The Briefing Filmmakers Express Concern Over Impending Death of ‘Biographical Anchor’ Fair Use Basis (Podcast)
The Briefing Filmmakers Express Concern Over Impending Death of ‘Biographical Anchor’ Fair Use Basis
(Podcast) The Briefing: Writers, Actors, AI: The AI Centric Changes to the WGA and SAG Agreements
(Podcast) The Briefing: The Protectability of Short Phrases (Archive)
The Briefing: The Protectability of Short Phrases (Archive)
The Briefing: Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film
(Podcast) The Briefing: Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film
SAG AFTRA Strike Ends; AI Roundup of Cases and Proposed Law Making; Podcasting Live from Austin, Texas
Podcast - The Briefing: The AI Copyright Conundrum Continues – An Update
The Briefing: The AI Copyright Conundrum Continues – An Update
Podcast - The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: A Spooky Copyright Decision for Producers of Friday the 13th Franchise
The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: A Spooky Copyright Decision for Producers of Friday the 13th Franchise
Oklahoma’s Booming Entertainment Industry
Digging Deeper, Episode 1: The Con Queen of Hollywood
Hedy Lamarr - When Beauty and Brains Collide (Women's History Month)
FCPA Compliance and Ethics Report-Episode 124, The Oscars and Compliance, Part I with Jay Rosen
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
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
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
As Top Gun: Maverick passes Doctor Strange 2 to become the highest-grossing movie in the US this year, it’s attracted a copyright infringement claim by the heirs of the writer of the article that inspired the original 1986...more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Axanar will finally beam down to YouTube after CBS and Paramount Pictures (“Paramount”) reached a settlement with Axanar Productions to end all ongoing litigation regarding the Star Trek fan film....more
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
Would-be filmmakers often see the ghostly reflection of their own work in allegedly infringing films that actually get made. With many such copyright claims, the devil is – figuratively – in the details, but in the recent...more
Citing the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit’s recent en banc decision in Garcia v. Google (IP Update, Vol. 18, No. 6), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a summary judgment ruling that...more
Garcia v. Google: “Doubtful” Copyright Ownership Claim in Film Performance Does Not Outweigh First Amendment Right to Free Speech - Why it matters: In a closely watched case that tests the limits of copyright protection,...more