Week In Review

By Audrey Glover-Dichter Edited by Elissa D. Hecker

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

Entertainment Actors Equity Association COVID Protocols Require All to be COVID Vaccinated In anticipation to reopening Broadway, Actors Equity posted safety guidelines for employers on collective bargaining agreements. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Actors-Equity-Association-Releases-Detailed-List-of-New-COVID-Safety-Protocols-20210402

Theater Think Tank Discusses How to Open Theaters Nationwide The think tank addresses the need to keep open communication among theatres, health officials, and unions for a cohesive application of policy as theatres open. https://www.playbill.com/article/5-takeaways-from-the-1st-covid-theatre-think-tank-town-hall

Broadway Reopened for 36 minutes! These short performances were used as at test run on opening Broadway safely. https://www.thenewsnow.live/broadway-reopened-for-36-minutes-its-a-start/

The premiere of Soul Train on Broadway is Announced "The arts are essential to our recovery as a community for many reasons - ranging from the positive impact on social cohesion to the economic impact on individuals and related businesses...." https://www.broadwayworld.com/san-francisco/article/World-Premiere-of-Broadway-Bound-SOUL-TRAIN-Christopher-Chen-World-Premiere-More-Announced-for-ACT-Season-20210402

Using Influencers to Influence COVID Vaccinations Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michelle Obama, and Dr. Fauci, among others are collaborating in a special public service event, Roll Up Your Sleeves, to educate and encourage Americans to get vaccinated against COVID. https://www.playbill.com/article/lin-manuel-miranda-dr-fauci-more-will-appear-in-covid-19-vaccine-nbc-special

Mispronouncing an Asian Actor's Name Leads to the Revocation of the Los Angeles Stage Alliance's Membership to the Theater Companies' Alliance During an award show, not only was the name mispronounced, but the wrong photo shown as well. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Theatre-Companies-Revoke-LA-Stage-Alliance-Membership-After-Asian-Nominee-is-Misidentified-at-the-Ovation-Awards-20210401

What does Paul Simon have in common with other song writers like Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, and Neil Young? The importance of such sales is having the music available for streaming, since concerts have been canceled due to COVID. https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/music/paul-simon-sells-song-catalog-joining-trend-older-songwriters-n1262711

Brands and Hollywood are Collaborating in New Ways Digitally Brands are creating short film types of advertising posting that are uninterrupted advertisements. Brands are turning to some Hollywood production studios to create such films. https://www.ana.net/magazines/show/id/ana-2021-03-corona-studios-new-content-brew?utm_medium=email&utm_source=smartbrief&utm_campaign=mkc-newsstand-ana_magazine-ml210405-0409

Arts Many Fashion Brands Took a Stand against the Alleged Use of Forced Labor to Produce Cotton in China Such brands are now facing boycotts in China and brands like H&M and Nike are being targeted on social media and other outlets. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/business/hm-nike-xinjiang-cotton-boycott-intl-hnk/index.html

Dubai Holds its Annual Art Fair, Featuring 31 Countries in 50 Galleries Art Dubai is being held outside because of COVID. It is known as the largest art fair in the Middle East and 2020 was the first time when it was cancelled. https://www.wsj.com/articles/art-dubai-draws-thousands-of-aficionados-to-the-desert-11617385864

Cairo Held a Parade of Mummies 22 mummies were transferred to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The mummies were transported in order of their reigns and included 18 kings and 4 queens. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56508475

Sports SCOTUS To Hear Arguments Addressing the Definition of Student Athletes The case focuses on compensation of collegiate athletes. https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/30530625/supreme-court-agrees-hear-ncaa-athlete-compensation-case

Major League Baseball Will Move the All-Star Game in Response to Georgia's New Voting Law Not opposing the bill before it passed, Major League Baseball is seeking to make a statement after the fact. Reactions are mixed. https://outlook.office.com/mail/junkemail/id/AAMkAGUwNzA4M2QxLWFmZmUtNDJlNC04YTRkLThiZWYxMjM2NjMxOABGAAAAAAACraZovAofT7Sjf3FENJ3gBwAUFAdTOPffRb15pnsqHCUFAAAAAAEXAAAUFAdTOPffRb15pnsqHCUFAACjcZzhAAA%3D

Women's Basketball President Addresses the Differences Between Men's and Women's Tournaments Mark Emmert claims that women's basketball is treated as second-class. https://www.13newsnow.com/article/news/nation-world/wbca-ncaa-president-independent-review/507-33a7bf05-5e9e-4247-97bf-6cc51834b30f

Nike Wins TRO Against Stan Shoes According to the complaint filed by Nike, the Satan Shoes are Nike Air Max 97 that have been changed using the satanic theme. https://www.thefashionlaw.com/nike-is-pushing-for-a-temporary-restraining-order-says-it-has-not-written-off-action-over-jesus-shoe/

COVID Shrinks Tennis Players' Winnings Players are adjusting to earning less money since prize money has fallen. This year's grand prize at the Miami Open was $6.7 million, down from $16.7 million in 2019. https://newsotime.com/in-tennis-tough-decisions-as-players-adjust-to-shrunken-paydays/

