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Archive for the ‘entertainment’ Category
Nike files patent for ‘Back to the Future’ sneakers
Friday, September 3rd, 2010Men At Work Must Pay Royalties for “Down Under”
Thursday, July 8th, 2010Australian band Men At Work was recently ordered to pay 5% of its royalties from the 1983 hit song “Down Under” to the owner of a 76-year old folk song. Down Under’s distinctive flute riff is reported to have been used from the folk song, “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.” It is also reported that the suit was initiated in Sydney Federal Court after a television quiz show suggested the similarity.
The owners of “Kookaburra,” Larrikin Music, reportedly asked for 60% royalties obtained from Down Under, which the Court found to be excessive, stating that the riff only appears in two bars of the song. The Court seemed to disregard Men At Work’s argument that the copying was “unconscious.”
Why David Byrne Sued the Governor of Florida
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010Last week, David Byrne filed a lawsuit against Florida Governor Charlie Crist for unauthorized use of the Talking Heads song “Road to Nowhere” in a campaign ad. Byrne, who is seeking $1 million in damages, has never licensed his songs for commercials and believes that the spot suggests he endorsed Crist’s candidacy.
Viacom v. YouTube Lawsuit Details
Monday, March 22nd, 2010Viacom has sued YouTube, alleging that YouTube built traffic and ad sales by allowing users to post copyrighted clips that they took from movies and television owned by Viacom.
Further inquiry, however, revealed that Viacom could have had the clips removed, but chose to keep them there to create viral marketing campaigns for entertainment.
Viacom has released their unsealed court documents, many of which further outline Viacom’s own acts, that they themselves posted clips on YouTube, even adding that staff members went to places like Kinko’s to upload the clips so that they wouldn’t be traced back to Viacom’s computers. Further information was released that Viacom altered their own footage so that it appeared stolen before uploading.
Google, who owns YouTube, also released their unsealed court documents (Motion for Summary Judgment). Among the allegations in Google’s documents and testimony is a statement that Viacom actually tried to buy YouTube in the past.
In February 2007, Viacom insisted that a mass amount of clips were removed, to which Google complied. When traffic to YouTube didn’t decrease and Viacom’s traffic didn’t increase as a result, Viacom then initiated this lawsuit for $1 Billion.
Lindsay Lohan Sues E-Trade Over Baby Commercial
Sunday, March 14th, 2010Lindsay Lohan recently sued E-Trade over one of their Superbowl advertisements, claiming the company is portraying Lohan’s name negatively through one of their baby characters. E-Trade’s commercial in question features a baby, “Lindsay.” In this same commercial, the baby states that she is a “milkaholic.”
Lohan’s attorney states that Lindsay’s name has the same single-recognition as Oprah or Madonna, the New York Post reports. As a result, Lohan is seeking over $100 Million in damages, including claims for pain and suffering.
NFL Claims Rights to Saints’ “Who Dat?”
Sunday, January 31st, 2010For decades, New Orleans Saints fans have belted out a cheer that has become part of their identity as much as crawfish and Burbon Street: “Who Dat Say Dey Gonna Beat Dem Saints? Who Dat? Who Dat?”
The National Football League, however, asserted rights to the phrase “Who Dat?” earlier this week through the Florida Department of State, not without confusion and outrage from Saints fans, and has issued cease-and-desist orders against New Orleans vendors who sell Saints memorabilia adorned with the wording. The NFL asserts that the public will be confused into believing the memorabilia is sponsored by the NFL. The NFL further clarified that it is only seeking the rights to the phrase in relation to the Saints, and not as a whole.
The NFL is essentially claiming rights over “Who Dat,” a simple slang version of “Who’s that?” If a legally-recognizable line in the sand can be drawn between rights to a slang version of a commonly-used phrase, and the commonly-used phrase itself, where should the rights end?
Conan O’Brien’s Comedy Characters Caught Up in “Late Night” Drama
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010Conan O’ Brien isn’t the only NBC “character” to get caught up in all the late night drama. Throughout his 17 years at NBC, Conan has made much of his fortune off of his famous comedy characters, including the well-known Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. NBC Universal, however, states that they own the rights to these characters and will likely force them to stay behind while Conan departs to another network.
