November 10, 2009

Man presses $400 billion lawsuit against Bon Jovi over baseball anthem

By Eriq Gardner

Jon_bon_jovi A Massachusetts man is appealing a $400 billion lawsuit against Bon Jovi, TBS, Time Warner, Major League Baseball, ASCAP, and others against all odds.

Yes, $400 billion.

Last year, Samuel Bartley Steele filed a lawsuit against the defendants for ripping off his ode to the Boston Red Sox entitled, "(Man I Really) Love this Team." According to the complaint, the song was released in October 2004 and performed by the Bart Steele Band. Steele says he handed out copies to Red Sox executives, sent copies of the song to players, performed it live on local television, and sent it to MLB with the idea for a "country" song that would market baseball.

During the 2007 playoffs, Bon Jovi released a song, "I Love This Town," that was used by MLB to promote playoff baseball on TBS. Steele claimed that frontman Jon Bon Jovi either heard the song when he was campaigning for John Kerry in Boston in 2004 or that some executive passed it along to him.

Sounds ridiculous. But things got weirder after Steele's own musicologist testified that the songs weren't very similar. The district judge ruled that no reasonable jury could conclude there was substantial similarity between the songs and dismissed the claim.

Red Sox fans don't give up very easily, though. On Friday, Steele appealed his $400 billion claim to an appeals court. Take that, Oprah

Judge revives Warren Beatty's 'Dick Tracy' lawsuit

By Eriq Gardner


Warren_Beatty_as_Dick_Tracy The legal fight over rights to comic legend Dick Tracy is back on.

A federal bankruptcy judge in Delaware lifted a stay yesterday that prevented actor Warren Beatty from suing Tribune Media Services over movie and television rights to the famous detective character. 

Beatty bought rights to Dick Tracy from Tribune in 1985 and later directed and starred in a Dick Tracy film. However, Tribune claimed that Beatty made no productive use of his rights for more than a decade, and under the rights agreement, this meant that they reverted back to Tribune, which originally published the comic in the 1930s. 

Last November, Beatty sued Tribune in California court, arguing that he was in the midst of producing a television special on Dick Tracy. The following month, Tribune declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, freezing claims by creditors. In March, Tribune claimed in bankruptcy court that Beatty had begun work on a TV special only to preserve his rights and that the property was worth potentially millions of dollars to its creditors.

Delaware bankruptcy judge Kevin Carey is now allowing both parties to pursue their claims.

The case may also be notable as a chance to see Bert Fields back in a courtroom. Fields is representing Beatty, one of his best friends.

Jennifer Lopez sex tape update: TRO granted, but this isn't over

By Eriq Gardner

Jennifer-lopez-photo Will Jennifer Lopez be able to keep a supposed sex tape from being released?

Lawyers for the actress and her ex-husband, Ojani Noa, are in court this week to discuss both a proposed "mockumentary" about the relationship. as well as more than 11 hours of alleged footage of the pair on their 1997 honeymoon.

Yesterday, the actress won a temporary restraining order blocking distribution of a proposed film called "How I Married Jennifer Lopez: The JLo and Ojani Story". A hearing will reconvene today, and a judge will determine whether to extend the order.

In the last two weeks, this dispute has quickly escalated upon word that the film was being shopped at the American Film Market in Santa Monica.

Lopez claims that a film violates her publicity rights, a confidentiality agreement, and an injunction emanating from Noa's attempts to publish a tell-all book in 2007. In turn, Noa says he sold rights to the footage and his story to another individual, Ed Meyer, whose lawyer attempted to argue in court yesterday that Meyer isn't bound by confidentiality and that the film would be a parody, and thus, protected speech.

According to Lopez' original complaint filed by John Lavely and Paul Sorrell at LA's Lavely & Singer, Meyer sent an email to Lopez' attorney saying they had video of Lopez "in revealing lack of clothing, and in sexual situations, especially in the hotel room footage." Meyer also tried to argue that the injunction was only a state court order "with extremely limited jurisdiction and effectiveness."

This sounds to us like posturing, especially if Lopez' representatives haven't yet seen the alleged sex tape. We're a little skeptical that Ojani Noa really wants to make a movie. Perhaps he is looking for some leverage to cut a nice, new settlement.

UPDATE: A judge has extended the injunction until December 1 to have time to review the materials in question.

