MANHATTAN — The Second Circuit reversed a lower court’s decision affecting two class-action lawsuits against Bank of America, which allegedly should have paid interest on escrow accounts it held for home mortgages. New York rules setting a 2% minimum interest rate on such accounts do not apply because an 1864 federal law preempts the state laws.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida found that two off-duty sheriff deputies did not have probable cause to arrest a concertgoer who allegedly twice bit a woman on the back during a Pearl Jam concert in 2016. The case is closed pending mediation and settlement, however.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A federal judge in New Mexico found in favor of the art installation company Meow Wolf on a copyright infringement claim brought by the artist of the towering “Space Owl.” She sought compensation for published images of the installation, but the venue has “implied license” to display the work as it pleases.
The heirs of two Holocaust victims reached the end of the road in their quest to take control of the Guelph Treasure, a collection of 42 religious artifacts said to have once belonged to Adolf Hitler.
Iran's late supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued an edict in 1989 demanding Rushdie's death over his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
In 1989, Iran’s supreme leader issued a fatwa, or Islamic edict, demanding the author's death, and while Iran has not focused on Rushdie in recent years, the decree still stands.
Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes.
ST. LOUIS — A federal judge denied Missouri parents’ motion to enjoin a school district from removing eight books featuring non-white or LGBTQ+ protagonists from the school library, ruling they haven’t shown the need for a preliminary injunction while the books are being reviewed to determine if they’re age-appropriate.
Penguin Random House would have control over more than half of the U.S. publishing market if its planned acquisition of Simon & Schuster is allowed, according to the Justice Department.
The bestselling author testified in support of the Justice Department's bid to block Penguin Random House from acquiring his publisher Simon & Schuster, saying the merger would be bad for the industry.
CHICAGO — A federal judge ruled an online retailer of a computer mousepad displaying a famous portrait of Albert Einstein did not violate the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's rights to Einstein's image because the university does not own rights to the photograph itself.
