At what point if ever do they rise to the level of legal infringement? [Matthew Belloni, THREsq.]
Posts Tagged ‘movies film and videos’
“I am a very emotional person, and will cry.”
The New York Times profiles Martin Singer, “pit bull” lawyer to celebrities and frequent Overlawyered mentionee. “Mr. Singer acknowledges that defamation suits are tough to win, and seldom pay much. Usually, his aim is suppression. ‘Our goal is to try to kill the story, to take action before things get out,’ says Mr. Singer.” Earlier here, here, here, and here.
May 12 roundup
- Alabama state senate bans knowingly giving illegal immigrant ride in your car [Katherine Mangu-Ward]
- Cato U., dynamite summer seminar from my institute, being held this year in Annapolis Jul. 24-29;
- Calif.: “64% of Prop 65 settlements go to attorneys’ fees” [CJAC, earlier]
- Mississippi jury votes $322 million to individual asbestos claimant [Fair Warning, Mass Tort Prof]
- “Emails: Attorney nixed S.C. train injury fund” [AP/The State]
- Trump files $100 million counterclaim against customer who sued his “Trump University” [Atlantic Wire, earlier] More: Lowering the Bar.
- Two, three, a trend? Another trial-lawyer movie, this time starring Mark Lanier [WSJ Law Blog]
April 27 roundup
- “Bioblitz”: Environmental groups file thousands of actions demanding endangered species listings [NYT; related discussion with Jonathan Adler and Steven Hayward at NYT’s Room for Debate]
- War on painkillers could turn many more Florida docs, druggists into criminals [White Coat]
- Feds flex muscle, using debarment to oust company CEOs [Jim Doyle, St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
- “Madigan’s List”: powerful Illinois pol sways selection of Cook County judges [Chicago Tribune]
- Nick Gillespie interviews education reformer Jay Greene [Reason]
- Social conservatives misplay recusal card against Judge Vaughn Walker in Prop 8 case [Richard Painter, LEF, more, AW, LAT] Other views: Whelan, Gillers, motion.
- Why TV shows like “WKRP in Cincinnati” appear in compromised DVD versions [Alex Tabarrok updates a story we had in ’06]
Canadian cultural protectionism
Canada’s TV establishment may call on Ottawa to prevent escape-via-Netflix [Michael Moynihan]
Charlie Sheen sues Warner Brothers
We can’t really add much to the month’s most over-publicized story, which has now graduated to allegations of disability discrimination and California labor code violations as well as contract breach [NLJ, ABA Journal], but we can refer you to the analysis of Jon Hyman, Daniel Schwartz, Christine Hurt, and David Boaz.
“More than 100,000 People Have Been Sued for Sharing Movies in Past Year”
So far it’s mostly smaller and adult producers filing the suits. Will the broader film industry wind up going down the much-lawyered record-label route? [Hollywood Reporter THR, Esq.] Related: “Lessons from the Texas Downloading Dismissal – Why Due Process Matters” [Paul Alan Levy, CL&P]
“Crocodile Dundee planning to sue Australia”
Australian authorities dropped a criminal tax investigation of actor Paul Hogan, whose 1986 starring role did much for the nation’s image. Now Hogan, who lives in Los Angeles, says his reputation and career have suffered. [Lowering the Bar]
Susan Saladoff documentary “Hot Coffee” at Sundance
At Abnormal Use, Nick Farr brings some scrutiny to what’s looking like the big trial-bar media venture of the season.
P.S. And a follow-up that really stands on its own as a resource: “The Stella Liebeck McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case FAQ“
What could have been entering the public domain this month?
If not for the copyright extension bill that became effective in 1978, a wealth of significant work created in 1954 would have entered the public domain this January 1. [Duke Center for the Study of the Public Domain]