Hollywood Docket: Letterman blackmail screenplay; Warners loses 'Superman' motion; Joe Francis

Entertainment law news this morning:

  • Gerald Shargel, the lawyer for the CBS news producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman, will challenge whether the evidence presented to the grand jury was sufficient and ask a judge to dismiss charges against his client, Robert Halderman. Shargel is also arguing that Halderman's activities didn't amount to blackmail but rather a "pure commercial transaction." Shargel says his client was merely attempting to sell the exclusive screenplay rights to Letterman.
  • Warner Bros. has relied on superhero efforts to keep its rights over Superman. Unfortunately for them, a judge has dismissed a motion to reconsider a decision that the Siegel family had successfully recaptured rights to key characters included in the first two weeks of the Superman comic strip. Warners argued that the original termination notices omitted key details like full identification of titles and registration numbers, but a judge says the errors are "harmless." Here's the latest decision.
  • The Associated Press is attempting to block the withdrawal of attorneys for street artist Shepard Fairey, accused by the news service of basing his Obama "Hope" poster on a copyrighted photograph. Anthony Falzone, executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford University, wishes to withdraw representation of Fairey after the artist acknowledged mistakes about the AP photo he used. UPDATE: Wish granted; Geoffrey Stewart is Fairey's new lawyer.
  • A movie is heavily pirated online and its producers are grateful?
  • A federal judge has ordered BlueBeat.com to stop selling Beatles tracks for download.
  • "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis was sentenced to time served and a year of probation for filing false income tax returns. Francis gets credit for 301 days already served in jail. 

November 09, 2009

Glenn Beck loses 'raped and murdered' arbitration

By Eriq Gardner

Fox News' Glenn Beck has lost a claim that a website called glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com was registered in bad faith and in violation of his trademark rights.

Glenn_beckThe website was founded by Isaac Eiland-Hall earlier this year in response to a joke on odd-news site Fark about Beck's lack of denial for a non-existent murder/rape. Eiland-Hall argued to WIPO that he registered the website as a satirical critique of Beck's conspiratorial politics.

WIPO's arbitration panel agreed that the website appeared "to be engaged in a parody of the style or methodology that (Eiland-Hall) appears genuinely to believe is employed by (Beck) in the provision of political commentary, and for that reason (Eiland-Hall) can be said to be making a political statement."

The domain name dispute resolution body added Eiland-Hall's speech was "strongly protected" under the First Amendment. Here's the decision.

Having won the case, Eiland-Hall rejoiced by giving the website domain to Beck with a thumb-in-the-nose letter:

"It bears observing that by bringing the WIPO complaint, you took what was merely one small critique meme, in a seas of internet memes, and turned it into a super-meme. Then, in pressing forward (by not withdrawing the complaint and instead filing additional briefs), you turned the super-meme into an object lesson in First Amendment principles...

Rather than choosing to strive for excellence and civic contribution, you simply pander the fears and insecurities of your audience. And in the process, you do them, and us all, a great deal of harm.

Shame on you Mr. Beck..."

The website, glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com, is now down.

Documents could show Prince going crazy over YouTube video

By Eriq Gardner

155825__prince_l We may be about to learn exactly what goes through Prince's head as he trolls YouTube and spots a toddler dancing to his song "Let's Go Crazy."

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel has overruled an objection and ordered Universal Music to turn over dozens of communications with Prince on matters relating to alleged copyright infringements on YouTube. The ruling comes in the discovery portion of a lawsuit filed by Stephanie Lenz against Universal for sending a meritless takedown request. 

In 2007, at the supposed urging of Prince, Universal fired off a letter demanding the video-sharing website remove a 29-second clip of Lenz' son dancing to a Prince song. In a larger effort to show media companies it was serious about fighting copyright infringement, YouTube complied.

Lenz fought back with a lawsuit and got Judge Fogel to issue an attention-grabbing decision that copyright holders must consider "fair use" before sending takedown notices. Lenz has continued to seek damages against Universal, and to win, she'll need to show Universal knowingly misrepresented material or activity as infringing the DMCA. She therefore wants to hear conversations between Prince and Universal.

Universal attempted an interesting roadblock. The company admitted it is not Prince's attorney but that its in-house counsel were involved tangentially in the conversations, so the material should be protected by attorney-client privilege, common-interest privilege, and the work-product doctrine

"The fact that the communications are related to information provided to or by attorneys who work for Universal does not in itself make the communications privileged," writes Judge Fogel in his ruling, adding the company waived work product doctrine protection because it didn't raise the objection in a timely fashion.

