Country-Rock Star Don Everly Granted Declaratory Judgement Against Late Brother’s Heirs
On May 4, 2021, a United States District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee granted declaratory judgment in a dispute over the rights to the 1960s hit song “Cathy’s Clown.” This was the culmination of a longstanding dispute between Don Everly (“Don”) and his late brother Phil Everly’s (“Phil”) heirs. The Everly Brothers performed…
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On May 12, 2021, a class-action suit was filed in an Illinois Circuit Court against the tech giant Amazon. The lawsuit alleged that Amazon violated multiple provisions of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (“BIPA”) by collecting, storing, and analyzing “biometric identifiers” of Amazon Photos users and those appearing in their photos. “Biometric identifiers” are distinctive…
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On March 26th, 2021, the Second Circuit (i.e., the Court of Appeals for federal courts located in New York and surrounding areas) ruled that a series of Andy Warhol’s prints created from photographs of “Prince” infringed upon the copyright of the author of the original pictures (i.e., the photographer). In doing so, the Second Circuit…
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So-Called ‘Golden Rule’ Leads to Reversal of $1.1 Million Judgement Against Fetty Wap’s Record Label
On April 22nd, 2021, a State of New Jersey appeals court tossed a $1.1 million judgment against a record label in a breach of contract and defamation lawsuit. The record label, RGF Productions Inc., was sued by a former RGF employee. After an RGF press release stated that former employee Shawna Morgan wrongly collected extra…
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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”…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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