Media/Technology Google Wins Long Copyright Legal Battle With Oracle SCOTUS, in a 6-2 decision, held that Google's use of the code in question was "Fair Use", without deciding copyrightability. The decision is available here: Google v Oracle.pdf https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/05/supreme-court-rules-in-googles-favor-in-copyright-dispute-with-oracle-over-android-software.html

SCOTUS Unanimously Upholds Federal Communications Commission's Deregulation of Media Ownership In its decision, the Court relied on the Federal Communications Commission's reasoning based on data collected that such changes will not likely hurt minority ownership. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/04/court-upholds-fccs-changes-to-media-ownership-rules/

Facebook wins case at Supreme Court The Court based its decision about Facebook's predictive dialing technology on a narrow reading of the federal ban on robocalls and robtexts to cell phones. https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/04/supreme-court-sides-with-facebook-in-narrowing-the-federal-robocall-ban/

President Biden proposes to Spend $100 Million Making Fast Internet Access to All Americans This proposal is part of the infrastructure plan, which aims to provide equal access throughout the country. https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?campaign_id=158&emc=edit_ot_20210402&instance_id=28786&nl=on-tech-with-shira-ovide&productCode=OT®i_id=161978635&segment_id=54768&te=1&uri=nyt%3A%2F%2Fnewsletter%2Ff2299e8d-219f-5ef7-9d6f-63ff14153830&user_id=751ef82d53feacf5f1ae5d02229016c7

Biden Introduced His Plan to Upgrade the Country's Infrastructure The plan includes Cybersecurity provisions as well; it looks to secure power grids, supply chain venues, and to support research and development for Artificial Intelligence and quantum computing. https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/bidens-infrastructure-plan-3-cybersecurity-provisions-a-16308

The Information Transparency & Personal Data Control Act is the Latest Congressional Attempt at a National Privacy Law If this legislation passes, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would have rule making authority. Most importantly, it may provide a federal framework rather than the conflicting state privacy laws. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-state-and-federal-privacy-9980634/?origin=CEG&utm_source=CEG&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CustomEmailDigest&utm_term=jds-article&utm_content=article-link

The FTC is Set to Increase Enforcement of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act The FTC wants to increase enforcement and mandate that parental consent be verifiable. https://www.natlawreview.com/article/ftc-signals-increased-enforcement-coppa-violations?utm_content=d377a2bee2400f238ac4ab92f87c465d&utm_campaign=2021-03-31Cybersecurity%20Legal%20News&utm_source=Robly.com&utm_medium=email

What Does it Take to Have Standing in a Data Breach? According to the Eleventh Circuit, accessing credit cards only is not enough. A plaintiff must show how such breach caused harm in order to have standing. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/data-breach-class-actions-eleventh-6054558/?origin=CEG&utm_source=CEG&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CustomEmailDigest&utm_term=jds-article&utm_content=article-link

Another Week, Another Breach of Personal Data More than 500 million Facebook users' information was leaked online, including phone numbers, emails, and other personal data from 106 countries. https://www.businessinsider.com/stolen-data-of-533-million-facebook-users-leaked-online-2021-4

Parler's previous CEO, John Matze, Sues Parler and Fox Personality Rebekah Mercer Matze was let go for his opinions on needing more content filtering. Matze claims to have been cheated out of his 40% stake in the company. https://www.todaysgeneralcounsel.com/ousted-ceo-sues-parler-and-rebekah-mercer/?utm_source=morningnewsletter&utm_medium=email

Chinese Government Threatened BBC Journalist THe journalist and his family left the China for his safety. His reports of China'a alleged abuse of minorities triggered months of targeted abuse. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/31/bbc-journalist-john-sudworth-leaves-china-amid-criticism-of-networks-coverage

Maduro's Misinformation About COVID Leads Facebook to Freeze His Page Maduro's claim that there is a cure made from thyme has no scientific support. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-venezuela-exclusive/exclusive-facebook-freezes-venezuela-president-maduros-page-over-covid-19-misinformation-idUSKBN2BJ03Z

General News Biden Nominated the First Group of Judicial Nominations Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, among this first round of nominations, is also being considered as a potential SCOTUS nomination as well. https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/bidens-first-judicial-picks-include-dc-circuit-nominee-ketanji-brown-jackson-said-to-be-a-scotus-contender? https://www.npr.org/2021/03/30/977831327/biden-makes-first-judicial-nominations-including-a-supreme-court-contender

Biden's Infrastructure Plan Focuses on Racial Equity The plan looks to create jobs while rebuilding the infrastructure as well as universal high speed internet. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/31/biden-infrastructure-plan-white-house-targets-racial-inequities.html

U.S. Economy Seems to be Recovering The economy added 916,000 jobs in March, which were more than the expected 675,000 jobs. The numbers show that the economy seems to be rebounding from COVID. https://www.axios.com/march-jobs-report-172d4ab7-65b6-4ceb-aa26-9ebc02477006.html?utm_campaign=organic&utm_medium=socialshare&utm_source=linkedin