Hollywood Docket: Secret treaty revealed; Google books settlement; Nick Counter

Entertainment law news this morning:

  • Wired has published the confidential Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. The international treaty, which would impose new measures to crack down on piracy, has been subject to much speculation from lawyers, some of whom believe the agreement will change the Internet as we use it and others who believe it's not really that big a deal. Negotiations over the treaty continue in January in Mexico.
  • Google and book publishers will soon present a revised settlement agreement concerning digital rights. Since announcing a settlement last year over Google's efforts to scan library books, the agreement has come under intense attack and Justice Department review. 
  • Jennifer Lopez' lawyers are in court today in an attempt to get a restraining order to stop a home movie and other future projects from former J-Lo hubby, Ojani Noa.
  • David Letterman's alleged blackmailer may not cut a plea bargain. Sources tell the NY Observer that Joe Halderman is raising a lot of money to mount a vigorous defense. 
  • Dreamworks Animation general counsel Katherine Kendrick will leave the company at year's end to pursue philanthropic efforts.  
  • Nick Counter, the lead labor negotiator for Hollywood studios, died at the age of 69. Before serving as president of AMPTP for 27 years, he was outside counsel at the Motion Picture & Television Producers. Entertainment labor journalist David Robb recalls Counter's career.

November 06, 2009

THR's Next Generation Lawyers

The Hollywood Reporter's big Next Generation issue is out today, and the 16th annual list of Hollywood's top 35 executives 35 and under features a trio of attorneys: MRC's Jonathan Golfman and talent lawyers Tara Kole and Julian Zajfen. Their profiles are below, and the full list is here. Congrats!

Golfman Jonathan Golfman, 33
senior director business/legal affairs, Media Rights Capital
Golfman was perfectly happy with his legal practice, having moved from New York to Los Angeles to handle film finance deals at the Sheppard Mullin firm. But when he got a call two years ago about joining an upstart production/financing outfit, he leaped at the opportunity. "Diversity of work was the allure of MRC," the recently married Montreal native says. "Financing through to delivery, I get to see it all." He's since helped secure the company's $350 million credit facility from JPMorgan, Comerica and a syndicate of banks, and he now handles everything from talent deals on MRC projects like "Bruno" and the upcoming "The Adjustment Bureau" to complex distribution agreements to the company's day-to-day corporate issues - a breadth of responsibilities not available in a traditional studio business affairs department. "I see the nuts and bolts of a company, how the divisions work together, from the smallest detail to real big-picture stuff," he says.

Kole,tara Tara Kole, 32
partner, Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown
It's rare enough to see a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk hobnobbing with actors and directors. But before embarking on a legal career in Hollywood, Kole spent a year with Justice Antonin Scalia, the court's cantankerous conservative. What does Scalia think of her career path? "I didn't tell him for a good year or two because I didn't know how to break the news," says the savvy Amherst and Harvard Law grad, who worked in acquisitions and new media at Lionsgate before law school and was named a partner at Gang Tyre only three years into practice. She now plays a leading role in deals for actors like Gwyneth Paltrow and "iCarly" star Miranda Cosgrove, "Hung" co-showrunner Colette Burson, and directors Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Jon Avnet (as well as longtime firm clients Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg). At a recent reunion of Scalia clerks, the jurist insisted on knowing what Kole was up to. "I finally told him and he said, 'So, who do you represent?' I thought about it and said, 'Clint Eastwood,' and he said, 'Oh. That's good.' "

Zajfen,julian Julian Zajfen, 34
Associate, Ziffren Brittenham
Zajfen first learned to swing on Hollywood's legal vines while handling production work on Richard Linklater's "A Scanner Darkly." "I was dealing with a lawyer from every one of the major talent firms," the laid-back Stanford Law grad recalls. "I remember thinking that if I screwed this one up, I would have blown my shot at every firm I wanted to work for." Zafjen and the deal survived, allowing him to move to Jackoway Tyerman, before shifting to Ziffren Brittenham where he's been for the past two-and-a-half years. The Ziffren platform has allowed him to work on deals for A-listers including Judd Apatow, Eddie Murphy, Joss Whedon and production outfit Scott Free, while also developing his own client list: Disney Channel sensation Demi Lovato, "Invention of Lying" co-writer/director Matthew Robinson and "Bucket List" writer Justin Zackham are all clients, as is Maria Sharapova. Zajfen, who played tennis at UC Berkeley, keeps to his own courts though. "I've played against Serena Williams but never Maria. She'd probably beat me pretty badly."

