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Who owns and controls group names continues to be a complex branding issue, with legal consequences.

The “Stairway to Heaven” case(s) wend their way, with an important Circuit case that dealt with the Inverse Ratio Rule.

Marketing and merchandizing continue to grow in entertainment, causing significant legal issues.

If there were any single musical event from my youth that I wish I could travel to in a time-machine to attend, it would be Woodstock, the calamitous event that somehow came together against all odds in August, 1969. It attracted an audience between 400,000 and one half million, and became a financial success only because of the popularity of the iconic film and its many musical products, still popular after 50 years.

The late economics professor Alan B. Krueger published his last book, just after his untimely death, "Rockonomics, A Backstage Tour of What the Music Industry Can Teach Us About Economics and Life." As a reading assignment for my Class, I will move us through the entire book, over the next few years, chapter by chapter.

As I was putting my notes together for this Class, about two of my favorite domains (music and the movies), Peter Fonda died, at the age of 79, having virtually been identified with his iconic role in the 1969 blockbuster “Easy Rider,” the screenplay for which was a roadmap not only to Taos and New Orleans, but to how rock and roll could become interwoven into movies.

Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” is a classic song, instantly recognizable to the many fans who recall the band in their heyday. They were sued for copying the music of Spirit, and the song “Taurus.” In a widely-watched trial, a jury found that no theft had occurred. However, several years later, the Ninth Circuit granted a rehearing en banc, so the case will be reheard by a larger panel of eleven judges. The correct original decision should be affirmed.

One of the changing norms and business practices of rock and roll has been how artists go about releasing their music to their fans and to the world. Virtually all bands prior to 1970 would release single 45s, compile them into an album, and then tour in support of the new album. While the original standard practice of singles and albums continues—morphed by the prevalence of streaming musical digital bytes to computer screens and a growing number of devices—there is evident a growing number of different release strategies.

It is said that the only sure things are death and taxes. Our Class today is what can happen even to the most litigious and successful entertainers if they die intestate, that is, without a legal will and estate plan. This narrative has some really unfortunate, wasteful, and surprising stories, such as those with the intestate Prince and Aretha.

While the laws concerning sexual assault accusations are not confined to the world of entertainment law, it sometimes seems so. Serious attention was paid to the trial of Bill Cosby and trials looming for film producer/former concert impresario Harvey Weinstein. There have also been damning documentaries on singers R. Kelly and Michael Jackson.