Hollywood Docket: Pirate Bay appeal; TLC bigamy probe; 'SNL' sketch theft?

• It's Hollywood labor negotiations time! For the first time in five years, SAG and AFTRA are jointly negotiating with the AMPTP on a new deal for actors. Talks are scheduled for the next seven weeks. [THR]

• The four men who were convicted of violating copyrights by running the Pirate Bay will have another shot in court today as they appeal their sentence and fines. [Mashable]

• Police in Utah are investigating the stars of TLC's new show "Sister Wives" for a possible charge of felony bigamy. [People]

• Three U.S. senators have introduced legislation to ban "crush videos," depictions of small animals being tortured to death. The Supreme Court struck down a broader law on animal cruelty earlier this year based on fears that legislation would overly restrict the free speech of broadcasters. [CNN]

• Oliver Stone got some help in the making of "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" from a pair of securities lawyers at Latham & Watkins. [AmLaw Daily]

• The twitterverse is going wild over whether "Saturday Night Live" stole a sketch from a segment on Adult Swim. We doubt this will end up in court, but the Internet is certainly making people very sensitive about original authorship. [THR]

'Millionaire' judge awards Celador $50M in interest

By Matthew Belloni

The Walt Disney Co. just took another hit in the "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" case.

Months after losing a high-profile $270 million jury verdict to "Millionaire" producer Celador over profits from the hit show, Judge Virginia A. Phillips has now awarded an additional $50 million in pre-judgment interest. That brings the total damages to about $320 million.

Disney actually agreed to the $50 million number, and it could have been much higher. California law provides for a 10% rate on prejudgment interest per year, which, going back as many as six years, could have amounted to more than triple the $50 million if Judge Phillips were to calculate it on her own (Celador had initially pushed for $170 million in interest). If the judgment gets overturned, the pre-judgment interest would be reduced, of course, but Disney has agreed not to challenge the $50 million number initially. 

Staffing: Southwestern; Mitchell Silberberg; more

Entertainment law odds and ends ...

• L.A.'s Southwestern Law School threw a reception last week at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills welcoming Steven Krone (right) as the new director of the school's Donald E. Biederman Entertainment and Media Law Institute. Those welcoming Krone included Lionsgate general counsel Wayne Levin, Disney's chief privacy legal officer Jonathan Avila and Reid Sullivan, CFO for CBS FIlms.

• Copyright litigator Gregory Olaniran has joined Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp as a partner in the Washington office. He was with Stinson Morrison Hecker.

• Former William Morris general counsel David Kekst has joined production company Cosmic Toast Studios as partner and CEO. Cosmic Toast (which might rival David Letterman's Worldwide Pants as our favorite name for a Hollywood company) specializes in animation, music scoring and sound effects.

• IP trial lawyer Craig Holden has joined the L.A. office of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith as a partner.

• Congrats to Cheryl Snow, partner at L.A. talent boutique Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown, who had a daughter, Charlotte, with husband David. 

Will a popular Food Network show be put on ice?

By Eriq Gardner

EXCLUSIVE: A Beverly Hills-based private chef placement company is asking a federal judge to stop the Food Network from airing the second season premiere of "Private Chefs of Beverly Hills."

Private Chefs Inc. sued Food Network in August, alleging that the show violates its trademark and breaches an implied contract. The company claims that in 2002 its president pitched a similar reality concept about chefs who cook alongside celebrity clientele.

Food Network has now submitted its response, attacking the argument that a judge should enjoin the show's second season, scheduled to begin Oct. 12.

Hollywood Docket: 'Hurt Locker' subpoenas; 'Hobbit' labor skirmish; Demi Moore settles

• The Obama administration will submit a bill to Congress next year that would require websites enabling communications such as social networking to be able to respond to wiretapping court orders. [NYT]

• Some news from the "Hurt Locker" P2P subpoena cases: A federal judge in South Dakota has granted a motion filed by a regional ISP to quash subpoenas targeting the identification of anonymous pirates. The judge cited jurisdictional and procedural shortcomings. [Ars Technica] Meanwhile, a federal judge in DC has rejected a motion to quash by a group of 40 defendants. [Washington Post]

• Ire in the Shire: Director Peter Jackson has lashed out at the labor guilds urging members not to work on his big-budget adaptation of "The Hobbit," saying that his film is being used as a political football by an Australian union trying to make unreasonable demands on behalf of New Zealand actors. Jackson is having none of it, threatening to move the "Hobbit" shoot--and its millions of dollars for the Kiwi economy--to Europe. [THR]

• Also in Australia: Demi Moore has reached a settlement with Aussie magazine New Idea over the publication of photographs of a private party. News of the confidential settlement came on the eve of expected testimony from Moore that the photos were worth more than $200,000. [The Age]

