New Jersey Business Law Blog

Although legal sports betting in the United States is still in its infancy, people gambling in New Jersey made $1.24 million worth of bets during the latter part of 2018, according to figures that gambling regulators in the state recently released. An attempt to capitalize on this gaming enthusiasm led to a copyright infringement lawsuit against 10-year-old bookmaking company FanDuel by British-based rival William Hill, regarding guides teaching people how to place a bet.

In July 2018, FanDuel began circulating a "how to bet" guide at the Meadowlands Racetrack. The lawsuit alleges that it was practically a word-for-word copy of a similar guide that William Hill offered at the Monmouth Park Racetrack during the previous month. FanDuel allegedly copied not only text from William Hill's guide but figures and diagrams as well. In one instance, FanDuel allegedly cut and pasted text directly from the William Hill guide into its own without bothering to remove its competitor's name.

It is not uncommon for companies in New Jersey to find themselves in a position where they must share sensitive business information with third parties. These third parties might be distributors, suppliers, partners, vendors and even employees. In some cases, if the information sharing is not allowed, essential business functions may suffer. In order to facilitate these functions while still protecting companies, nondisclosure agreements are commonly created.

As explained by Forbes, it is important to clearly identify what information is deemed confidential and is therefore covered by the terms of the nondisclosure agreement, or confidentiality agreement as it may also be referred to. Despite any temptation, the definition of the confidential information should be as focused and narrow as possible to avoid any ability that it may be misinterpreted. Such misinterpretation could pave the way for a dispute down the road unnecessarily so the upfront clarity is in everyone's best interest.

If your New Jersey business receives a copyright infringement notice, it is imperative that you act swiftly but not irrationally. A copyright infringement notice may seem scary, but more often than not, the remedy is as simple as paying an after-the-fact fee and/or ceasing to use the copyrighted material. However, before you act, it is important to analyze the claim, make sure it is legitimate and explore your legal options.

The World Intellectual Property Organization defines copyright infringement as the use of protected work by someone or some entity that does not own the rights to the property. The property can be a book, a photograph, a song, an article or an asset of similar nature. By law, you cannot make copyrighted property publicly available without the permission of the party that holds the copyright. 

If you own or manage any critical function of a business in New Jersey, you are likely to be in a situation in which you must disclose sensitive information to a third party in order to properly get business done. Before you do this or before you choose simply to not proceed at all for fear of what might happen to your information, you should know that there is a special type of contract designed to protect businesses in situations just like this. It is called a confidentiality agreement or a nondisclosure agreement.

As explained by Forbes, this type of contract essentially binds a party to hold in confidence specific information shared with it by your company. It can outline a path for you to seek compensation should the terms of the agreement be violated in any way. This path to resolution should be as detailed as possible so that if it is ever needed, there are no ambiguities. You might even want to consider adding stipulations regarding the use of mediation or arbitration.