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Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Spotlight or Lawsuit? Strategic Brand Use in Film and Media

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When The White Lotus returned to HBO for its third season, it came with the usual dose of dramatic tension, along with one unexpected intellectual property wrinkle. [WARNING – Potential Plot Spoiler Ahead!] In a particularly...more

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - June 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

Troutman Pepper Locke

Will I Get Sued if I Create Another Hospital Drama? — No Infringement Intended Podcast

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In this episode, Rusty and Austin explore the potential legal hurdles they might encounter if they were to venture into creating their own hospital drama. With the television landscape already saturated with series like ER,...more

Loeb & Loeb LLP

Eden Film Production LLC v. Lockjaw LLC

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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 - July 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

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - January 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

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

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

The Pitch - February 2022

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

Knobbe Martens

Who Owns the Royale With Cheese? - Miramax Sues Tarantino Over the Sale of Pulp Fiction Related NFTs

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On November 16, 2021, Miramax, LLC (“Miramax”) brought claims of breach of contract, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition against director Quentin Tarantino. Miramax alleges that Tarantino...more

Weintraub Tobin

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

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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

Littler

Producers of Creative Work Beware

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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

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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

Hogan Lovells

Pirates of the Caribbean Copyright Suit Must Walk The Plank

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The Central District of California recently sank a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company’s Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, finding that numerous elements of the Plaintiffs’ allegedly similar...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

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

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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

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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

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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”

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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

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

The Southern District of New York Finds “Work Made For Hire” Under Italian Copyright Law

Musical scores incorporated into films are usually produced with the specific film in mind. In the U.S., we call such works “works made for hire,” meaning that the artist does not retain authorship rights to the music....more

Snell & Wilmer

Ninth Circuit Construes Family Movie Act and Affirms Injunction Against Streaming Service

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In December 2016, a California federal court issued a preliminary injunction against VidAngel, Inc.’s custom-filtered video streaming service. Thursday, in Hollywood Studios v. VidAngel, Inc., a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed...more

Weintraub Tobin

When Is Making A Movie Not An Act Of Free Speech?

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I admit that the title of this article may be a bit deceiving. Making films, like any other production of art, is almost always an act of free speech. However, the Ninth Circuit was recently faced with a dilemma of...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

Central District of California Dismisses Copyright Infringement Suit Regarding Christian Film God’s Not Dead

The Central District of California recently dismissed a copyright infringement suit brought by the creators of the screenplay for Rise against the creators of the screenplay God’s Not Dead (“GND”) for failure to state a...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &...

“Hollywood Circuit” Court Issues En Banc Decision in Garcia v. Google: No Copyright Protection for Fleeting Dramatic Performance

On May 18, 2015, the Ninth Circuit sitting en banc vacated its prior decision in Garcia v. Google. The prior decision, authored by Judge Alex Kozinksi, controversially held that an actress had standing to issue a DMCA...more

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