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Areas of Interest
May 2nd, 2022
Golden Globes’ Proposal to End Nonprofit Status Shredded by Legal Experts: ‘Conflicts All Over the Place’
Charitable Organizations Partner J.J. Leitner was quoted in the article, “Golden Globes’ Proposal to End Nonprofit Status Shredded by Legal Experts: ‘Conflicts All Over the Place’” published by TheWrap. The article discusses the legal and ethical concerns of a plan to reinvent the Golden Globes by turning the Hollywood Foreign Press Association into a for-profit company owned by billionaire Todd Boehly, the current interim CEO. J.J. and other attorneys with knowledge in nonprofits say that a for-profit structure would increase, not decrease, the lack of transparency that has befuddled the organization.
J.J. is quoted saying, “While it’s not illegal to change an organization from a profit to a nonprofit, the company would no longer be required to disclose its revenues, losses and the salaries of top officers as it now does. There’s no transparency when your records are not public anymore. You don’t know what people are getting.”
In regards to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association being a 501(c)6 membership organization rather than a 501(c)3 charitable organization, J.J. says there’s no difference in terms of the type of transparency that’s called for. “Whether you are a 501(c) 6 or a 501(c)3, your return to the IRS is the same form, Form 990. And everybody can look them up… you can look up how much money they make and what they spend, and what they spend it on.” For a membership organization with a voting body that has been challenged on transparency, J.J. says, a private company “just doesn’t make any sense to me. If I were taking this to the California Attorney General, I think it would be an uphill battle to get it approved at that level.”
Additionally, Todd Boehly has confirmed plans to add 200 nonmember voters, addressing the perception that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is less diverse because of its size. J.J. says, “giving a new, and presumably more diverse group the right to vote, but not to share in the proposed profits or salaries paid to members for committee work makes them second-class citizens within the organization.” She adds, “Let’s say [they] want to bring in more voters who presumably will be let’s say somewhere in the BIPOC universe, LGBTQ+ or whatever, [it’s still a] business where the white people are the owners and have a profit interest.” Concluding, “Other people, the new people who are the diversity class, don’t have any ownership. How can that possibly help them with a problem that they have?”
Read the full article here.
Other Quoted
Game companies must be flexible to comply with changing laws
Emma Smizer was recently featured as a panelist at GamesBeat Next 2025 and quoted in a GamesBeat article discussing global regulatory compliance and its impact on the gaming industry. The panel examined how evolving policy frameworks create new opportunities for developers and platforms navigating global markets.
Smizer addressed compliance challenges under emerging laws, specifically citing the Texas App Store Accountability Act. She noted that this kind of legislation changes how developers and platforms interact with users: “App stores have to do this age verification, but so do software and hardware developers. Global compliance is complicated, even just across the states… We’re moving toward a world where you can’t just be willfully ignorant about the age of your users.”
Her analysis emphasizes a growing trend that age verification and child safety requirements are not only regulatory hurdles but also can create opportunities and growth for businesses and sectors. Read the full summary of the panel here.
November 25 2025
Copyright Guide or Policy Change? Project Divides IP Attys
Law360 quoted Jacqueline Charlesworth on the controversy surrounding the American Law Institute’s copyright restatement project. Ms. Charlesworth criticized the initiative as advancing a “revisionist theory” that could weaken copyright protections. She was among nearly two dozen advisers who resigned from the project, signaling deep concerns about its direction.
The article highlights a broader debate within the IP community: whether the restatement simply clarifies existing law or attempts to reshape policy in favor of users. Ms. Charlesworth’s perspective emphasizes the stakes for rights holders as courts and practitioners consider how much influence the restatement may carry. Read the Law360 article about the copyright restatement project here.
November 19 2025
Reports of ‘Click-to-Cancel’s Death May Be Premature
A Competition Policy International article quoted Holly A. Melton on the continuing impact of the Federal Trade Commission’s “click-to-cancel” rule , despite a recent Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals decision. Melton was quoted for her analysis of the FTC’s $2.5 billion settlement with Amazon over Prime subscription practices. In a blog post, Melton pointed to a clause in the agreement that anticipates future rulemaking around negative option features. “That’s not boilerplate,” she wrote. “It reads like a deliberate placeholder—future-proofing the settlement for the reappearance of Click to Cancel.” Melton interprets this as a strategic move by the FTC to potentially revive the rule through a new proceeding.
Melton’s outlook reflects a broader shift in the FTC’s enforcement priorities toward consumer-facing issues like subscription transparency and cancellation ease. She referenced Commissioner Mark Meador’s remarks about focusing on “everyday economic concerns affecting ordinary households” and noted that, even without immediate rulemaking, the agency’s litigation stance signals that subscription practices will remain a top-tier priority for the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Her guidance to advertisers and subscription services: “prioritize transparency, obtain affirmative consent, and make cancellation as effortless as sign-up. The ‘Click to Cancel’ may be down, but it’s not out,” Melton concluded, underscoring the FTC’s intent to keep its options open. Read the Competition Policy International post here.
November 11 2025
