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Who's Doing What
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John Shaffner will continue his post at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; talk-show host Jonathan Ross will leave the BBC amid a prank call scandal; celebrated civil rights lawyer and state Judge Bobby DeLaughter begins prison sentence; the Motion Picture Association raids Thai counterfeit DVD factory; Disney names Sheryl Sandberg to board of directors; Fox and Time Warner agree on broadcasting fees.
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1
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In Brief
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Second Ohio police chief charged with spying on actors’ surrogate mother; Randy and Evi Quaid plead not guilty; judge drops battery charges against Gerard Butler; Video Business Magazine announces planned closure; Capitol Films settles production agreement suit with Chris Roberts; TV networks drop lawsuit against rebroadcasting subscription service.
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2
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Animal Rights
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American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. Feld Entertainment Inc. Federal judge tosses animal cruelty lawsuit against the owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey traveling circus.
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3
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Personal injury
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Joseph Birdsong, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Apple Inc. 9th Circuit upholds dismissal of class action claiming Apple iPods pose an “unreasonable” risk of hearing loss.
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4
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Defamation
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Amanda Steele v. Michael Ritz. Tennessee Appeals court clears county commissioner of strippers’ defamation claim.
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4
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Employment
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Citadel Broadcasting Corp. v. John Dolan. Federal judge allows Citadel’s claim that the former ABC Radio Networks president waived his severance pay when he tried to poach Sean Hannity.
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5
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Contract
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Ted Moustakis v. Christie’s Inc. Star Trek fan loses suit over Commander Data uniform.
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5
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Patent Infringement
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Cooper Notification Inc. v. Twitter Inc. Another tech company files a patent infringement suit against Twitter.
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6
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Music Licensing
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Verulam Music Co. Ltd. v. Mainstay Music Co. Ltd. British music companies sue over license to songs by 1960s pop band The Zombies.
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6
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Personal injury
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ReAnna Hedrick v. 3rd Base Inc. Woman claims club set up dangerous dance pole.
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7
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Copyright
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Thomas Marasciullo v. Cash Money Records. Spoken word artist accuses Lil’ Wayne of using his work on the rapper’s records without permission.
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7
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Publicity Rights
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Jennifer Lopez v. Ojani Noa. J Lo sues to stop ex-husband from publishing the couple’s honeymoon sex tape.
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8
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Copyright
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Digimarc Corporation v. Shazam Entertainment Ltd. Tech company claims it invented Shazam’s music recognition program.
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8
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Music Licensing
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WPIX Inc. v. Broadcast Music Inc. Local TV stations throughout the country demand a determination of reasonable fees BMI may charge to license the songs stations use in TV shows.
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9
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Copyright
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Hubert Powell III v. BKS Music Group. Gospel artist accuses music group of launching unauthorized online campaign for his album.
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9
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Copyright
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Perfect 10 Inc. v. Rapidshare AG. The publisher of Perfect 10 magazine files $10 million copyright infringement suit against Web site.
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10
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Copyright
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CMG Brands v. Moseley Road Inc. Marilyn Monroe licensor claims Borders is selling calendars full of unauthorized photos of the late movie star.
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10
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Copyright
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Discovery Communications v. Nikola Nikolic. Discovery accuses Internet service provider of hosting site that broadcasts episodes of Discovery’s “MythBusters” series.
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11
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Contract
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D.B. Zwirn Special Opportunities Fund v. David Bergstein. Hedge fund demands repayment of $120 million David Bergstein allegedly borrowed to buy Capitol Films.
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11
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Copyright
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Summit Entertainment v. Beckett Media. “Twilight” movie producer accuses publisher of selling a fan magazine that contains copyrighted “Twilight” images without permission.
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12
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Fiduciary Duty
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Merle Haggard v. Robert Brown. Country star Merle Haggard claims his accountant botched four years of tax returns.
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12
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Contract
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Peter Lampack Agency Inc. v. Martha Grimes. Literary agent accuses mystery writer of skipping out on commissions.
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13
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Copyright
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Beck Hansen v. Revolver USA Inc. Alternative rocker claims record label kept selling his album after he pulled the plug on the record deal.
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13
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Contract
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Tommie Richardson Jr. v. Zomba Gospel. Gospel singer sues record label over $92,000 in production costs.
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14
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Class Actions
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Kambiz Batmanghelich v. Sirius XM Radio Inc. Satellite radio customer files class action accusing Sirius of recording private calls.
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14
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Copyright
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Zenon Yracheta v. The Walt Disney Company. Writer claims Disney stole his script for the comedy “Beverly Hills Chihuahua.”
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15
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Copyright
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Spectrum Film Productions Inc. v. V Entertainment Group. Production company allegedly owes $200,000 for 10 episodes of the reality series “Chopper Challenge.”
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15
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Royalties
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D.I. v. Triple X Entertainment Inc. 1980s punk bands sue their record label, claiming it set up a recording deal in order to cheat the bands of their royalties.
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16
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Patent Infringement
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Spring Design Inc. v. Barnesandnoble.com. Tech company accuses Barnes and Noble of stealing its e-reader.
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16
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Contract
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Full Throttle Films Inc. v. National Mobile Television Inc. California appeals court nixes Wachovia Capital Finance’s attempt to establish a superior interest in troubled National Mobile Television’s assets after a production company filed a lien to recover an alleged $416,000 in unpaid filmmaking equipment rental fees.
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17
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