 

Levi Johnston's lawyers get their Conan apology (video)

By Eriq Gardner

Conan O'Brien may have saved himself from a defamation lawsuit last night on "The Tonight Show."

After O'Brien showcased a skit on Wednesday night featuring William Shatner reading the supposed tweets of Levi Johnston — the man most famous for getting Sarah Palin's daughter pregnant — he was contacted by Johnson's legal representation informing the host that the Twitter account was run by an imposter.

So O'Brien apologized on last night's show to Johnston, who will soon appear nude in Playgirl magazine. Then, he cracked a joke ("Levi is clearly a great American. We wish him the best of luck as he trains for his upcoming naked photo shoot.") and brought back Shatner to stage a reading of verified quotes from Johnson.

Obviously, the mistake was innocent. Even if O'Brien didn't apologize, most courts would probably recognize Johnston as a public figure who would need to show "actual malice" to win a defamation claim. This only goes to show that celebrities should register official Twitter accounts even if they don't intend to use them. Even D-list ones like Johnston.


Hollywood Docket: Jon Gosselin's court date; TV music; Morgan Freeman crash settlement

Entertainment law news this morning:

  • When Discovery sued "Jon & Kate" star Jon Gosselin last month, the network asked a Maryland court for an injunction preventing the reality TV star from continuing to violate the exclusivity, publicity, and non-endorsement clauses of his contract. A Maryland court has scheduled a hearing on December 14 and is requiring Gosselin to show up to answer some questions.
  • A California District Court didn't take very long to grant EMI's request for a temporary restraining order enjoining Bluebeat.com from selling digital tunes from The Beatles. A lot of lawyers in the music industry are probably letting out a sigh of relief, because Bluebeat's theory on why it holds copyright to Beatles songs — the company re-recorded the songs using a "psycho-acoustic simulation" — would have caused quite a mess in the music biz if the argument was held to be valid.
  • 250 local commercial television stations have filed a class action antitrust lawsuit against performance rights organization SESAC for allegedly fixing the price for "virtually all" music broadcast on local stations. When shows like "Seinfeld" and "Entertainment Tonight" are syndicated for local television, stations must pay royalties to PROs like SESAC. The lawsuit says that SESAC charges all-or-nothing blanket licensing fees no matter how much music is being used. The organization used to represent a number of European publishers but has been strongly competing against ASCAP and BMI in recent years.
  • Earlier this year, Morgan Freeman was sued after allegedly getting drunk and crashing a car. The accident caused severe injuries to a female passenger. The case has now been dismissed after the parties reached an undisclosed settlement.

November 05, 2009

Are DVDs as environmentally friendly as they could be?

By Eriq Gardner

6a00d83451d69069e20120a66f1d7b970c-pi The DVD format has never been so popular. 

No, we're not talking about DVD sales, down 14 percent from last year.

Instead, we're referring to the number of antitrust lawsuits in recent months involving the way the DVD market is controlled by movie studios and manufacturers.

One company says it wasn't able to get a license from studios to sell a technology that allowed consumers to make digital copies of DVDs to their computer hard drives. Another company says it wasn't able to get a studio's DVDs for low-cost rentals.

Now, we have a new lawsuit from a Swiss-based company that claims an antitrust conspiracy is preventing it from introducing an ecologically friendly DVD.

EcoDisc Technology AG is suing DVD Licensing Format and DVD Forum, whose founding members include Sony and Time Warner and controls products offered by as many as 400 manufacturers, for blocking introduction of its "thinner, lighter, more flexible DVD." The product is allegedly recyclable and results in 52 percent fewer carbon dioxide emissions than the standard format. Here's the complaint.

