RAPPER’S LYRICS RULED TRUE THREATS, NOT PROTECTED BY THE FIRST AMENDMENT

On August 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled that lyrics by rapper Jamal Knox (p/k/a “Mayhem Mal”)(“Knox”) involving killing cops was not protected speech under the First Amendment because they “crossed the line from artistic expression to a ‘true threat.’” The Supreme Court found the existence of terroristic threats and witness intimidation when…

On August 14, 2018, Coachella asked a California federal court to grant summary judgment in its favor in a trademark infringement dispute against movie festival “Filmchella.” Coachella claims the mark “Filmchella” is confusingly similar to Coachella and that Filmchella has intentionally copied its mark without authorization for the purpose of gaining publicity. Coachella argued that…

On August 5, 2018, former MLB Mets slugger and convicted felon Lenny Dykstra filed a fraud suit in New York Supreme Court against DLP Media Group LLC (“DLP”) for allegedly cutting him out of $400,000 it recouped from Amazon after they cancelled a planned documentary on the baseball player’s life. Dykstra claimed after months of…

On August 7, 2018, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson granted summary judgment in favor of StubHub over allegations that StubHub breached the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) when they hired three employees from a startup company who allegedly used proprietary data from their former company for apps they developed for StubHub. Judge Wilson explained that…

Eazy-E’s wife, Tomica Woods-Wright, has reached a deal with Eazy-E’s son, Eric Darnel Wright, over the use of “Straight Outta Compton” and other phrases relating to rap group NWA. On August 8, 2018, Eazy-E’s son agreed to stop using several marks owned by his stepmother to promote his company. These marks include “Compton Records,” “Ruthless”…

On August 16, 2018, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Cunningham III ruled that Steven Lamar, an entrepreneur who won $25.25 million at trial for his contributions to Dr. Dre’s and Jimmy Iovine’s first headphones in their “Beats” line of headphones, is entitled to another $5.6 million in prejudgment interest. Judge Cunningham also noted…

On August 13, 2018, a California federal judge declined to dismiss claims against Capitol Records LLC, Universal Music Group Inc., Katy Perry, and other songwriters (“defendants”), over claims they used plaintiffs’ song “Joyful Noise” when creating Katy Perry’s hit “Dark Horse.” Defendants’ attorney Christina Lepera of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, urged Judge Snyder to…

On July 30, 2018, Steve McQueen’s heirs filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court against Ferrari claiming Ferrari infringed on McQueen’s trademarks by releasing a special edition “McQueen” Ferrari without their consent. Steve McQueen’s son, plaintiff Chadwick McQueen, met with Ferrari in 2011 to discuss collaborating with the luxury automaker on a special edition…

On August 2, 2018, a Delaware federal court dismissed false advertising claims brought against CNBC LLC, NBCUniversal Media LLC, and other production companies (“Defendants”) that produced CNBC’s show “American Greed.” Efraim Diveroli (“Diveroli”), a 32-year-old former arms dealer whose company, AEY Inc. (“AEY”), was a weapons contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense. In his complaint…

On July 11, 2018, the California Supreme Court refused to revive a lawsuit filed by actress Olivia de Havilland over the FX docudrama “Feud: Bette and Joan.” De Havilland’s claims, which included the claim that FX violated her right of publicity, were dismissed by the California Court of Appeals as barred by the First Amendment.…