The Hollywood Reporter | Esq. | Entertainment and Media Law

Vancouver man files first 'Avatar' rip-off lawsuit

hollywoodreporter — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:25:05 -0800

By Eriq Gardner Well, it finally happened. James Cameron has been sued for copyright infringement for allegedly stealing source material to create the international blockbuster "Avatar." Since the first review of the film appeared in December, a popular parlor game...

Hollywood Docket Top 5: Viacom vs. Google; 'Kill Bill' stolen?; 'Bachelor' battery; Lindsay Lohan is a baby

hollywoodreporter — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:23:43 -0800

A federal judge has given Google and Viacom 10 days to figure out what portions of their recently filed summary judgment motions to keep under seal. Google has been particularly anxious to keep its motion private, leading to objections by...

Oscar Docket: 11th hour deal; acceptance-speech crashing; logo hijacking

hollywoodreporter — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:28:25 -0800

By Eriq Gardner Instead of our usual Hollywood Docket Top 5, today we bring you a special Oscars edition, as last night was a pretty amusing one for lawyers. The night started out with intrigue as Cablevision pulled WABC from...

Showbiz mediation service launches

hollywoodreporter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:39:29 -0800

By Matthew Belloni There's a new player in town for resolving Hollywood disputes. Launching March 8, the Entertainment Mediation Institute is billing itself as "the first-ever organization dedicated exclusively to resolving disputes among parties in the entertainment industry." Co-founded by...

The 10 most interesting Oscar-related lawsuits ever

hollywoodreporter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:29:50 -0800

By Eriq Gardner Here's an Oscar list you won't see anywhere else. Disney sues the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, alleging that the infamous Rob Lowe-Snow White duet at the 1989 Oscars was unflattering to the beloved character...

Is your Oscar pool legal?

hollywoodreporter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:28:12 -0800

By Eriq Gardner Is holding an online office pool to predict Oscar winners unlawful gambling? The answer: It depends. Although the risk of prosecution is minimal, any contest that is based solely on luck is considered a "lottery" and prohibited...

The 10 greatest legal movies of all time

hollywoodreporter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:27:22 -0800

By Eriq Gardner In honor of the Oscars on Sunday, we humbly nominate these films as the greatest legal movies of all-time: Drama Division: "12 Angry Men" (1957) directed by Sidney Lumet. Great because: It blew open the door on...

Hollywood Docket Top 5: YouTube summary judgment motions; fired 'Call of Duty' execs sue; federal anti-SLAPP law?

hollywoodreporter — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:41:38 -0800

Today's a big day in the YouTube copyright infringement cases. Both Viacom and the Google-owned site will be submitting opening briefs in support of summary judgment motions. We'll have more on the arguments later. [Copyrights & Campaigns] The former heads...

TiVo destroys Dish in latest patent ruling

hollywoodreporter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:37:44 -0800

By Paul Bond A federal appeals court has handed TiVo another victory in its long-running patent feud with Dish, one that was so significant that it propelled its stock 62% higher on Thursday. The latest decision in the 6-year-old case...

Lawsuit claims warlord documentary hijacked by warlord-like filmmaker

hollywoodreporter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:28:37 -0800

By Eriq Gardner When we first heard that Douglas Busby of Damascus Films was being sued, we were intrigued. After all, very few production company websites tout a "cinematic effort to increase the well being of human kind by communicating...

Xerox asks Hollywood to stop saying 'Xerox' (picture)

hollywoodreporter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:05:55 -0800

By Matthew Belloni "Genericide" sounds like something awful, and for a trademark lawyer it is. Aspirin, escalator, thermos, zipper -- just a few examples of products that became so widely known by those trademarked names that their owners lost trademark...

Hollywood Docket Top 5: RealNetworks settlement; return of Danger Mouse; CBS vs. penis

hollywoodreporter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:47:49 -0800

RealNetworks has settled its dispute with the MPAA over a software that lets users make digital copies of DVDs. The company has agreed to abandon its antitrust claims and pay the movie industry $4.5 million to reimburse it for legal...

