The Parents Television Council (PTC) was not impressed with MTV’s annual Video Music Awards show (VMAs). The conservative watchdog group, known for its protests against various television programs, blasted the Viacom-owned cable network for its raunchy telecast on that premiered on August 25, 2013. This time, the PTC is protesting former child star Miley Cyrus’ performance on the 2013 VMAs that included sexually suggestive conduct. The one-time Disney star repeatedly grabbed her crotch and “dry-humped” singer Robin Thicke, as he sang his hit song “Blurred …
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The Grinch Might Have Stolen Christmas, but Suit Says Disney Stole Christmas Movie Idea
On January 14, 2013, two producers, Beth Grossbard and Barri Rosenblum, sued Disney, ABC, ABC Family and former ABC executive Beth Miller for breach of an implied in-fact contract and breach of confidence. Grossbard and Rosenblum allege the network stole their idea for a Christmas movie.
Grossbard and Rosenblum pitched the idea for a movie called “I Hate Christmas” to ABC Family executives in 2005. Although the network turned down their movie idea, their complaint contends that the executives reworked those same ideas into “The …
Continue ReadingMickey, I am Your Father…
The Walt Disney Company recently announced that it will pay just north of $4 billion for George Lucas’ production company, Lucasfilm, Ltd. Disney, whose recent acquisitions include such entertainment powerhouses as comic book giant Marvel Entertainment and the computer animation company Pixar, revealed that it will continue to produce more films in the “Star Wars’ saga. Lucas, who was the sole owner of the company baring his namesake, will become the second largest non-institutional shareholder of Disney stock when he receives 40 million shares as …
Continue ReadingDisney, Sony Face Billion Dollar ‘Sister Act’ Suit filed by Harlem Nun
Harlem nun Delois Blakely is suing Disney and Sony Pictures for allegedly stealing her life story for the plot of the popular movie “Sister Act.” According to Blakely, she delivered a synopsis of her autobiography, “The Harlem Street Nun” to a Tri Star Pictures producer. When they expressed interest in the story, producer Scott Rudin took the story to Disney, where they made “Sister Act.”
The Disney picture featured Whoopi Goldberg as a Reno singer who is forced to go into hiding in a convent …
Continue ReadingDisney Suit Seeks to End the Party for Seller of Unlicensed Character Costumes
Recently, Walt Disney Co., Sanrio, Co., Ltd. and DC Comics filed suit in federal district court against Party Animals LLC (a business offering costumes and party entertainment) alleging that Party Animals infringed on various trademarks and copyrights owned by the Plaintiffs by renting character costumes produced without permission in violation of the Plaintiffs’ intellectual property rights. Some of the alleged infringing costumes named by the suit include Winnie the Pooh, Batman, Superman, and Hello Kitty.
Party Animals’s website plainly states that it has no licenses …
Continue ReadingWalt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Home Entertainment Sue Horse-Racing Announcer’s Estate Seeking Declaratory Judgment on Right of Privacy/Copyright Claims Over Secretariat
Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Home Entertainment filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Friday, June 29, requesting declaratory judgment against family members of the late horse-racing announcer Charles Anderson. The companies are seeking to pro-actively guard against the estate’s right of publicity and copyright claims related to the 2010 film Secretariat.
According to the complaint, Anderson’s widow, daughters, and sons have spent the past two years asserting multiple bases of liability for …
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