International Criminal Court Sanctions Lifted by U.S. The Trump administration placed the sanctions that were lifted by the Biden administration. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2021/apr/02/us-lifts-sanctions-icc-prosecutor-fatou-bensouda-pompeo-blinken

Biden Reverses Trump Administration's Attack on Reproductive Freedom In a State Department human rights report, the Biden administration evaluates reproductive rights worldwide. https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-to-restore-section-on-womens-rights-to-global-survey-11617128929

NCAAP, Along with Other Organizations, Sue Georgia for its Restrictive New Voting Law The lawsuit claims that Georgia violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. https://naacp.org/latest/naacp-sues-georgia-secretary-of-state-and-state-election-board-to-prevent-enforcement-of-sb-202/

Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines Criticize Georgia Georgia-based companies are under pressure to speak out against such restrictive laws. https://time.com/5952337/corporations-condemn-georgia-voting-law/

Texas Legislation Proposal to Restrict Voting Criticized by Dell and American Airlines' CEOs Both companies are based in Texas. The proposed law prohibits mail-in ballots, among other restrictions. https://www.npr.org/2021/04/02/983709091/these-are-the-businesses-speaking-out-against-texass-newly-proposed-election-law

New Jersey Expands Voting Rights The new law lets residents vote 10 days before election day for general elections, known as early voting. Votes can be cast by mail or in person. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/29/politics/new-jersey-voting-rights-bills/index.html

Recreational Marijuana is Legal in New York Buyers must be at least 21 years old. The law also expunges convictions for marijuana. https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/30/us/new-york-recreational-marijuana-bill-passes-trnd/index.html

Kneeling on George Floyd's Neck While He Was Handcuffed and Lying on His Stomach was "Totally Unnecessary" The head of the Minneapolis Police Department's homicide division testified as to this on Friday, breaking the "blue wall". https://www.euronews.com/2021/04/03/it-was-unnecessary-to-kneel-on-george-floyd-s-neck-during-arrest-us-court-hears

At least 55 of the U.S.'s Largest Companies Did Not Pay Federal Income Tax in 2020 Although companies in this group allegedly reported combined income of $40.5 billion, some have not paid federal taxes in 3 years. https://fortune.com/2021/04/02/55-companies-paid-zero-in-federal-2020-taxes-itep-report/

New York City Lost Its Global Warming Case The City lost its federal appeal case addressing who should pay for the cost of global warming. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-warming-new-york/oil-companies-defeat-new-york-city-appeal-over-global-warming-idUSKBN2BO5O0

Another Attack on the Capitol An officer was killed and another was seriously injured. The 25 year old was apparently delusional, and suffering from paranoia and suicidal thoughts. The attacker was shot and he died at the hospital. https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-politics-451c5c5154045d404d0db76270f78aac

Trump Organization Duped Supporters into Making Recurring and Automatic Financial Contributions Such acts caused rent checks to bounce, utilities shut down, etc. https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/ct-aud-nw-nyt-trump-supporter-donations-20210403-diz6ucnxwjc7tbtrzmloygt2am-story.html

More Bank Records Are Subpoenaed in New York Prosecutors' Investigation of the Trump Organization This time, prosecutors subpoenaed the private bank records of the CFO of the Trump Organization. https://thehill.com/homenews/news/545859-ny-prosecutors-subpoena-bank-records-of-top-trump-org-insider-in-bid-for

Cargo Ship Is No Longer Blocking the Suez Canal The initial backlog has been cleared and about 85 ships passed through the Canal on Saturday. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-suezcanal-ship/suez-canal-shipping-backlog-ends-days-after-giant-vessel-freed-idUSKBN2BQ083

COVID COVID Related Hate Crimes Target Asian-Americans About 2,800 hate crimes were reported to Stop AAPI Hate, an advocacy group. The FBI has not yet released 2020 numbers. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56218684

The Food and Drug Administration Allows Moderna to Increase the Vaccine Doses' Availability The goal is to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-makes-two-revisions-moderna-covid-19-vaccine-emergency-use?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Please Keep Wearing Masks https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/29/biden-increase-pharmacy-vaccination-sites-478369

Americans Are Traveling Again Apparently, the increase in travel is attributed to the increase in vaccinations. https://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines/tsa-screens-over-one-million-passengers-for-20th-consecutive-day.html

15 Million Doses of COVID Vaccine Ruined by Plant Mix-up Johnson & Johnson was asked by the Biden administration to take over the plant in Baltimore, replacing the previous contractor. https://www.vox.com/2021/4/4/22366728/15-million-ruined-vaccine-doses-johnson-johnson-baltimore-plant

Per the CDC, Fully Vaccinated Travelers No Longer Need to Test and/or Quarantine at Their Destinations https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2021/p0402-travel-guidance-vaccinated-people.html

All New York State Prisoners Must Be Vaccinated https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/03/judge-rules-new-york-must-vaccinate-prisoners-immediately.html