Court denies Cussler 'Sahara' appeal but reverses damages

hollywoodreporter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:12:40 -0800

By Matthew Belloni A California Court of Appeal has torpedoed novelist Clive Cussler's latest attempt to recover money from the 2005 boxoffice bomb "Sahara." But the court also has taken away a $5 million award to Cussler's archnemesis, Philip Anschutz's...

'Hurt Locker' lawsuit claims breach of agreement with U.S. military

hollywoodreporter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:15:42 -0800

By Eriq Gardner We've tracked down a copy of the complaint filed today in New Jersey District Court by the Iraq war veteran who claims producers of "The Hurt Locker" ripped off his life story. As we've noted, Master Sgt....

War vet says he's suing 'Hurt Locker' for ID theft

hollywoodreporter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:13:41 -0800

UPDATE: A look at the complaint By Eriq Gardner At the end of most movies, you'll see the standard disclaimer that reads, "Any resemblance to actual persons -- living or dead -- is purely coincidental." In reality, to avoid controversy...

Viacom will sue bloggers who post unauthorized 'Daily Show' clips

hollywoodreporter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:11:24 -0800

By Eriq Gardner Hulu announced yesterday that Comedy Central was pulling "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" from the popular video website. The decision will impact the many downstream websites that have relied on Hulu's embedded player to gain...

Hollywood Docket Top 5: Murdoch vs. Google; Fox vs. Scientologists; Verizon vs. TiVo

hollywoodreporter — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:09:23 -0800

When can we expect the anticipated copyright showdown between Rupert Murdoch and Google? Within a long profile of Murdoch and News Corp, a senior media executive who recently conferred with Murdoch says he's readying a lawsuit. "He's pretty tightly wound...

Another day, another David Bergstein lawsuit

hollywoodreporter — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:38:35 -0800

By Matthew Belloni Man, these are getting boring. David Bergstein's ThinkFilm/Capco was sued today by producers of the 2006 ThinkFilm release "The Zodiac" (no, not that "Zodiac," this one). They claim ThinkFilm has failed to issue profit statements since June...

Staffing Roundup: NATO; JAMS; Loeb & Loeb

hollywoodreporter — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:42:00 -0800

Recent entertainment and media law hires and promotions: Gary Klein is the new general counsel for the National Association of Theatre Owners. The trade association veteran is based at NATO's offices in Washington. International production lawyer Charles-Edouard Renault has been...

Hollywood Docket Top 5: No Oscars for New York?; Lady Gaga nipple; 'Price is Right' pregnancy suit

hollywoodreporter — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:59:06 -0800

A dispute over cable retrans fees threatens to remove ABC from Cablevision subscribers in the New York tri-state region just in time for the Oscars telecast. Cablevision says it's not fair for Disney/ABC to hold its viewers hostage. [THR, PaidContent]...

Q&A: David Quinto, the lawyer who guards the door at the Oscars

hollywoodreporter — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:26:39 -0800

By Matthew Belloni Attention Academy Award winners: David Quinto will sue you if you sell your Oscar. He’ll sue you if you try to sell someone else’s Oscar, or if you make a fake Oscar, or even if you call...

Warner Bros. bulks up for 'Superman' litigation

hollywoodreporter — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:33:53 -0800

By Eriq Gardner and Matthew Belloni Warner Bros. has shaken up its legal team in the battle to retain copyright on the "Superman" franchise. Out are Michael Bergman and his Beverly Hills-based firm, as well as New York's Fross Zelnick...

Hollywood Docket Top 5: AFTRA-SAG harmony; photography copyrights questioned; musicians vs. politicians

hollywoodreporter — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:41:51 -0800

AFTRA's board has unanimously approved joint bargaining with SAG on the guilds' TV-theatrical contracts set to expire June 30, 2011. [THR] Thousands of song copyrights are entangled in a complicated court battle between Carbert Music and May-Loo Music. Carbert, the...