The Inside Out of Character Copyrights
On May 4, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied Plaintiff’s petition for rehearing and amended and superseded their March 16, 2020 decision in the case of Daniels v. Walt Disney Co., No. 18-55635, 2020 WL 2119396 (9th Cir. May 4, 2020). Denise Daniels claimed that her characters, The Moodsters, were infringed by…
Read MoreOn February 1, 2016, Solid Oak Sketches LLC filed a copyright lawsuit in Manhattan against 2K Games, Inc. and Take Two Interactive Software, Inc., the companies responsible for creating the NBA2K video game franchise, for allegedly infringing tattoo artists copyrights in the tattoos they tattooed on LeBron James, Eric Bledsoe, and Kenyon Martin in versions 2K14, 2K15, and 2K16. On…
Read MoreOn April 13, 2020, Harris County District Judge Robert K. Schaffer in Houston ruled in favor of rapper Megan Thee Stallion in a dispute with her record label 1501 Certified Entertainment LLC (“1501”). In a one sentence order, Judge Schaffer denied the Defendants’ request to compel arbitration. Megan Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete, filed…
Read MoreThere is already an extremely slim chance that any copyright infringement case against the Hollywood power structure ever makes it to trial; even if this occurs and you miraculously win your case against the finest lawyers that the entertainment industry can buy, judges can and will exercise their right to overturn your hard-earned verdict. That…
Read MoreThe March 9, 2020 decision of the eleven Justices of the en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin is not all bad for creators. Plaintiff Michael Skidmore, the Trustee of the Estate of deceased songwriter, Randy Wolfe, a member of the rock band Spirit, sued Led Zeppelin in 2014, claiming the iconic song Stairway to…
Read MoreOn September 25, 2019, Screenwriter Joe Gregory Carlini filed a lawsuit in California federal court against Paramount and BET, claiming the Los Angeles-based studio and television network stole the plot from his 2014 screenplay “What The F Is He Thinking?” and used it in the film “What Men Want” starring Taraji Henson. According to Carlini,…
Read MoreOn October 28, 2019, the Ninth Circuit of California reversed the dismissal of a copyright infringement lawsuit against Taylor Swift in connection with the song “Shake it off”. Swift and the songwriters of “Shake it off” were accused of copying the lyrics from the song “Players Gon’ Play” by girl group “3LW,” written by songwriters…
Read MoreDefamation is a civil cause of action that creates a great amount of stir when a case is filed. Defamation occurs when a person: makes a false statement of fact about you or your business; the statement was published (made to a third party); the person who made the statement did so negligently, recklessly, or…
Read MoreOn July 10, 2019, a Florida appeals court found that defamation contained in books and movies are not covered by a presuit retraction requirement for defamation suits; refusing to dismiss the claims of the grandson of former Columbian President Mariano Ospina Perez Francisco Javier Ospina Baraya’s (“Ospina”), that claimed that the book “The Infiltrator” and…
Read MoreOn July 8, 2019, Dan Aykroyd’s company, Globefill Inc. (“Globefill”), has filed another lawsuit against a liquor company for infringing the Crystal Head trademark. Globefill filed the lawsuit against a Mexican tequila maker, Matatena Spirits S.A. de C.V. (“Matatena”), alleging that it knocked off the Crystal Head iconic head-shaped bottle. In the complaint, Globefill claims…
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