Hollywood Docket: No Doubt vs. Activision; MPAA vs. FCC; everyone vs. David Bergstein

Entertainment law news this morning:

  • No Doubt is suing Activision Blizzard over the use of the band's likeness in the game "Band Hero." According to the lawsuit, the band had a licensing agreement with Activision, but the videogame maker went out of bounds by allowing game-players to have No Doubt perform songs by other bands and do other crazy stuff. Here's the full complaint
  • Capitol Films top executives David Bergstein and Ron Tutor are facing more legal trouble. The pair are being sued by a group of investors who provided most of the money for the company to make and sell films. The plaintiffs seek reimbursement of about $120 million, citing personal guarantees on loans made by the executives.
  • The MPAA is barking at the FCC's door with various requests. On Wednesday, the movie industry association filed a brief pushing for a waiver to be allowed to implement selectable-output control technology to disable less-secure analog outputs on HDTV sets. The MPAA argues that the move would allow studios to securely transmit first-run movies sooner to consumers. Last Friday, the MPAA sent the FCC another letter that recommended the agency adopt rules encouraging ISPs to get tough on pirates, including disconnecting repeat offenders.
  • EMI is suing Bluebeat.com for selling unauthorized digital music from The Beatles. Many were surprised when the US website began offering Beatles tracks for 25 cents since the band and label have never been able to reach an agreement with Apple's iTunes store.  The defendant is offering an extremely unusual defense, basically arguing they own the copyrights to the works it sells. 
  • IATSE has reached a settlement with the American Film Institute over accusations the latter attempted to discourage concession workers from joining the union. The deal ensures that the AFI Fest in Los Angeles will go off without labor strife.
  • We now know the answer to the question: Is there anything TMZ wouldn't post? Miss California USA Carrie Prejean has settled a lawsuit with pageant officials after reported revelations of a "sex tape." TMZ says it obtained the "video months ago but decided not to post it because it was so racy."

November 04, 2009

Disney settles Pixar 'Luxo, Jr.' lamp case

By Eriq Gardner


Picture 7 Anybody who's ever seen an animated film by Disney's Pixar should be familiar with the iconic squeaky desk lamp character featured in the opening credits. 

The character was created by Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter more than two decades ago for Pixar's first film — an animated short entitled "Luxo, Jr." The short earned an Academy Award nomination, and the character has become an iconic mascot for the studio ever since.

But two months ago, trouble broke out after Disney began selling limited-edition "Luxo Jr." lamps packaged with a Blu-ray version of "Up." There also is a six-foot animatronic version of the lamp at Walt Disney World.

Norwegian lamp-producing giant Luxo AS wasn't exactly turned on by Disney's growing commercialization of the lamp. On September 3, Luxo sued Disney for trademark infringement. saying the sale of Pixar lamps would "cause devastating damage to Luxo and dilute the goodwill which Luxo has built up."

Fortunately, Pixar won't have to turn off the lights on its famous character. 

We've learned that the parties have reach an amicable settlement and the lawsuit has been withdrawn. Disney will stay out of the lighting business, and for now we hear that Luxo doesn't have any problem with "artistic renditions" of the lamp.

Pixar may be off the hook — but what about Luxo, Jr.?

Check out this short film produced two weeks ago by CollegeHumor.com where Jr. gets into criminal trouble and ends up being sentenced by a judge to electrocution. Get it?

Disney claims CFO Thomas Staggs' identity stolen to gain confidential documents

By Eriq Gardner

Thomas_staggs See any odd comments in the press lately from Disney CFO Thomas Staggs?

Perhaps they didn't actually come from Staggs, but rather an alleged ID thief who purported to be Staggs using a very unsophisticated trick — registering an email address "tom.staggs22@gmail.com".

Two weeks ago, Disney asked the California Superior Court to permanently enjoin unnamed defendants from using the name "Tom Staggs" and engaging in misleading conduct. Disney is not certain of the perpetrator — even whether there's only one person involved in the identity theft— but the lawsuit offers some tantalizing clues to an unfolding mystery:

Clue #1: Disney identifies the defendant as an unnamed individual or group residing in the Los Angeles judicial circuit.

Clue #2: The defendant allegedly tried to "obtain confidential and proprietary business information and obtain an unfair business advantage" by e-mailing Disney employees including Staggs' underlings.

Clue #3: The defendant wanted information relating to an entity in which affiliates of Disney are members. (Perhaps a trade association?)

Clue #4: The defendant wanted to harm Disney's reputation, sending emails to members of the press and financial community implying that Disney was engaged in financially irresponsible business ventures.

Beyond that, the lawsuit is very vague. No word on specific damage caused by the perpetrator, whether Disney employees took the bait or what exactly was printed in the press. We expect that if Disney is able to identify the individuals or entities involved in the unlawful allegations, the company would fill in some of the blanks with an amended complaint.

