On Thursday, Judge Janis Sammartino of the Southern District of California rejected the affirmative defenses advanced by Conan O’Brien in a long-running joke theft lawsuit. The suit centers on four jokes that O’Brien told on his show Conanin 2015, which were allegedly stolen from the Twitter account of plaintiff Robert Kaseberg, a former comedy writer for […]
Tag Archives: entertainment
Court is not Ready to Purge Lawsuit
On July 17, 2014, Douglas Jordan-Benel sued Universal Studios, United Talent Agency and screenplay writer, James Demonaco, claiming the movie The Purge is based on his screenplay, Settler’s Day. Jordan-Benel alleges in his complaint that he submitted his screenplay for consideration to United Talent Agency around July 8, 2011, but the work was ultimately rejected. […]
Founder of The Dinosaur Project Sues Jurassic Park Creators
On Tuesday, Frederick Zaccheo, founder of the non-profit charity The Dinosaur Project, filed suit against the creators of Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom in the Southern District of New York. Zaccheo alleges that Universal City Studios and Amblin Entertainment committed breach of contract and trademark infringement relating to their use of the phrase SAVE THE DINOS in the […]
A House of Horrors: AHS House at Center of Lawsuit
The Rosenheim mansion in Country Club Park, the location of the first season of American Horror Story, is now at the center of a lawsuit. The plaintiffs, Ernest Von Schwartz and Pier A. Oaken, purchased the house from Von Steinbauer in 2015 for $3.2 million. They are suing Steinbauer’s estate as well as the Coldwell […]
Nothing “Happy” About This: Pharrell Calls Out Trump for Playing Song at Rally
Pharrell Williams has sent President Donald Trump a cease-and-desist letter for playing his song, ‘Happy’, without authorization at a rally. The move comes in the wake of the tragic shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The letter penned by Williams’ lawyer, Howard King, states that “on the day of the mass murder of 11 […]
Amazon Studios Settles with Artist’s Estate Before Highly Anticipated Suspiria Release
Amazon Studios has settled a copyright dispute with Ana Mendieta’s estate over images in Suspiria, the highly anticipated Luca Guadagnino film set to be theatrically released in New York and Los Angeles this weekend. Mendieta’s estate filed suit against the studio in federal court in Seattle last month, claiming several images in the film were too […]
“All The Stars” Leads to a Lawsuit
Lina Iris Viktor is suing Universal, Kendrick Lamar, SZA and others, over the “All The Stars” music video where she claims her paintings are shown. “Viktor alleges that a 19-second part of the Video infringes on her artwork by displaying, without a license, distinctive paintings of Viktor’s, which are based on ancient Egyptian and African symbolism and […]
Sorry, Nicki
On Monday, October 22nd, 2018, Tracy Chapman slapped Nicki Minaj with a copyright lawsuit. In her complaint, Chapman alleges that her song “Baby Can I Hold You” was sampled in Minaj’s song entitled “Sorry” without Chapman’s permission. Beginning in June 2018, Minaj and her representatives made multiple requests to license “Baby Can I Hold You,” […]
Splinter-ed Reputation: Miller sues Gizmodo Claiming False Abortion Pill Allegations
Jason Miller, a former member of President Trump’s communication team and ex-CNN commentator, filed a lawsuit on October 15, 2018 against Gizmodo Media Group, the parent company of Splinter.com, and the site’s managing editor Katherine Krueger. The $100 million-dollar lawsuit was filed in the southern district of Florida with a request for a jury trial. Miller’s […]
Netflix Slammed with Second Suit for Employee Poaching
Viacom, Inc filed suit against the streaming company in Los Angeles Superior Court this week. The complaint alleges that Netflix illegally recruits their employees from the personnel of rival entertainment companies – a practice which is known as “employee poaching”. The subject of this alleged poaching is Momita Sengupta, former executive vice president of production management […]