• Did Lindsay Lohan get special treatment by the legal system? Depends on who you ask. [LAT]

• A retired lawyer claims his agent extorted him out of thousands of dollars on a book investigating the death of Princess Diana. The agent allegedly charged him a 20 percent commission and promised him that film rights would earn him no less than $250,000 plus royalties. The commission percentage was high, but the lawyer/author is most upset about the $4,000 he turned over to create a DVD trailer in order to arouse Hollywood's interest. [CNS]

'Get Him to the Greek' tops most-pirated movie list

Web pirates were in the mood for some Russell Brand this week, as "Get Him to the Greek" topped the list of most-downloaded films on Bittorrent, according to TorrentFreak. "Greek" is up (or down?) from the No. 10 slot, besting three new additions to the list, including "Machete," "Predators" and "Hole in One," an "American Pie"-meets-"Caddyshack" comedy notable mostly because it features the acting talents of David Ellison, son of Oracle founder Larry Ellison and proprietor of a $350 million film finance fund. 

Anyway, here's the full Top 10:

'Thats Hot': Paris Hilton settles Hallmark lawsuit

By Eriq Gardner

EXCLUSIVE: Paris Hilton will be getting a little something in the mail from Hallmark this year.

Hilton has settled a lawsuit against the company over a controversial greeting card (right) that featured a scene seemingly ripped from her old reality show "The Simple Life." The caption read "Paris's First Day as a Waitress" and made a pun on her trademarked catch phrase, "That's Hot." In 2007, Hilton sued, claiming her publicity rights had been violated.

Last week, attorneys for Hilton and Hallmark advised a California judge that they had reached a settlement. A confidentiality provision limits the release of exact terms, but we have reason to believe Hilton walked away with a favorable package.

Hollywood Docket: YouTube reigns in Spain; Beckham vs. In Touch; Facebook settlement figure?

• A Spanish court has ruled that YouTube wasn't liable for hosting copyrighted television clips on the video-sharing service. The decision follows a similar one in New York in June. Google still faces appeals in those cases as well as other lawsuits in other European countries. [NYT]

• The FCC has brushed back fears from broadcasters and agreed to allow tech companies to use unused TV airwaves for high-speed wireless broadband networks and applications. [NYT]

• LA Galaxy player David Beckham is suing In Touch magazine for defaming him over claims the UK soccer star had a threesome with an escort. [Fox]

• Does "The Social Network" get one major detail wrong about Facebook? Business Insider says the settlement figure that Facebook paid to shut up two Harvard grads who claimed Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea wasn't $65 million but rather about $120 million. [BI]

• Lindsay Lohan is in court again today. Live stream here.

Capt. Sig backs 'Deadliest Catch' co-stars, slams Discovery

By Matthew Belloni

EXCLUSIVE: Capt. Sig Hansen, star of Discovery's hit reality series "Deadliest Catch," is breaking his silence on the network's lawsuit against two of his co-stars. Not surprisingly, he's backing fellow captains Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand.

"I am very surprised that after all we have been through this past year, Discovery would attack Capt. John and Andy like this," Hansen tells us in a written statement, referring to the death in February of co-star Capt. Phil Harris. "I want people to know the captains stand together and me and my brothers support them 100 percent."

As we've previously reported, the Hillstrands were sued for $3 million by Discovery for failing to finish work on a spinoff special called "Hillstranded," which was to air this fall. The Hillstrands' lawyer Jeff Cohen then fired back with a statement decrying Discovery's attempt to "extort" his clients. It's unclear whether the Hillstrand brothers, who have participated in five seasons of the Emmy-winning series, will return to the show. King crab season begins in October, and the plan is for Discovery and producer Original Prods. to resume production as usual. 

A Discovery spokesperson declined to comment.

Hard Rock sues over 'offensive' Vegas reality show

By Eriq Gardner

Can a raunchy reality TV show tarnish the brand of a rock-n-roll themed restaurant chain?

The Hard Rock Cafe owner is claiming in a new lawsuit that a TruTV series set at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas has damaged its name by showing an "offensive" destination where partygoers revel in drunken debauchery, acts of vandalism, sexual harassment, violence and criminality. 

The chain says the portrayal on "Rehab: Party at the Hard Rock Hotel" conflicts with what the Hard Rock is really about -- "fun consistent with the democratic free spirit of rock music."

The chain is suing the owner the Hard Rock Hotel, which operates under a trademark license from the Hard Rock parent company, as well as TruTV owner Turner Broadcasting System, Brad Lachman Prods and Genco Entertainment.