In the meantime, Disney is seeking an enjoinment, punitive damages, and further relief on grounds of violation of the right of publicity, fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair competition. Read the startling complaint here.

Hollywood Docket: Stormtrooper uniform 'art'; George Clooney peacemaker?; Gershwin family fight

Entertainment law news this morning:

  • Lucasfilm continues to pursue a British designer who sculpted the Stormtrooper helmets in the first "Star Wars" film. Last year, a British court ruled that Andrew Ainsworth had violated Lucas's U.S. copyright by selling replicas of the Stormtrooper uniforms worn by the Empire, but rejected the copyright claim under British law, saying the costumes were not works of art. Lucas won a $20 million judgement against Ainsworth in California court in 2006, but the British judge has refused to enforce the decision, saying that U.S. sales are not significant enough. Lucas is appealing the decision that the suits are not works of art.
  • A fight has erupted over credit for the book that inspired the new film, "The Men Who Stare at Goats." John Sergeant, a documentary-maker, says he spent two years in Los Angeles researching and gathering material for a TV series that spawned a bestselling book by Jon Ronson. A lawsuit may be in the cards, but for now, Sergeant is attempting to get one of the film's stars, George Clooney, involved in settling the dispute.  
  • The heirs of George and Ira Gershwin have filed lawsuits in separate Los Angeles courts against Warner/Chappell Music over how to divide foreign royalties from hits including "I Got Rhythm" and "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off." The lawsuits emanate from warring factions of the Gershwin family who each claim the publisher is favoring the other side. Warner/Chappell has filed its own suit in an attempt for resolution.
  • Joann Wiggan, a former phone company employee, has been convicted of lying to FBI agents in connection to its wiretapping probe of Anthony Pellicano. 

November 03, 2009

Judge blocks Sublime bandmembers from using name

By Matthew Belloni

A Los Angeles judge has shut down an effort by former bandmembers of Sublime to perform under the name.

The preliminary injunction was issued today in a trademark lawsuit brought by the estate of the 90’s ska-punk band's lead singer Bradley Nowell. Nowell died of a drug overdose in 1996, but surviving band members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh have continued to perform. For years they played as the Long Beach Dub Allstars but recently they revived the Sublime moniker when they recruited newcomer Rome Ramirez as lead vocalist.

That didn’t sit well with Nowell’s family. In advance of the band’s performance at the Cypress Hill Smokeout Festival, the Bradley Nowell estate and merchandising entity filed a trademark infringement suit on Oct. 21 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

"Prior to his untimely passing, both Bud and Eric acknowledged that Brad Nowell was the sole owner of the name Sublime,” the Nowell family posted on the band’s MySpace page. “It was Brad's expressed intention that no one use the name Sublime in any group that did not include him, and Brad even registered the trademark 'Sublime' under his own name."

Now Judge Howard Matz has agreed with the family, today issuing the injunction citing the estate's likelihood of prevailing on its trademark claim. Matz asked attorneys for the estate—Howard Weitzman, Jeremiah Reynolds and Randall Whattoff of Santa Monica’s Kinsella Weitzman firm—to draw up a written injunction for him to sign.

The injunction, when finalized, will likely block the band from:

  • Using the “Sublime” name and trademark (or anything similar) in connection with any live performances or “musical sound recordings;”
  • Using the “Sublime” name or trademark on any clothing, posters, books related to music, calendars, decals or stickers;
  • Using any Internet domain name containing the “Sublime” name or trademark, or any other confusingly similar domain name.

 UPDATE:

Nowell's family has issued a statement:  "We are gratified the Court ruled in our favor and found that Bud, Eric and Rome could not use the name Sublime without first obtaining permission from Brad's heirs.  We believe this will help protect and preserve Brad's musical legacy."

The band also issued a statement: "Our goal continues to be sharing the music and message of Sublime with all of our fans around the world.  We intend to take the court's advice and work on a business solution to this issue.  We hope the Estate follows suit so the music of Sublime can live on and be accessible to everyone."
 

Fox lawsuit wonders why studios ever buy insurance

By Eriq Gardner

DeniroG0205_468x506 Fox Entertainment wants to know if there's really any point in taking out insurance on a movie.

The company has filed a fascinating lawsuit against Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, saying the insurer sold Fox coverage that was "illusory" and "deprived Fox of the benefits of the insurance that it had purchased."

