Pausing the Game: Take-Two Seeks to Pause WWE Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive has told an Illinois federal court that it wants to pause a tattoo artist’s copyright infringement lawsuit, as a ruling on a pending summary judgment motion could decide the case.

As we reported last year, tattoo artist Catherine Alexander filed a lawsuit against Take-Two and World Wrestling Entertainment, alleging that they infringed on her copyright. Between 2003 and 2008, Alexander created several unique tattoos for WWE superstar Randy Orton. While WWE allegedly offered Alexander $450,000 for the rights to use …

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Avatar Avoids Another Lawsuit

On Wednesday, September 17, Judge Furman of the Southern District of New York federal court granted a motion dismissing claims against James Cameron for alleged copyright infringement in the 2009 blockbuster film Avatar.

The judge’s dismissal relieves Cameron of the fourth lawsuit in the past year stemming from the film Avatar.  This cause of action was brought by Roger Dean, an English artist, whose works include album covers for the bands Yes, Uriah Heep, and Asia.  Dean sought more than $50 million for …

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Author Fails in ‘Avatar’ Copyright Suit Against Cameron and Fox

U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real recently granted director James Cameron’s and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.’s motion to dismiss in a copyright action, holding that a disgruntled author and screenwriter was unable to demonstrate that “Avatar” was “substantially similar” to his novel, “Bats and Butterflies.”

“Bats and Butterflies” is a story about a bullied boy who travels to a magical land called Altair where he befriends a tribe of aliens that look like butterflies.  At the end of the story, the boy battles against …

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