Flavor Flav Loses Lawsuit for Public Enemy Royalties on a Technicality
On May 9, 2022, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit said a California federal court did not abuse its discretion when it ruled that William J. Drayton, professionally known as “Flavor Flav,” can’t revive a lawsuit against Public Enemy’s business manager and producer, Gary Rinaldo. Flavor Flav lost this case because his attorneys failed…
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On September 9th, 2021, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision in a dispute between a former attorney and a storage company in Los Banos, California. Richard Bell (“Bell”) sued Wilmott Storage Services LLC (“Wilmott”) for posting an exact copy of a photo of the Indianapolis skyline,…
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On August 23rd, 2021, the Ninth Circuit reversed a District Court ruling in a dispute between Sirius XM and founders of The Turtles, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman (“Flo & Eddie”), that has been brewing for years. In 2013, Flo & Eddie sued Sirius XM for copyright infringement on the grounds that Sirius XM “publicly…
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On July 7th, 2021, in a unanimous, unpublished decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s finding that entrepreneur Damon “Dame” Dash (“Dash”) was guilty of copyright infringement. The ruling held that Dash infringed upon the copyright of an upstart author/filmmaker named Edwyna Brooks (“Brooks”) movie “Mafietta” when Dash placed it for…
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On May 21st, 2021, a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that PepsiCo (“Pepsi”) did not steal an advertising firm’s idea for a Super Bowl ad that aired in 2016. During Superbowl 50, Pepsi aired an ad entitled “The Joy of Dance,” which featured singer Janelle Monae…
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In October 2015, multiple models, including “Baywatch” actress Carmen Electra (“Electra”) (collectively the “models”), filed suit against various New York strip clubs alleging that such clubs used their likeness in intentionally misleading advertisements without permission or payment. As a result of this misuse, the models claimed that they were substantially damaged because the success of…
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On February 23, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court held that Stephen King’s protagonist in “The Dark Tower” book series did not copy the hero in late comic book writer William B. DuBay’s “The Rook” series. Benjamin DuBay, the nephew of William DuBay, filed a lawsuit in 2017 alleging that fictional character Roland Deschain of “The…
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On December 18, 2020, the Ninth Circuit ruled that ComicMix’s comic book mashup of Dr. Seuss and Star Trek was not protected by the “fair use” doctrine in copyright law. A mashup is a work created by combining elements from two or more sources. ComicMix had created a comic book called “Oh, the Places You’ll…
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