Mr. Fakler noted that several factors would likely delay the onset of related lawsuits. “There are very few albums that are worth so much money where it even remotely makes sense to fight with the label,” Mr. Fakler said. “There are so many things that have to line up to get one of these cases that it could be we don’t see one for a couple of years, even though 2013 is here.”

Mr. Fakler added that the only way a copyright termination would not be effective is if the work was made for hire, and “it’s close to inevitable that we’re eventually going to hit a case that deals with that.” He also said that it may take several lawsuits to finally resolve the termination issue because “work for hire can be so fact-specific that whether one decision will stick and solve the whole problem seems unlikely.”