News & Analysis as of

Copyright Litigation Film Industry

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

When Is a Car a Character? The Ninth Circuit Revisits Copyrightability in Halicki v. Carroll Shelby Licensing

The Copyright Act does not expressly address the protection of individual characters in expressive works, but courts have long recognized that certain characters, particularly those with strong visual or narrative identities,...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

IP Hot Topic: The (Media) Empire Strikes Back

Some of the largest movie studios have entered the fray of GenAI copyright litigation. Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and DreamWorks sued the image-GenAI company Midjourney, Inc. in the...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - May 2025

The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more

Kaufman & Canoles

K&C Sports & Entertainment Law Weekly Roundup - May 2025 #3

Kaufman & Canoles on

French cinema icon Gérard Depardieu was convicted of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in Paris in 2021 and handed an 18-month suspended sentence....more

Loeb & Loeb LLP

Eden Film Production LLC v. Lockjaw LLC

Loeb & Loeb LLP on

District court dismisses claim for copyright infringement against writers, producers and distributors of television show Yellowjackets, holding no substantial similarity between protectable elements of Yellowjackets and...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - April 2025

The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - March 2025

The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - February 2025

The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more

DLA Piper

Books to Blockbusters - 6 Key Legal Considerations

DLA Piper on

This post provides an overview of the six key legal challenges and opportunities to expect in the UK when negotiating to acquire the rights to adapt a book for film or TV. ...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - March 2024

The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

How Original! The Oscars and the Craft of Derivative Works

Happy Oscar season! As we ramp up for film’s most anticipated event, the lists start flying for the year’s potential winners. Frequently, the Academy favors somewhat obscure, esoteric films—so it might be surprising to learn...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - May 2023

The Pitch newsletter is a monthly update of legal issues and news affecting or related to the music, film and television, fine arts, media, professional athletics, eSports, and gaming industries. The Pitch features a diverse...more

Vondran Legal

Strike 3 Holdings Copyright Infringement Defense Tips

Vondran Legal on

Strike 3 Holdings (S3”) has filed THOUSANDS of copyright infringement lawsuits, and usually manages to settle quite a few of them.  However, they do not always prevail in their bringing of these actions (usually in a federal...more

Weintraub Tobin

Podcast - The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: A Spooky Copyright Decision for Producers of Friday the 13th Franchise

Weintraub Tobin on

This week on the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a claim for copyright reversion made by the screenwriter of Friday the 13th, seeking the reversion to the rights in the screenplay to the popular horror...more

Weintraub Tobin

The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: A Spooky Copyright Decision for Producers of Friday the 13th Franchise

Weintraub Tobin on

This week on the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a claim for copyright reversion made by the screenwriter of Friday the 13th, seeking the reversion to the rights in the screenplay to the popular horror...more

International Lawyers Network

The Paraskavedekatriaphobia Precedent: Why Friday The 13th Decision Raises Fear Of Slashing Long-Held Copyrights

Admittedly, the second word in that title is a mouthful—but Paraskavedekatriaphobia is a real word, with an etymology and definition. It even has a synonym, friggatriskaidekaphobia. Each means “fear of Friday the...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

You Know His Name (Jason). You Know the Story (Friday the 13th). But Do You Know Who Owns Jason? The Second Circuit Does - and the...

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

As of today, there have been twelve (yes, twelve!) movies released as part of the Friday the 13th series of horror films, as well as a television series. For those of you who have not seen any of these films, they are not for...more

Littler

Producers of Creative Work Beware

Littler on

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that the creator of The Friday the 13th screenplay could terminate his copyright grant to Horror Inc. (the producer of the movie franchise) and reclaim it. ...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

Remembering Two Of The Spookiest Halloween Copyright Cases

Ladas & Parry LLP on

With Halloween 2020 having just passed, we thought it was important to remember two of the spookiest of intellectual property cases, in particular, those copyright cases addressing issues with well-known horror movies. ...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Blinding Edge, Apple, and M. Night Shyamalan Awarded $162,467 After Defeating Copyright Claims

On January 15, 2020, director Francesca Gregorini filed suit against Apple, Blinding Edge Pictures, and M. Night Shyamalan, who produced the television series "Servant." Gregorini alleged that "Servant" infringed the...more

Smart & Biggar

Ontario Court finds room for fair dealing in documentary on The Room

Smart & Biggar on

Recently, in Wiseau Studio, LLC et al v Harper et al, 2020 ONSC 2504, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed an action for copyright infringement brought against the makers of a documentary that used clips from the...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Plaintiff’s Claims Don’t Hold Water – Judge Tosses ‘Shape of Water’ Copyright Suit

Robins Kaplan LLP on

In June, I reported on a copyright infringement case concerning Oscar-winning film, The Shape of Water. The suit was filed in February in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, on the same day that the Academy voters started...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

The Shape of Water Tries to Shake off Plagiarism Controversy

Robins Kaplan LLP on

The Shape of Water, winner of four Oscars this year, is defending itself in a copyright infringement lawsuit which asserts the film copies a 1969 sci-fi play.  The suit was filed on February 21, 2018, just one day after Oscar...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Nevada Screenwriter Claims Gone Girl Was Her Idea

Robins Kaplan LLP on

On January 17, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. (“Twentieth Century”) argued that a copyright infringement claim relating to the hit novel and film, Gone Girl, should be thrown out. ...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

Demi Lovato, Idina Menzel, and Disney Sued Over Frozen Song “Let It Go”

Robins Kaplan LLP on

Demi Lovato, Idina Menzel, and Disney are amongst the defendants who were sued over the hit song, “Let It Go,” featured in the popular 2013 Disney film, Frozen....more

30 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 2

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide