Here’s what Law Professor Toni Lester has to say about the current scandal: “While everyday workers are subjected to anti-sexual harassment laws that allow employers to penalize them for inappropriate work place conduct, recent scandals concerning high powered celebrities like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey might make you wonder if these men are immune to…
Six out of seven members of the Babson law faculty and one of their students received collectively an unprecedented eight awards this spring and summer. The “award-fest” started this spring when Professor Toni Lester received a Babson Faculty Scholar award to support her research. Senior Lecturer Cheryl Kirschner received a Lewis Institute Change-maker Award for…
This Spring pop singer Justin Bieber was sued by indie artist Casey Dienel for stealing an eight second clip from her song, “Ring the Bell”. Commenting on the case, Babson Law Professor Toni Lester says: “Dienel is alleging that Beiber illegally used a short four note ascending music motif lasting eight seconds from her song. Most people…
The jury verdict in the copyright theft lawsuit against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke came out yesterday. The defendants were told to pay $7 plus million dollars in damages to Marvin Gaye’s estate for illegally copying his 1970s hit, “Gotta Give It Up” with their song, “Blurred Lines”. Composer and law professor Toni Lester has…
Here’s what Babson entertainment law professor and composer, Toni Lester, has to say about the copyright case in the news brought by the family of the great soul singer, Marvin Gaye, against singer/songwriters Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams: “The case goes to the heart of how we decide what is innovative and creative, since this…
Babson recently sponsored Rethink Music, a gathering of global music entrepreneurs, organized by The Berklee College of Music. At the conference, Babson Professor Erik Noyes and Babson Professor Toni Lester interviewed music entrepreneurs ranging from the members of the popular band Karmin to a music industry lawyer to see how they answered two questions: How are entrepreneurs…