Originally published on April 7, 2011 on EntertainmentLitigation.com In what must be one of the most entertaining opinions ever to appear in a Federal Reporter, Judge Denny Chin of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting by designation in the Southern District of New York, granted summary judgment in favor of Twentieth Century Fox...
Continue reading…7th Circuit to Decide Kanye West “Stronger” Case
Originally published on November 23, 2011 on EntertainmentLitigation.com Another aspiring songwriter guided by uninformed wishful thinking seeks to cash in against a celebrity. In this case, plaintiff Vincent Peters sued Kanye West claiming that Kanye copied his song “Stronger” from Peters, who argued at the trial court level that Kanye gained access to...
Continue reading…$4 Million Verdict Against A&E Television Affirmed in Favor of “Flip This House” Creator
Originally published on April 23, 2011 on EntertainmentLitigation.com Even informal comments can be sufficient to form a binding oral contract. Some are more costly than others. Richard C. Davis is the founder of Trademark Properties, a Charleston-based company that specializes in buying and rehabbing houses, then flipping them for a profit. Davis contacted A&E Television Networks...
Continue reading…Jay-Z Sues David Ortiz for Allegedly Infringing 40/40 Club Trademark
Originally published on April 18, 2010 on EntertainmentLitigation.com It’s the New York Yankees versus the Boston Red Sox, by proxy. Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club filed suit in the Southern District of New York against Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, claiming that Ortiz’s use of “Forty Forty” to name a nightclub in the...
Continue reading…Zediva “DVD Rental” Service Paused by MPAA Preliminary Injunction
August 11, 2011 (original publication date on EntertainmentLitigation.com) On April 4, 2011, the Motion Picture Association of America (“MPAA”) filed suit in the Central District of California against Zediva, a company that bills itself as online DVD rental service, alleging copyright infringement and seeking an injunction against the company. Zediva allows...
Continue reading…Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind and Tom & Jerry Images In Public Domain
Sometimes the Yellow Brick Road is paved with gold, sometimes it isn’t. See Warner Bros. Entm’t, Inc. v. X One X Productions, 644 F. 3d 584 (8th Cir. 2011). In 1939, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released two of the most famous films ever made, The Wizard...
Continue reading…Rulings in Marvel Entertainment Copyright Termination Case
Originally published November 30, 2010 on EntertainmentLitigation.com THR-ESQ reports that Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York has issued some rulings in the case brought by Marvel Entertainment against the Estate of Jack Kirby, the comic book artist who, along with
Continue reading…Google/YouTube Find Shelter in DMCA Safe Harbor Provisions
Originally published on June 25, 2010 on EntertainmentLitigation.com In March 2007, Viacom (owner of MTV, VH-1, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and numerous other media properties) sued YouTube and its parent company Google seeking an injunction and $1 billion in damages for direct copyright infringement, contributory...
Continue reading…Supreme Court: Copyright Registration Not A Jurisdictional Prerequisite to Filing Suit
Originally published on April 11, 2010 on EntertainmentLitigation.com One of the weapons in a copyright defendant’s arsenal has been the Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, a weapon that could be deployed against a plaintiff who failed to file an application for (or obtain, depending on the circuit) a copyright...
Continue reading…“Disturbia” Not Substantially Similar to “Rear Window”
Originally published on September 22, 2010 on EntertainmentLitigation.com Steven Spielberg and others were sued for copyright infringement by the owner of the copyright in Rear Window, a short story written in 1942 by Cornell Woolrich which was later adapted for film in a motion picture published in 1954 under the same title which was directed...
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