After losing on its first attempt, the Walt Disney Company managed to turn the tables on Redbox to obtain a preliminary injunction against Redbox’s sale of movie download codes.
The case arose out of Disney’s marketing of ...more
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Comic-Con is a registered trademark of SDCC, the organizers of the renowned San Diego convention for all things pop culture. SDCC brought an infringement action against the organizers of a Utah event ...more
Earlier this year, the leading online pornography site PornHub announced a ban on celebrity “deep fakes.” These are videos in which AI technology is used to place a celebrity likeness seamlessly over existing footage. ...more
Alarm bells rather than wedding bells are ringing in the insular but passionate world of romance novels as authors and publishers grapple with the question whether an author can claim exclusive rights to use “cocky” in book...more
The digitization of content is forcing courts to take a fresh look at basic copyright concepts. The Disney v. Redbox case that I’ve recently blogged on addressed whether a digital download code is a “copy” of a work. Now a...more
Redbox scored a win in its copyright dispute with Disney as a federal district court judge refused to award the studio a preliminary injunction against Redbox’s sale of digital download codes.
Disney’s complaint was that...more
Redbox and Disney have filed their briefs in preparation for argument, scheduled for February 5, on Disney’s motion for a preliminary injunction against Redbox’s alleged copyright infringement. The judge’s ruling could make...more
In November of last year, a division of Walt Disney Company brought a lawsuit against Redbox. The Mouse now has kicked it up a notch by moving for a preliminary injunction....more
The jury has spoken. After a saga worth of Homer, Comic-Con is a valid trademark.
The battle began when, the organizers of San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), the 50-year old grandaddy of fan conventions, sued the producers of...more
In another controversial move, the FCC has approved by a 3-2 vote the adoption of the ATSC 3.0 standard for broadcast TV, known as Next Gen TV. This IP-based standard will permit over-the-air broadcasters to offer Ultra High...more
Here in the Hollywood bubble, it’s easy to get wrapped up in our own tales of heartbreak, victory and scandal and forget that events outside of LA can also impact the entertainment business. One of these is that the FCC is...more
I’ve blogged about the pending trademark infringement case brought by SDCC, the registered owners of the San Diego Comic-Con mark, against the producers of Salt Lake Comic Con. The Utah group had launched an aggressive social...more
The stakes just raised in an imminent trial over the validity of the San Diego Comic-Con trademark. What started out as a straightforward trademark dispute has now implicated First Amendment free speech issues....more
A federal judge in San Diego has cleared for trial a case that may strip San Diego Comic-Con from trademark protection.
First, some background. Even a registered trademark such as Comic-Con can lose protection if it...more
Drug cartels are notorious for murder and extortion, but the family of the late drug lord Pablo Escobar has unleashed the scariest weapon of all–trademark litigation.
Escobar, Inc. has a longstanding grudge against the...more
The media community has been buzzing with the news that Disney plans to launch its own digital subscription channel for movies and series content. Its current license deal with Netflix expires at the end of 2018, after which...more
An ugly dispute between two reality stars has the potential to create precedent on the responsibility of television networks for posts by its talent on social media sites.
The protagonists are Mykel Hawke and Joseph Teti,...more
We reported previously that LA City Attorney Mike Feuer had brought misdemeanor criminal charges against five casting workshops and 25 individuals under the Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act. Feuer alleged that the...more
The upfront selling season is when broadcast networks sell the majority of their advertising inventory. That season kicks off this week as the networks present their fall schedules to advertisers in lavishly staged events....more
Netflix handed a pleasant surprise to Hollywood when in announced that it is committing to spend its $6 billion annual budget for original productions in California rather than chasing tax incentives in other states and...more
Hollywood is on pins and needles at the prospect of a Writers Guild of America (WGA) walkout, which could occur as early as May 2. On April 24, the Guild announced that a strike authorization vote had passed with 96% support....more
We reported recently that Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer brought misdemeanor charges against five casting workshops, alleging that they were in effect charging actors for auditions in violation of the Krekorian Talent...more