Los Angeles, CA – William Saroyan, the Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize winning author and screenwriter, co-wrote “Come On-A My House” with his cousin Ross Bagdasarian, the creator of “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” Saroyan’s son and sole heir, Aram, alleges ownership of fifty percent of the copyright in…
Central District of California – Comic book author Jack Kirby’s heirs are suing Marvel and Disney (complaint available here) to terminate the copyrights in the popular Spider Man, Iron Man, X-Men, The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, The Avengers, Thor, Nick Fury and Ant-Man comics, which Kirby authored or co-authored…
Los Angeles, CA – Drive-In Music Company sued the musical group “The Heavy,” CBS, NFL and others for copyright infringement. In 1969, Arlester Christian wrote the musical composition entitled “Let a Woman Be a Woman, (and Let a Man Be a Man),” which was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office.…
Los Angeles, CA – Celebrity gossip and news website TMZ is being sued by Marc Schaffel Productions for using copyrighted video footage of Michael Jackson’s ex-wife, Debbie Rowe, without authorization. (Here’s a copy of the copyright infringement complaint). Schaffel interviewed Rowe in 2003, portions of which were publicly aired in…
Los Angeles, CA – The District Court granted NBC’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement in the “My Name Is Earl” copyright infringement lawsuit. (Order available here). Mark Gable filed a copyright infringement lawsuit (details blogged here) claiming that the “My Name Is Earl” television show was based on his…
UPDATE 1/27/2010: Upper Deck settles Yu Gi Oh! counterfeiting case. Details here. Los Angeles, CA – Despite the Court’s finding that Upper Deck counterfeited Yu Gi Oh! cards (details here) and advising the parties to settle the damages phase through mediation, the jury trial to determine damages has commenced (Court’s…
UPDATE 1/27/2010: Upper Deck settles Yu Gi Oh! counterfeiting case. Details here. Los Angeles, CA – Yu Gi Oh! owner Konami sued Upper Deck, its former distributor, for selling counterfeit trading cards. (Details here) After hearing both parties’ motions for summary judgment, the Court found that Konami had “presented evidence…
Los Angeles, CA – Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”), a music performing rights organization that licenses public performance of over 6.5 million copyrighted songs, sued T-Mobile for copyright infringement over use of songs in ringback tones. A ringback tone is a customer selected song that is heard by a caller instead…
Los Angeles, CA – Randy Stratton’s illustrations are featured in a book entitled “Build This Bong: Instructions and Diagrams for 40 Bongs, Pipes, and Hookahs.” Stratton registered his works with the U.S. Copyright Office. Stratton alleges that Defendant Upper Playground has, without Stratton’s authorization, copied Stratton’s works onto T-shirts sold…
Los Angeles, CA – Tyler Perry, whose numerous job titles seemingly take up most of the movie trailer (reciting: written by Tyler Perry, directed by Tyler Perry, starring Tyler Perry, produced by Tyler Perry, edited by Tyler Perry, etc.), was sued for copyright infringement by the estate of the late…