Posts by Steven T. Lowe

On March 15th, 2021, Ozark co-creator Mark Williams (“Williams”) was hit with a breach of contract suit. In a complaint filed by Nick May (“May”), the first-time screenwriter claims that Williams eliminated his authorship of the film he wrote. After May agreed to “option” his screenplay for the upcoming film, “Blacklight,” to Williams, the “Ozark”…

On April 22nd, 2021, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s decision that music producer Lukasz Gottwald, professionally known as Dr. Luke, is not a “public figure.” The decision was affirmed just in time for an upcoming trial over claims that pop-star singer Kesha slandered him by falsely accusing him of drugging…

On February 25th, 2021, Artist and Chicano-rights activist Salvador Torres filed a lawsuit against San Diego Unified School District and Balfour Beatty Construction. The suit arises from the destruction of a mural Torres painted for the school district back in 1988. According to the complaint, the San Diego School District and Balfour Beatty’s demolition of…

On April 14th, 2021, Joan Celia Lee, otherwise known as “JC” Lee, asked the Ninth Circuit to reopen her lawsuit against her father’s former partners for control of the late comic book legend’s publicity rights. In June of 2020, Judge Otis Wright threw out the lawsuit and fined JC Lee 1 million dollars for frivolous…

  On April 12th, 2021, Florida-based marketing agency Creative Klick Agency LLC (“Creative Klick”) filed a copyright infringement suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against social media celebrity Dan Bilzerian and his beverage company, Ignite Spirits Inc. (“Ignite”) The lawsuit follows a major social media marketing blast by Bilzerian…

On March 25th, 2021, the Ninth Circuit ruled on billionaire resort and casino developer Steve Wynn’s defamation suit against well-known civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom. According to the court documents, Wynn brought the defamation suit against Bloom after she published a press release claiming Wynn forced casino dancers to strip for him. The slanderous press release…

On April 20th, 2021, a California Appellate Court in the Second District affirmed summary judgment in favor of the producers of the hit show “American Idol.” Ruling against the plaintiff and former American Idol contestant, Michael Simeon Smith (“Smith”), the Appellate Court affirmed the lower court’s decision, holding that the language of the American Idol…

On March 17th, 2021, a class action suit led by “Key & Peele” showrunner, Jay Martel, was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. After years of failing to pay streaming royalties to writers on dozens of television shows, including “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” “Tosh.0,” and “Key…

On March 11th, 2021, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a bid from artist Peter Max to modify a $49 million arbitration award against Great American Security Co. and Interested Underwriters at Lloyds (“The Insurers”) in an insurance dispute. The insurance dispute results from Superstorm Sandy, where the 2012 hurricane led to the damage…