“Blurred Lines” Copyright Suit Set to Go to Trial

On Thursday, October 30, a California District Judge denied Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ motion for summary judgment to end the suit revolving around their song “Blurred Lines.”

The recording artist and his producer went on the offensive in August 2013 by filing a lawsuit seeking declaratory relief to protect their song “Blurred Lines” from Bridgeport Music and Marvin Gaye’s children, who were threatening their own actions claiming copyright violations.  The plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment to end the lawsuit in their favor …

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Stan Lee Media Holds No Ownership of Stan Lee’s Characters According to 9th Circuit

On Wednesday, October 29, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied the appeal of Stan Lee Media Inc. from an order dismissing its case against namesake and founder Stan Lee.

The underlying suit, filed by the corporation, was to recover revenue generated by the characters Iron Man, Spider Man, and others.  Stan Lee Media was originally formed by Stan Lee in 1998 when he left Marvel Comics.  Stan Lee has since returned to Marvel and the corporation filed for bankruptcy.  The corporation claims …

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Pepsi: $2B “Aunt Jemima” Lawsuit Frivolous

Calling the suit frivolous, Pepsi and a subsidiary of Pepsi, Quaker Oats, asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit.  The lawsuit was brought pro se in August this year by the great grandchildren of Anna Short Harrington, who appeared as Aunt Jemima.  The plaintiffs seek $2 billion in punitive damages for, among others, alleged violation of right of publicity, breach of contract, promissory fraud, and conspiracy.

The lawsuit claimed that Nancy Green, the first Aunt Jemima, and Harrington formulated the self-rising pancake mix and …

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BBC Sues over “Dancing With the Stars” Knock-off

British Broadcasting Company (“BBC”) brought a suit against Scott Stander & Associates (“Scott Stander”) in California federal court claiming that its rights to the popular “Dancing with the Stars” (“DWTS”) program have been infringed.  Scott Stander is the producer of a live stage show called “Ballroom with a Twist” (“BWAT”) featuring dancers from “Dancing with the Stars.”

According to the complaint, Scott Stander has advertised its show as “the national-tour spinoff of ‘Dancing with the Stars’” and “a non-competitive spinoff.”  Further, the complaint claimed that …

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Goodfellas Actor Suing The Simpsons Maker for $250M over ‘Louie’ Character

Frank Sivero, who played a mobster role in the 1990 mobster film Goodfellas, sued Fox Television Studios (“Fox”) for $250 million, claiming the ‘Louie’ character in its long-running popular cartoon show The Simpsons was based on his interpretation of ‘Frankie Carbone’ in Goodfellas.

In a suit filed yesterday, Sivero argued that “The Simpsons’ continued use of [his] image and likeness for commercial purposes are all done without [his] consent and without compensating [him].”  Sivero claimed his rights were violated under California’s publicity …

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Duluth Trading Company Takes it Easy and Don Henley Takes Them to Court

Maybe Duluth Trading Company should’ve known better. Maybe it was just living life in the advertising fast lane. But on October 6, 2014, the Wisconsin clothing company circulated an ad to its customers imploring them to “Don a Henley and Take it Easy.” The “Henley” the ad refers to is the famous, three-button long sleeve shirt that has become a symbol of relaxation and “cool” since it was first placed on store racks. But in invoking the surname of Eagles’ co-founder and lead singer Don …

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“World’s Most Interesting” Case Settled

On Monday, the parties in the “World’s Most Interesting” trademark suit filed a stipulation to dismiss the suit.  In 2013, the Mexican brewer of Dos Equis beer filed a trademark and copyright infringement suit against KCI, Inc. (“KCI”), a New Jersey company that offers storage area network (SAN) maintenance services, over its advertising campaign themed “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” a U.S. registered trademark of the brewer.

The complaint alleged that KCI filed trademark applications for the marks “The Most Interesting SAN Architect …

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It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane…it’s Warner Brothers!

Another victory for Warner Brothers in a lifelong battle over the copyright to Superman. The U.S. Supreme Court denied review of Superman’s co-creator’s heirs, Joseph Shuster, to terminate Warner Brothers’ rights to the Superman copyright. Shuster’s heirs requested a hearing to challenge Warner Brothers’ copyright on the grounds that the 1976 Copyright Act allowed them to reclaim their portion of the comic character icon. A provision of the Copyright Act allows authors to terminate and reclaim previous assignments of copyrights.

Shuster’s heirs initially made an …

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Thicke Says No “Blurred Line” Between Idea and Expression

While news stories last week reported about Thicke’s admission during deposition that he did not write the hit song “Blurred Line,” Thicke on Monday responded to a memorandum filed by the Gayes family and Bridgeport Music, Inc. in opposition of Thicke’s Thicke v. Gaye.

Thicke criticized the expert witness for the Gayes was less persuasive as she failed to provide any transcription analysis possibly to avoid revealing “how different the notes are.”  Thicke further claimed his musicologist’s analysis dissecting the alleged similar parts into …

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Peruvian Author Suing Disney for $250M Claiming ‘Frozen’ Is Her Story

A Peruvian author is suing Disney for $250 million, alleging ‘Frozen’ is not based on the Andersen fairy tale The Snow Queen but rather on her book.  In 2010 Isabella Tanikumi wrote an autobiography titled Yearnings Of The Heart depicting her life in the Andean mountains of Peru.  The synopsis of her book posted on Amazon says that Tanikumi’s autobiography portrays a young girl overcoming personal insecurities and various challenges in her life.  However, it does not seem to feature a talking …

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