Judge Stops Circulation of Mini-Me Sex Tape

Posted by Eriq Gardner

We're sure that one of the top exclamations uttered last weekend was, "Really? Mini-Me has a sex tape?"

The answer is unfortunately yes, but those late to the party may not get a chance to see Verne Troyer in action as U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez has granted a temporary restraining order preventing TMZ from broadcasting any more clips and another porn distributor from taking any orders.

Troyer, who played "Mini Me" in the Austin Powers movies, is suing for $20 million and wants all copies of the tape returned . SugarDVD, which has the tape in its possession, originally wrote on its website that it had hoped to reach a deal with Troyer to distribute the full 50-minute version, but it took the statement down.

Judge Gutierrez' restraining order is only temporary. He wrote that Troyer "demonstrated that he will suffer irreparable harm to his reputation" if the tape is distributed.

However, he gave TMZ and other parties until July 7 to demonstrate why it should be released before deciding whether his restraining order should become permanent.

Estate of 'Mr. Ed' Creator Wants DVD Royalties, Of Course

Posted by Eriq Gardner

A horse is a horse, of course of course. And no one can exploit a talking horse of course. That is, of course, unless the horse is owned by MGM.

In which case, of course, the horse becomes the famous "Mister Ed." And a hit TV show needs a DVD release, of course of course. That is, of course, the original creator of the horse, demands some money for that old horse.

Then, of course, the estate of the widow (Dorothy Brooks) of the man (Walter Brooks) who wrote the short story of the talking horse (Ed) sues the exploiter of the horse (MGM).

Saying in its suit: Yes, in 1959, we agreed to exploit that horse, of course of course. But go right to the source and ask the horse. He'll give you an answer you may not endorse. He'll tell you, there was no concept yet of home video, of course. So defend yourself until your voice is hoarse. But you owe us at least $378,396, plus interest.

Of course.

Prince Is Still the Vigilant Copyright Protector

Posted by Eriq Gardner

Few musicians are as territorial in their copyright authority as Prince.

A couple weeks back, he ordered YouTube to remove a video of him performing the song "Creep" even though Radiohead's Thom Yorke (the author of "Creep") thought that performance should stay on YouTube.

Prince may have been technically right about his IP authority there — and other instances where he's used copyright statutes to protect his works — but he may be pushing a PR line few musicians would dare to go.

The latest lawsuit involves a Norwegian record label who thought it would be a good way to mark Prince's 50th birthday by making a tribute album with 81 covers of Prince songs. The label gave away 5,000 copies of the five-disc album and tried to contact Prince to give him a copy. That's where the trouble began.

NBC Settles Lawsuit Over Suicide Arising From "To Catch a Predator"

Posted by Eriq Gardner

NBC Universal isn't taking any chances with that $105 million lawsuit alleging that "Dateline: To Catch a Predator" led to the suicide of a Texas prosecutor, Louis William Conradt Jr.

NBC and the family of Conradt “amicably resolved" the lawsuit, both parties announced. Terms of the deal haven't been disclosed.

In February, a New York judge denied NBC's motion to dismiss, in which argued it owed no duty to protect him from suicide and its alleged conduct was not so "extreme and dangerous" that it met the standard under Texas law for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Was 50 Cent Defamed by Ex-Girfriend Who Said He Burned Down Her House?

Posted by Eriq Gardner

Hip hop artist 50 Cent, also known as Curtis Jackson, is suing his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his child for telling the press that he threatened to burn down her home. The defendant Shaniqua Tomkins' home in Dix Hills, New York, burned down on May 30th. "Who do I think did it?" she later said. "Curtis Jackson. He threatened me on Monday that he was going to have someone visit me."

According to a complaint that alleges defamation, "Defendant had to know her story was false because Plaintiff was in Louisiana filming a movie at the time of the incident."

Of course, 50 Cent could have threatened Tomkins over the phone or by e-mail and had someone sent, just as Tomkins said. Nevertheless, the rapper, represented by Joseph Pastore at Dreier, says the statements by Tomkins are utterly false, gruesome and abhorrent. He's claiming more than $20 million in damages.

