On March 15, 2013, Breakdown Services Ltd. filed suit against a man they allege breached a duty of confidentiality as well as several other offenses. Breakdown Services is a company that works with various talent agencies and management companies in dealings that are highly confidential. Clients who subscribe to Breakdown Services get daily script “breakdowns,” and [...]

A trial-date has been set to determine whether Paramount Pictures holds the copyright to the classic Italian film, “La Dolce Vita.”  On February 12, International Media Films will go before a New York court in an attempt to strip Paramount of its ownership of the Federico Fellini film.  IMF plans to challenge the authenticity of [...]

Usually, brands relish being featured in big office movies–advertisement exposure to a large moviegoer audience is great for sales typically, and screentime is often coveted and expensive. However, beer powerhouse Anheuser-Busch and vodka maker Stoli are less than enthused about having their alcoholic products displayed in “Flight,” a recently released movie featuring Denzel Washington as [...]

Once upon a time in Connecticut, there lived a girl named Sarah, known as the “Belle of New Haven.” Little did she know that her future home in San Jose, California would one day be the subject of a trademark and unfair competition lawsuit 88 years after her death. It all started when she married [...]

To a group of movie investors, Keeper of the Pinstripes sounded like an ideal business venture. Capitalizing on nostalgia for old-timers Yankee baseball, the film was to depict the “interior and exterior of the ‘old’ Yankee stadium [for one] final public appearance,” and tell the story of “a mysterious room hidden within the depths of [...]

The critical debate over film versus television rages on. It’s a fight ’til the death. Who will be the winner? Stay tuned…

Check out this New York Times article about the growing film industry in Nigeria and its impact on culture, identity, and the economy of Africa. The article also discusses the uncertainty of who owns the copyright in this booming business. For the copyright discussion, look to page 6.   Thank you to staffer Matthew Mann [...]

Although Warner Brothers may have settled the lawsuit with Mike Tyson’s tattoo artist over the use of Tyson’s tattoo in the movie, The Hangover Part II, they are now facing a new lawsuit from Louis Vuitton.  Perhaps, you remember Zach Galifianakis’s line, “Careful, that is a Louis Vuitton,” in the movie.  Turns out that executives [...]

After the studio settled claims with Mike Tyson’s tattoo artist for infringement of his copyright over the tattoo for the Hangover II, a second contender has entered the ring in order to bring another copyright suit against the film. According to Hollywood Reporter, the litigant, Michael Alan Rubin, has offered no proof of access; an [...]

From NYMag: “Last year, Voltage Pictures announced that it was planning to sue tens of thousands of Internet users who’d downloaded The Hurt Locker via BitTorrent, and 24,583 defendants were named when the production company filed its lawsuit several months ago. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone so well since then, and Voltage has voluntarily dropped more [...]