Hollywood Docket: Nancy Grace's psych evaluation; Canada copyright fight; Tiger's lawyer cheats?

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Hollywood Docket: Nancy Grace's psych evaluation; Canada copyright fight; Tiger's lawyer cheats?

Tue Dec 08, 2009 @ 11:09AM PST

Entertainment law news this morning:

  • Nancy Grace recently signed a deal for a new daytime TV show called "Swift Justice with Nancy Grace." But the former prosecutor is still battling a lawsuit that alleges her interrogation-style interviewing led to the suicide of Florida woman Melinda Duckett. The family pursuing the litigation recently filed a preliminary forensic psychiatric opinion by a Harvard specialist who concluded that "Melinda Duckett's experience with Nancy Grace and her associates at CNN... substantially diminished her capacity to protect herself from suicidal ideation and thus was a substantial contributing cause of her suicide the following day." (via OnPoint)
  • Michael Geist updates the "largest copyright infringement case in Canadian history," a $600 billion class-action lawsuit by recording artists against the record industry over compilation CDs and live recordings.
  • The Patent Law Blog follows up on our post about a lawsuit against Summit Entertainment alleging that the movie, "Knowing" infringed a tech patent. The author confirms with the plaintiff attorney that the allegation is "based on the claimed method being performed in the movie." A first! Read more analysis on the claim. 
  • Judge Nancy Gertner implored Congress to change copyright statutes in affirming a $675,000 judgement against a file-sharer. 
  • Last week we asked, "Who will be the first to sue 'The Biggest Loser'?" Producers may sense some liability on the horizon. According to a report, a "20/20" investigation into the show was quashed after former contestants were threatened with a lawsuit if they cooperated with ABC.
  • For those who missed it, we updated yesterday's post on Fox's pursuit of brewers who market Duff Beer. The company behind "The Simpsons" has actions pending in at least four countries.
  • The Tiger Woods saga has become the latest excuse to teach the public about celebrity law, from prenups to morality clauses. Also, we hear that Woods' attorney Mark NeJame has been seeing other clients behind the golf star's back. That's probably true...but the rest of the story, we can't verify.

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