The Indigent Representation Task Force announced the first two stops on its statewide listening tour will be next week in West Tennessee. The first tour stop is planned for April 28, 3-6 p.m. in Memphis at the Criminal Justice Center Auditorium. The next day (April 29), the task force will hold a session from 3-6 p.m. in Trenton at The Chancery Building. View other scheduled tour stops and more information. 

Debra Lawrence of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will speak on the Equal Pay Act at the 20th Annual Labor & Employment Forum on May 6 at the Bar Center in Nashville. Other topics include federal and Tennessee Law updates, hot topics in wage and hour law, and perspectives from the bench. The forum, approved for six CLE credits, is from 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Register by May 1.

The Tennessean reports Rutherford County Attorney Jim Cope resigned from his position on the Pinnacle Financial Partners board of directors after bank officials discovered an unnamed board member may have bought Avenue Financial Holdings stock after learning of merger talks. The more than 10,000 shares were purchased before the public was informed of the merger. A Pinnacle spokeswoman said she cannot confirm Cope, who has served on the board since 2006, is the unnamed member. 

TBA Executive Director Allan Ramsaur shares advice for incumbent bar leaders in the National Conference of Bar Presidents Spring 2016 Issue. “One of the key tasks for a bar president is assembling a leadership team,” Ramsaur writes. 

The Nashville firm of Sherrard & Roe is now Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison, adding the names of partners John Voigt and TBA President Bill Harbison to the shingle. Voigt primarily represents health care providers and provider-owned businesses. Harbison is a litigator who works primarily in the areas of corporate law, trusts and estates. Read more from the Nashville Post. 

Maurice Stucke, a professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law, received a 2016 Antitrust Writing Award for a legal article he co-authored regarding artificial intelligence. The article, “Artificial Intelligence & Collusion: When Computers Inhibit Competition,” discusses the legal and ethical questions that are emerging as artificial intelligence development and implementation throughout society continues to develop. Stucke is a former trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.

Can you copyright cowbell? An article recently published in Tennessee Law dives into that question with a look at copyright legal battles, including one between writers of the 2013 hit song “Blurred Lines” and the family of Marvin Gaye. The family of the late singer claim the song infringes on the copyright of Gaye’s 1977 “Got to Give It Up.”  In the article, two University of Tennessee College of Law professors and two UT music professors discuss the case and what it means for music, artists and copyright law.

The Fantasy Sports Tax Act, which would legalize, regulate and tax fantasy sports betting, is on its way to Gov. Bill Haslam. The Senate signed off on the measure (SB 2109) yesterday. The legislation follows a legal opinion issued by Attorney General Hebert Slatery that said fantasy sports contests are illegal gambling. The fiscal analysis of the legislation estimates $42 million is spent annually in Tennessee on fantasy sports, The Associated Press reports. 

Cory Batey was charged with two felony counts of violating the state's sex offender registration law. Court records show Batey refused to register as a sex offender in Davidson County after sheriff’s officials and police asked him to do so multiple times, The Tennessean reports. Batey, a former Vanderbilt football player, is facing 15 to 25 years for his convictions earlier this month for rape. Nashville lawyer Jim Todd told The Tennessean that prosecutors could use the additional charges to argue Batey should get more prison time. 

The Tennessean reports Jennifer Donnals, spokeswoman for Gov. Bill Haslam, said the state constitution permits the governor authority to veto a resolution to sue the federal government over refugee resettlement. The Senate signed off yesterday on a change that would allow a private law firm to file a suit on behalf of Tennessee if the state attorney general refuses to sue. The House approved the joint resolution (SJR467) Monday. The Associated Press reports Haslam has previously raised concerns about the legislation.