Your Privacy Rights on Facebook Are NOT Safeguarded By Viral Status Updates

Posted by on Jun 9, 2012 in Art, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Sports, Television, Trademark | 0 comments If you have been on Facebook in the past few days, you have seen the most recent privacy chain letter that seems to have gone viral everywhere on Facebook. The privacy chain letter requests Facebook users to post a disclaimer which basically says that the Facebook user forbids organizations and other people from using his or her information on Facebook. The privacy chain letter makes clear that...
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BATTLE OF THE BANDS: NO DOUBT v. ACTIVISION’S BAND HERO

Posted by on Jun 1, 2012 in Art, Business Litigation, Entertainment, Film, Music, News | 0 comments The California Superior Court recently rejected Activision’s motion to dismiss the claims of Orange County band, No Doubt.  The case stems from the game Band Hero (published by Activision).  Among the claims made by No Doubt and their popular front-woman Gwen Stefani, are fraud, violation of publicity rights, and breach of contract.  The band claims that they were not aware that the band...
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“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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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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Google Takes a Stand in MPAA Lawsuit Against Hotfile

Posted by on Mar 27, 2012 in Art, Business Litigation, Business Transactions, Commercial Litigation, Commercial Transactions, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Television | 0 comments The Motion Picture Association of America has filed a summary judgment motion in its lawsuit against Hotfile,which could allow the court to decide fairly soon whether or not Hotfile will be held liable for encouraging and facilitating copyright infringement. Many consumers may be unfamiliar with the Hotfile website and more familiar with past websites like Napster and Limewire. Similar to Napster...
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Lawsuits Threaten Jay-Z’s Fortune More than a Decade After the Release of Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin” Musical Hit

Posted by on Mar 26, 2012 in Art, Copyright, Entertainment, Film, Intellectual Property, Music, News, Television | 0 comments It may take you a while to recall the song “Big Pimpin” by Jay-Z, but it is likely that even if you do not listen to rap music, you have heard it in a movie, a television sitcom, on the radio, or as background music in a store. This song was a major hit for Jay-Z and likely one of the songs that put him on the map to stardom more than ten years ago. Many thirty-somethings can probably recall...
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