“Battleship” Movie Featuring Rihanna Makes $170 Million

Posted by on May 15, 2012 in Art, Business Transactions, Commercial Transactions, Entertainment, Film, Music, News | 0 comments You may have read this title and said quietly to yourself…what movie named “Battleship” featuring Rihanna? You may also be thinking… isn’t Rihanna a singer? Well, there is a perfectly good explanation why you don’t know what movie we are referring to. The movie “Battleship” has been released in countries around the world,with the exception of the U.S. It is not...
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The Usually Silent Teller is Suing to Protect his Craft

Posted by on Apr 23, 2012 in Art, Copyright, Employment, Film, Intellectual Property, News, Television | 0 comments Teller, half of Penn & Teller is suing a magician for copyright infringement. According to numerous reports, Teller is suing a Dutch Magician named Gerard Dogge. The suit alleges that Dogge is infringing on Teller’s copyrighted trick known as “Shadows”. The trick uses a rose projected onto a screen with a spotlight. The magician cuts the shadow which in turn cuts that actual...
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Actress Sues Vodka Company for Misappropriation of Likeness in Rape Ad

Posted by on Apr 14, 2012 in Art, Entertainment, Film, News, Television | 1 comment On March 29, 2012, actress Alicyn Packard filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Moet Hennessy USA over a controversial advertisement for Belvedere Vodka used earlier last month on Belvedere’s Facebook and Twitter pages. The ad in the middle of all this controversy is one where a man is smiling and holding a woman who looks upset with the following words depicted in the ad...
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Hulu Users Filed Class Action Lawsuit Against Hulu Claiming The Online Video Hub Used “Zombie Cookies” to Track Users’ Online Activities

Posted by on Apr 13, 2012 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Entertainment, Film, News, Television | 0 comments The bad just got worse for the popular website Hulu. Hulu has been defending against a class action lawsuit filed by Hulu users who claim the popular website has been tracking its users’ online activity with cookies and other identifiers that are placed on users’ computers. These cookies are sometimes called “zombie cookies” because they reappear even when Hulu users clear the...
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How Much Are Paparazzi Photos of Celebrities Really Worth? $600,000? $1,500,000?

Posted by on Apr 12, 2012 in Art, Business Litigation, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Sports, Television | 0 comments Paparazzi photo or not, a photographer has an automatic right of ownership in the photos he takes the minute he takes them. This right is called a copyright. A company called Mavrix essentially takes photos of celebrities and, thus, owns a copyright in many of these photos. Mavrix Photo is an agency that calls itself the “premier source for celebrity images and photo-journalism.” This...
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Producer Seeks $1Million in Damages For Intentional Name Misspelling in Movie Credits

Posted by on Apr 11, 2012 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Entertainment, Film, News | 0 comments How much is a name worth? Well, if you are film producer Bob Van Ronkel, it is worth $1 Million (or at least according to the complaint he recently filed in Los Angeles Superior Court). Mr. Von Ronkel’s lawsuit lists causes of action for breach of written contract, breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud in the inducement, negligent misrepresentation, injunctive...
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