Gibson Succeeds in Protecting The Look of Its Guitars
In 2019, Gibson, the guitar company, brought a lawsuit against Armadillo Distribution and others for trademark infringement by virtue of Armadillo’s copying of the look of Gibson’s guitars. The case went to trial on May 16, 2022. Armadillo tried to use a “laches” defense to defend the case. This defense is used where there has…
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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 April 8, 2022, Judge Robert W. Lehrburger for the Southern District of New York confirmed a jury verdict for $805,000 against Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash. Dash was alleged to have falsely claimed to hold copyright ownership in, Dear Frank, a small independent movie released in 2019. This lawsuit was brought by Muddy Water…
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On April 12, 2022, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson for the Central District of California denied a motion to dismiss a copyright infringement claim against the producers of Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which was released in 2019. The lawsuit alleged that the producers copied media company Summit Kaiju LLC’s monster called “Batholith” in their…
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On April 18, 2022, U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II for the Central District of California held that Tyler Armes, a professional musician, has no joint authorship rights to the final commercial release of Post Malone’s hit song, Circles. However, Judge Wright found that a trial must determine whether Mr. Armes is a joint…
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On December 15, 2021, a Judge in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled that Mike Lindell, CEO of MyPillow, did not have a sufficient claim for libel against the Daily Mail, and dismissed the claim. The Daily Mail, a British newspaper, claimed in an article that Lindell had a…
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On January 7, 2022, an investor in the cryptocurrency “EthereumMax” filed a “proposed class action lawsuit” (the lawsuit will not officially become a class action until the judge presiding over the case grants “class certification”) against a boxer, Floyd Mayweather (“Mayweather”), Kim Kardashian (“Kardashian”), and former NBA player, Paul Pierce (“Pierce”). Mayweather, Kardashian, and Pierce…
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On January 12, 2022, a California federal Judge dismissed a would-be class action lawsuit against Netflix. The Plaintiffs alleged that Netflix promoted their show “13 Reasons Why”, featuring a young woman who committed suicide, to the detriment of numerous teenagers who followed suit. Plaintiffs further alleged that Netflix had been given warnings from experts in…
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On December 6, 2021, the Ninth Circuit refused to back a ruling from a California judge that the daughter of the late Marvel comic book writer, Stan Lee, deserved to be sanctioned $1 million for her failed lawsuit against a company her father co-founded, concerning ownership of her father’s name and likeness. JC Lee accused…
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On December 15, 2021, the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) failed to shake lawyer-turned-writer John Musero’s lawsuit. The California appellate court issued a published opinion affirming the lower court’s decision that CAA cannot use California’s anti-SLAPP statute to strike Musero’s breach of contract and fiduciary duty lawsuit. The anti-SLAPP statute provides for a motion to strike…
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