Readers over 40 will remember the TV series MacGyver, which ran on ABC from 1985 through 1992. The show starred Richard Dean Anderson as a mild-mannered secret agent with an uncanny ability to escape the gravest perils by repurposing ordinary objects around him. The show was such a hit that “macgyver” entered the lexicon to
Katie Couric Dodges Bullet in Defamation Suit Brought By Gun Rights Group
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled last week that deceptive editing in Katie Couric’s gun violence documentary did not rise to the level of a defamatory statement to support a defamation action.
The suit centers on a twelve-second clip in the documentary, Under the Gun. The film concerns gun policy
Decades-Long Fight Over $30 Million Pissarro Painting Stolen By Nazis is on Full Display as Court Wraps Trial
The oil painting by renowned impressionist Camille Pissarro titled “Rue Saint-Honoré in the Afternoon, Effect of Rain” appears innocent enough. The work depicts a boulevard in Paris during a dreamy drizzly afternoon in 1897. But it is what appears
Supremes Shut TVEyes
The Supreme Court turned down the petition of TVEyes for reconsideration of the ruling of the Second Circuit that TVEyes infringed Fox News copyrights. TVEyes is a media monitoring service that records virtually all TV news broadcasts in a searchable database. Subscribers can search for content by keyword and download 10-minute clips from the
Hold Everything! New York Judge Issues TRO Blocking Arbitration Against Jay-Z
Normally, efforts to halt arbitrations are dead on arrival if an arbitration agreement exists between the parties. This is especially so when there is no dispute over the scope of the arbitration provision or the claims that are subject to arbitration.
In Shawn C. Carter p/k/a Jay-Z, et al. v. Ionix Brand Group, Inc., et
Fox News Takes a Swing at TVEyes
The battle of the briefs continued as Fox News urged the Supreme Court to take a pass on a petition for certiorari from TVEyes in a copyright case that has drawn considerable attention. As regular readers will recall, TVEyes records virtually everything on TV into a fully searchable database that it sells to subscribers.
District Court Serves “Dual Survival” Star a Reality Check in Dismissing Claims for Defamation and False Light
Cody Lundin’s lawsuit against Discovery for allegedly defaming Lundin in its reality series “Dual Survival” was voted off the island earlier this month when a district court in Arizona granted Discovery’s motion for summary judgment. Lundin’s claims arose from an episode titled “Journey’s End to a New Beginning” which depicted
Empire Strikes Back, Again, and Prevails on Appeal in Infringement Suit
Shortly after the 2015 debut of the hit Fox Television show Empire, Clayton Tanksley sued the studio, distributor, producer and creators of Empire for copyright infringement and related claims in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Tanksley’s claims stem from an alleged 2008 meeting with Empire’s creator and producer,
TV Eyes v. Fox News: Wikimedia Weighs In
We last blogged here about the Second Circuit’s denial of TV Eyes’ fair use defense in a lawsuit brought by Fox News. Now the Wikimedia Foundation (owner of Wikipedia), joined by other free press advocacy groups, have filed an amicus brief in support of TVEyes’ petition for the Supreme Court review.
TVEyes is a subscription
Does LeBron James Have the Right to License His Own Tattoos?
One copyright lawsuit says the answer is “no.”
In a case against Take Two Interactive, the maker of the popular “NBA 2K” video game franchise, Solid Oak Sketches LLC argues LeBron James can license his likeness, but cannot license images of his tattoos due to copyright law.
Solid Oak claims it owns the images of