Democrat fights back against Fox News lawsuit

By Eriq Gardner

EXCLUSIVE: Last month, Fox News filed an unprecedented lawsuit against Democratic senatorial candidate Robin Carnahan, claiming she violated its copyright by using a Fox News clip in a campaign commercial against her challenger.

Now, Carnahan has struck back, telling a Missouri District Court that Fox News sued before properly registering copyright on the clip.

The Carnahan camp submitted a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on Friday, arguing that the popular cable news network was premature in initiating its copyright claim.

Carnahan's lawyers say this is "more than a technical failure." Instead, the campaign contends that Fox couldn't complete a copyright application because it would have trouble claiming copyright on all elements of the clip that Carnahan used. The footage itself, it turns out, incorporates an image first broadcast on C-SPAN. The campaign says this may be proof that Fox abused the copyright registration process and filed a frivolous claim in bad faith.

Can Hollywood get Google to support new anti-piracy bill?

By Eriq Gardner

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee introduced a new anti-piracy bill that would enable the government to essentially blacklist websites accused of copyright theft. Since then, many in Hollywood have voiced strong support of the measure. Of all the arguments made in favor of passing the legislation, this is the one we find most eyebrow-raising:

The law would save Google from being stuck between a rock and a hard pace.

That's the argument made yesterday in a blog post on the website of the Copyright Alliance, whose membership includes some of the largest copyright stakeholders in the debate. In case any reporter missed the interesting argument, the MPAA then sent out a link to the post in an e-mail blast. Many in the tech community understandably loathe the proposed legislation, so by what counterintuitive logic, would a law like COICA potentially benefit Google?

California poised to enact another anti-paparazzi law

By Matthew Belloni

Memo to paparazzi: Drive recklessly, end up in jail.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now has a bill on his desk that will impose strict new penalties on photographers who break traffic laws in pursuit of a photo. Under the legislation approved today by the state legislature, those busted can receive up to a $5,000 fine and a year in prison.

The move is the latest in California to try to fight back against aggressive photographers. Schwarzenegger, himself no stranger to paparazzi, signed another bill into law last year that fines photographers for taking photos that invade a celebrity's right to privacy. That law also targets media outlets that purchase the photos.

Why does Hollywood need a special party-crasher law?

By Matthew Belloni

Good thing California doesn't have real problems. 

Forget crime or budget deficits or health care. What the state really needs is a new law targeting people who sneak into Hollywood awards shows. 

That's exactly what California lawmakers will begin debating when they return from summer vacation today. The SAG-backed measure, AB451, would expand the state's definition of trespassing to include "the intentional, unapproved entry into an event clearly advertised as off-limits to the general public." First-time offenders could face up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

What the Boys & Girls Club thinks of the Comcast-NBCU merger

By Eriq Gardner

More than 10,000 individuals, groups, and companies have taken the opportunity to tell the FCC what they think about Comcast's proposed acquisition of NBC Universal. The comment period was one of the more active ones in the agency's history, attracting the opinions of everyone from the NFL to the Life Center Church of God in Christ.

Here's a sampling of some of the comments...

Fox sued for $7 million by judge who lost his job thanks to erroneous report

By Eriq Gardner

An Illinois judge is suing Fox Television after a local Chicago affiliate took aim at the lazy work habits of some of the state's judges.

The collaborative investigation by Fox Chicago News and the Better Government Association led to the reassignment of four judges, including James Ryan, a Circuit Court Judge in Cook County.

But now, in a defamation complaint filed on Wednesday against Fox, the Better Government Association, and various individuals who worked on the broadcast investigation, Judge Ryan says that Fox made a big error in its May 24th report.

The report claimed that the judge left work early and went home while still on the clock. To show this, the station showed his alleged vehicle in the driveway of his alleged home.

One problem.

Judge: Republican infringed Don Henley songs in campaign ads

By Eriq Gardner

A federal judge has tentatively ruled that California senatorial candidate Chuck DeVore violated rocker Don Henley's copyrights on two songs when he used them as the basis for campaign commercials posted on YouTube. In addition, the judge says that DeVore's infringement was likely willful.

This big decision, outlined in a 32-page tentative order, potentially holds major ramifications for politicians throughout the nation. (Judges are free to change their minds after issuing a tentative ruling, but it's rare; the two sides were in court today arguing over the tentative ruling). Over the past few months, several musicians have pressed copyright claims against politicians including John McCain, Charlie Crist, and Joe Walsh. 

The case against Chuck DeVore was the first to get to judgment. 

Why Elena Kagan might not be so bad for Hollywood

By Eriq Gardner

We earlier outlined why Hollywood should be nervous about Elena Kagan's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.

But there's also a strong possibility that Kagan's move could end up being a positive for the industry -- at least in one respect. That's because if solicitor general Kagan is confirmed, it would free up a spot for someone to replace her. There's already speculation on who that might be, and among the names being floated -- perhaps the favorite, in fact --  is Donald Verrilli.

Who is Verrilli and why might it matter?

Why Hollywood should be very nervous about Elena Kagan

By Eriq Gardner

RELATED: Justice Stevens, the man who saved Hollywood from itself

Hollywood may have some reason to be nervous about President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to be the next U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Not a whole lot is known about Kagan's judicial philosophy, which in some ways, makes her the perfect pick to win confirmation by the Senate. Her record on issues the industry cares about, though, isn't entirely opaque.

Republican: Using Don Henley songs in commercials is parody of 'Hollywood and entertainment elite'

By Eriq Gardner

Republican senatorial candidate Chuck DeVore argues in a new court filing that he should be able to use songs by Don Henley in campaign commercials because Hollywood elite are ripe for parody.

DeVore is defending a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Henley for taking "Boys of Summer" and "All She Wants to Do is Dance," rewriting the lyrics, and posting them on YouTube. 

On Friday, DeVore filed papers in support of a motion to dismiss the case, predicated on the theory that his altering the songs was "fair use."

Other politicians have tried this line of defense before. John McCain invoked fair use when he took one of Jackson Browne's hit songs and put it in one of his commercials when he ran for president. McCain later settled the case and apologized. 

In the midst of a race to unseat California Democrat Barbara Boxer, DeVore seems to have no intention of backing down. In fact, he's attempting to score some political points in the process.