This action stems from the making of the 2003 film "Hide and Seek." Filming was delayed after star Robert De Niro was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Fox put in a claim for reimbursement, and FFIC agreed to pay out more than $1.8 million to cover Fox's projected loss.

Then it gets tricky.

FFIC sued De Niro for reimbursement, claiming the actor made false statements to the insurance carrier about his health.

But De Niro had it in his own contract with Fox that the studio would indemnify the actor for claims made against him related to the film. So De Niro filed his own lawsuit against Fox.

Let's recap: Fox puts in a claim against FFIC, which sues De Niro, who sues Fox, which is now suing FFIC!

A district court threw out FFIC's claims against De Niro on summary judgement, but Fox is still on the hook for the actor's legal bills. Naturally, Fox is wondering whether there was any point to purchasing insurance in the first place if the studio would have to fork over $470,000 to defend De Niro against FDIC.

Alleging breach of contract, tortious breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fear dealing, and fraud, Fox now demands FFIC repay it. Read the complaint. Maybe the movie business needs a public option too?

Hollywood Docket: 'Avatar' copyright trouble?; Live Nation fake bidding war?; Bob Marley trademarks

Entertainment law news this morning:

  • Did James Cameron take his idea for "Avatar" from a 1957 novella? A number of websites have started remarking about the film's plot similarities to Poul Anderson's "Call Me Joe." (1, 2, 3, etc.) One lawyer examines if Cameron has some copyright trouble on his hands. Probably not, says attorney Maxwell Kennerly, although he mentions that like everyone else Cameron was once sued by sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison over "Terminator."
  • Key Brand Entertainment is suing Live Nation and Ambassador Theatre Group of orchestrating a phony bidding war and violating a bidding rights agreement in the sale of 17 theaters. Key Brand says that it should have won the bidding, but Live Nation tipped off Ambassador at the last moment on the amount they needed to bid to win the theaters without triggering matching rights. 
  • The Interactive Advertising Bureau has come out strongly against a new bill that would expand the Federal Trade Commission's ability to bring civil lawsuits and create new rules. Mike Zaneis, the vice president of public policy at the IAB calls the legislation a "fast track vehicle for expansion of the FTC."
  • The heirs of Jamaican reggae superstar Bob Marley have hired a Canadian company to aggressively protect trademark rights to the Marley brand. Forbes magazine says the Marley name generates $600 million a year in unlicensed sales and just $4 million in legal sales.
  • Kate Winslet has settled a libel claim against the Daily Mail for reporting she lied about her exercise regime. The newspaper agreed to pay the actress 25,000 pounds.
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled the confirmation hearings for Victoria Espinel's nomination as the first U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator for tomorrow at 2 pm. 
  • Business Insider lists 10 iPhone Apps every lawyer should have. Apps include the ability to keep track of CLE hours, a way to log billable hours, the Federal Rules of Procedure, Black's Law Dictionary, and oddly, Tetris. We suppose that lawyers get some enjoyment out of figuring out where to fit quickly-descending puzzle pieces.

November 02, 2009

Monty Python members threaten to sue NJ Republican over ad clip

By Eriq Gardner

Palin-dejavu Another election year, another allegation that a Republican politician infringed an artist's copyright for a campaign commercial.

This time, New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie is accused of ripping off a famous Monty Python skit. Christie posted the ad to the campaign's official YouTube site, having already aired the spot on TV. The skit features Michael Palin as a newscaster reporting the phenomenon of "deja vu" as subtitles attack Christie's challenger, Jon Corzine.

Monty Python cast members say they are strongly considering a lawsuit and used the opportunity to crack some jokes:

"I'm surprised that a former U.S. Attorney isn't aware of his copyright infringement when he uses our material without permission," said Palin. "He's clearly made a terrible mistake. It was the endorsement of Sarah Palin he was after -- not that of Michael Palin."

"It is totally outrageous that a former US Attorney knows so little about the law that he thinks he can rip off people," said Monty Python's Terry Jones. "On the other hand -- another of Bush's legal appointees was Alberto Gonzales and he didn't seem to know much about the law either..."

The clip has already been removed from YouTube. However, Huffington Post has a copy on its website.

In the past year, there have been other lawsuits against politicians. Three months ago, John McCain was forced to apologize to singer Jackson Brown, settling a lawsuit for using "Running on Empty" in a campaign commercial. Other litigation involves Don Henley battling California senatorial candidate Charles DeVore over use of songs.

