NINTH CIRCUIT RULES CALIFORNIA’S 1977 RESALE ROYALTIES ACT ONLY APPLIES TO ART SOLD BEFORE 1978
On July 6, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled California’s 1977 Resale Royalties Act (CRRA) only applies to art sales conducted prior to 1978, the date the federal Copyright Act went into effect. Painters and sculptors have argued through many appeals that auction houses owe them five percent of sales of their works…
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On July 5, 2018, Cardi B (real name Belcalis Almanzar) filed counterclaims against her manager after he slapped a $10 million defamation and breach of contract suit against her. She alleges he stole funds deriving from her royalties and deceived her into signing over all of her copyrights for her audio and video recordings. Shaft…
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On June 28, 2018, Lucasfilm Ltd. asked a California federal judge to find that two mobile game developers ripped off “sabacc,” a fictional card game created used in the Star Wars movies. In their motion for partial summary judgment, LucasFilm asked the court to find that it owned the rights to the fictional game. LucasFilm…
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On June 28, 2018, Ed Sheeran was slapped with another copyright infringement lawsuit over his 2014 hit “Thinking out Loud” which Mavin Gaye’s estate contends is substantially similar to the Marvin Gaye song “Let’s Get It On.” A similar lawsuit was filed in 2016 against Sheeran which sought $100 million in damages by the family…
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On June 28, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to address the issue of whether copyright owners must obtain actual registration with the US Copyright Office (as opposed to simply submitting their application for registration) before filing a lawsuit. The Supreme Court Justices granted a “petition for writ of certiorari” in the case of Fourth…
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On June 26, 2018, the Second Circuit began to listen to arguments regarding the summary judgment decision issued in September of 2017 finding that “Who’s Holiday!” a parody of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”, was protected by the doctrine of fair use. Dr. Seuss Enterprises LP (“Seuss”) has appealed a summary judgment issued by U.S.…
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On June 27, 2018, a California jury awarded entrepreneur Steven Lamar $25.25 million to by paid by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine to Lamar for his part in producing the first model of the popular “Beats” headphones. This was the end of a three-week trial after four years of litigation. It took the jurors three…
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On June 14, 2018, a California federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a class action brought by Indiana artists alleging that a company called Alibaba Group Holdings allowed copyright infringers to illegally reproduce the artwork of the Indiana artists on Alibaba’s website. The judge called the motion to dismiss a “waste of paper.” In…
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On June 13, 2018, New York U.S. District Judge Frederic Block issued an 89-page detailed explanation to why he denied New York City real estate developer Jerry Wolkoff a new trial. The opinion stated that Wolkoff “lied, was reckless and irresponsible” and demonstrated “egregious behavior” in court. Judge Bloc called the whitewashing “an act of…
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On June 14, 2018, Jeffrey Prosperie, who was struck by an ax by “Fox & Friends” co-host Pete Hegseth while shooting an episode of “Fox & Friends,” has filed a lawsuit in New York court against Pete Hegseth and Fox (including Fox Broadcasting, Fox News, Fox Entertainment, and “Fox & Friends”) for negligence. On June 14,…
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