Decisions Roundup: Digital Models of Autos Not Original Enough for Copyright Protection

Posted by Matthew Heller

Case: Meshwerks, Inc. v. Toyota Motor Sales

Court: 10th Circuit

Date: June 17

Facts: Toyota devised an advertising campaign that would include digital models of its vehicles for use on the Internet and in other media. In a copyright infringement suit, model creator Meshwerks alleged it only contracted with Toyota's ad agency for a single use of its models in a TV commercial and not in other advertisements. A trial judge summarily dismissed the case.

Holding: "While fully appreciating that digital media present new frontiers for copyrightable creative expression, in this particular case the uncontested facts reveal that Meshwerks’ models owe their designs and origins to Toyota and deliberately do not include anything original of their own ... [W]e think Meshwerks’ models are not so much independent creations as (very good) copies of Toyota’s vehicles."

To read the opinion, click here.

Hollywood Docket: Did the Coreys Make a 'Secret Side Deal' for Reality Show?

Posted by Matthew Heller

Case: Pullano v. Haim, Case No. BC393051 (Los Angeles Superior Ct.), filed June 20

Claims: Breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, fraud, interference with economic advantage

Allegations: Plaintiffs are successful writers and producers of reality TV programming who "created an original concept and idea" for a show about the relationship between '80s teen idols Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. After entering into an agreement with Haim, they pitched the idea to ABC Television development executive Greg Goldman. ABC declined to buy "The Coreys" but the Coreys, Goldman and other defendants including reality producers RDF "agreed to a secret side deal" that excluded Plaintiffs, ignored their rights and resulted in the purchase of the show by A&E Television Network.

Filing attorney: Douglas Johnson, Johnson & Johnson, Beverly Hills

Is Google Changing Community Standards For Obscenity?

Posted by Eriq Gardner

The Los Angeles federal case against adult filmmaker Ira Isaacs has received all the attention as the season's must-see obscenity trial, but a Florida case is quickly rising as a hot ticket.

According to the NNY Times, the defense team in the case is planning to use publicly accessible Google search data to try to persuade jurors that the community standards yardstick needs to be re-examined. After all, how can a pornographer be held to a high moral standard if the jurors' neighbors are searching online for smut?

Not a bad point. Gawker has a bit of graphic fun with this idea, using Google Trends to track the popularity of the terms, "apple pie," “surfing," and "orgy."

Naked Cowboy of Times Square Has a Right To Privacy, Just Like Woody Allen

Posted by Eriq Gardner

It's hardly an exaggeration to say that these days, the Naked Cowboy is as much a tourist attraction in New York as the Statue of Liberty. That statement might seem a bit of a stretch, but keep in mind that you need to take a boat and pay lots of money to go see the Statue of Liberty, whereas the Naked Cowboy is centrally located, pretty much free to see, and mentioned in every tourist guidebook.

So why would the Cowboy would sue the maker of M&M's for $6 million after it posted a Times Square billboard that allegedly violated his right of publicity and right of privacy? We're not sure, but if Woody Allen can win a suit like this, so too can the Naked Cowboy.

In a ruling yesterday in what the New York District Court called "The Case of The Naked Cowboy versus The Blue M&M," the lawsuit against Mars Inc. can continue. The judge threw out the rights of publicity claim—Mars did not use the guy's actual name (Robert Burck), the name of his character, his voice, or his actual photograph—but it allowed the privacy and false advertising claims to be challenged, saying the ad may have intimated that the Cowboy endorsed M&M's.

Read the decision for its discussion of Woody Allen case law on the subject.

A Lawsuit Explains Why You May Have Not Seen One Oscar Winning Documentary

Posted by Eriq Gardner

Looks like ThinkFilm and its moneyman David Bergstein's financial troubles are leading to an avalanche of legal trouble.

According to the latest lawsuit, documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney, the helmer behind recent Oscar-winning film "Taxi to the Dark Side," ThinkFilm fradulently hid the fact that it could not properly release the film in theaters. Gibney executed an arbitration clause in his contract with the company that lets the dispute be argued before the Independent Film & Television Alliance.

According to the complaint, which seeks more than $1 million in damages, ThinkFilm "jeopardized the success of the film by failing to abide by the terms of contracts it entered into with public relations firms and advisors and failed to pay such firms for work done and expenses incurred."

Executives at ThinkFilm were irate at the claims.