No court has fully resolved whether politicians may use copyrighted material as "fair use" protected political speech in campaign commercials. A judge would probably look at the purpose of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount of the portion used, and the effect of the use on the potential market. Christie's appropriation of the Monty Python sketch seems to leverage more of the underlying copyrighted work than past cases on this topic.

Paramount: piracy has advanced from 'geek to sleek'

By Eriq Gardner

Last month, we wrote about Paramount COO Frederick Huntsberry's effort to keep his presentation to the FCC off the internet for fear of promoting piracy. The speech was promptly pirated and posted online.

Now, Paramount has sent the FCC a formal letter that pretty much puts on paper what Huntsberry presented in his speech. This includes:
  • A case study of how 5 million pirates propagated copies of the studio's summer "Star Trek" film. 
  • A view of the Internet hierarchy, positing there are six types of websites with relationships to pirated movies. For example, the company considers websites like  Google, Yahoo, and Bing to be "leech sites."
  • A belief that advertisers and financial institutions may be unaware of unlawful activity they are supporting. 
Paramount also offers the thesis that piracy has advanced from Geek to Sleek. Check out this exhibit:

Picture 5 

Read the entire letter here.

Hollywood Docket: 'Terminator' for sale; media shield law; Polanski's bail

Entertainment law news this morning:

  • The rights to the Terminator film franchise will be auctioned off this month by Halcyon. Up for grabs is the ability to make new Terminator films, TV shows, and other spin-offs from the franchise. The auction may also signal a potential trend after rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were sold for $60 million and several other production companies are reported to be exploring similar IP sales of franchise rights.
  • A formal announcement concerning Comcast's purchase of control of NBC Universal could come next week. The NY Times reports that a tentative agreement between Comcast and General Electric has already been reached, and the main issue to be worked out is how to satisfy NBC's other stakeholder, Vivendi. 
  • After making a deal with the Obama administration concerning national security interests, the Senate Judicial Committee is preparing to tackle a new media shield bill covering a reporter's rights to protect confidential sources. 
  • Lil Wayne is facing enough trouble with a possible jail sentence for weapons charges. Now he's been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit from a Florida man whose voice allegedly appeared on one of the rapper's songs.
  • Roman Polanski's latest bail offer to Swiss authorities is reported to include a "very, very significant" amount of cash. 

Is Gawker off the financial hook for Eric Dane naked threesome tape?

By Eriq Gardner

6a00d83451d69069e20120a5ea5538970c-320wi Gawker Media has responded to a $1 million lawsuit filed by "Grey's Anatomy" star Eric Dane and his actress wife Rebecca Gayheart for the gossip website's posting of a four-minute video of the pair carousing naked with a former beauty queen.

In September, Dane and Gayheart sued Gawker for copyright infringement, seeking an injunction preventing distribution of the clip. The married acting couple are represented by Marty Singer, who believes that "the person who records the tape is the copyright owner." 

On Friday, Gawker filed a Motion to Strike that doesn't address the legitimacy of whether "McSteamy" is entitled to a copyright in the tape, but instead takes issue with the amount of money Dane and Gayheart claim they are owed for Gawker's copyright transgression. 

The Motion to Strike points out that the videotape was neither published by the plaintiffs nor registered with the U.S. Copyright Office at the time that Gawker posted it. Because of this fact, Gawker claims that Dane and Gayheart can't recover statutory damages and attorneys' fees.

Amazingly, Dane and Gayheart did register copyright on their naked video on August 19, two days after Gawker posted the video. According to side documents in this case, lawyers for Gawker including Alonzo Wickers and Karen Henry of Davis Wright Tremaine have been leaving voice messages and e-mails for Singer, trying to get him to agree that his clients can't recover statutory damages.

It's worth noting that Gawker still has the video up on its website. If the infringement wasn't "willful" on August 17, might it be now?

The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter

The Hollywood Reporter, Esq. blog focuses on how the entertainment and media industries are impacted and influenced by the law. It is edited by Matthew Belloni with contributions from veteran legal reporter Eriq Gardner and others. Before joining The Hollywood Reporter, Belloni was a lawyer at an entertainment litigation firm in Los Angeles. He writes a column for THR devoted to entertainment law. Gardner is a New York-based writer and legal journalist. Send tips or comments to editor@thresq.com.


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