Poole & Shaffery

TRENDS

Continued from page 6 Entertainment

As fears of covid-19 recede, more film fans will migrate from their saggy couches to cinemas’ comfy seats. Boxoffice revenues in 2023 will surpass those in 2019, welcome news for cinema chains lumbered with pandemic-era debts. Streaming firms will lose subscribers as monthly fees climb, but will nonetheless need to satisfy cravings for even more binge-worthy content. Netflix, the biggest streamer, will spend $17bn on this — but will prioritize squeezing more money from each user. Warner Bros will roll out a service combining hbo Max with Discovery+.

Streamers’ cash piles will help them harry conventional broadcasters in new arenas. Amazon’s Prime Video has led the race into sports broadcasting, long a preserve of traditional tally. From 2023, Apple tv+ will show live games from America’s Major League Soccer, thanks to a deal worth $2.5bn.

So far, the competition over sport has not drawn in Netflix. The company will be hoping that a cheaper advertisingsupported service, which was launched in several markets in November 2022, will lure cash-strapped viewers and reignite subscriber growth. Globally, Netflix will thwart freeloaders by cracking down on password sharing.

Financial services

A slowing economy will test financial stability in 2023. A 2008-style global crash is unlikely, given banks’ high

See FORECASTS, page 18

Beware of Dog Bite

BY JOHN H. SHAFFERY, ESQ.

Poole & Shaffery

Imagine this scenario, you invite a few friends over to watch the big game Sunday. Everything is set up, snacks, drinks, you name it. Your guests arrive and are greeted by the welcoming committee, your 50lb English Bulldog, Snoodles. One of your guests, John Doe, isn’t paying attention and accidentally steps on Snoodles’ paw. As a result, Snoodles lunges out and clamps his jaws down on Mr. Doe’s calf. The bite doesn’t appear severe, and does not draw blood, but does leave noticeable marks. Mr. Doe tells you it’s “no big deal” and the rest of the visit proceeds with no further hiccups.

A week later you get a call from Mr. Doe who is in the hospital with a severe infection in his leg where he was bit by your dog. He tells you that antibiotics are proving ineffective. Mr. Doe says he is going to sue you!

The question is, are you liable? In California, the answer is most likely.

California Civil Code 3342 states that a dog owner is strictly liable (i.e., liable regardless of whether the dog owner was negligent) for “. . . the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner’s knowledge of such viciousness.”

As to what constitutes a bite in California, it is not necessary that the dog even break the skin with its teeth. Courts have found that merely when a dog closed its jaws on the pants of a worker, the animal’s owner was found strictly liable for injuries resulting from his dog’s “bite” on the worker. Therefore, as depicted our above-described hypothetical, even a seemingly inoffensive bite could theoretically lead to severe liabilities for the owner.

However, there are some limitations on the law. It requires that the dog “bite” someone and that the bite occur in a public place or lawfully in a private place. Therefore, strict liability would not be imposed for injuries that results from an owner’s dog scratching someone, tripping someone, or otherwise injuring an individual. Likewise, no strict liability will be imposed for bites against trespassers or uninvited guests.

Further, Courts have held that owners can’t be sued under California Civil Code 3342 if “the bite or bites occurred while the dog was defending itself from an annoying, harassing, or provoking act, or assisting an employee of a governmental agency in certain situations.

Additionally, Dog owners can argue a variety of affirmative defenses such as, assumption of the risk or comparative negligence in defending themselves. At the end of the day, do take responding to dog bites seriously, and as always, seek competent legal counsel. 