Disney Unable to Dodge Copyright Infringement Suit by Special Effects Company
On August 16th, 2021, a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in favor of a special effects company, and against Disney, on a motion for summary judgement in a copyright infringement dispute. Disney used the special effects company’s technology to animate characters for blockbuster films including Beauty…
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On September 15, 2021, model and former “Bachelor” contestant Hannah Ann Sluss (“Sluss”) sued Procter & Gamble Company, Inc. (“P&G”) for copyright infringement, claiming that P&G is still using her image to sell products, even though its license to do so has long since expired. According to Sluss’s complaint, she licensed one of her modeling…
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On July 7th, 2021, in a unanimous, unpublished decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s finding that entrepreneur Damon “Dame” Dash (“Dash”) was guilty of copyright infringement. The ruling held that Dash infringed upon the copyright of an upstart author/filmmaker named Edwyna Brooks (“Brooks”) movie “Mafietta” when Dash placed it for…
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Only July 8th, 2021, Hard Rock Cafe filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Florida federal court accusing a South Carolina hemp company. According to the lawsuit, the famous Rock n’ Roll chain accused the hemp company of profiteering off the restaurant and hotel conglomerate’s famous name to sell its CBD creams and edibles. Hard Rock…
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On June 14th, 2021, James and William Reid, brothers and founding members of the Scottish alternative rock band Jesus and Mary Chain, hit Warner Music Group Corp. (“Warners”) with a $2.5 million copyright infringement suit. The Reid brothers allege that Warner refuses to acknowledge and accept the band’s notice of termination of Warners’ ownership rights…
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On June 3rd, 2021, a California federal judge rejected a cannabis company’s attempt to escape a trademark infringement suit brought by the manufacturer of Kool Cigarettes. Judge Otis D. Wright II ruled against Capna Intellectual (“Capana”) a Los Angeles- Based cannabis company, holding that the interlocking Os at the heart of Capana’s “Bloom” logo presented…
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On March 31st, 2021, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams denied a motion to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit against singer-songwriter sensation Ed Sheeran over his hit song “Thinking Out Loud.” Structured Asset Sales, who owns the recording of “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye, filed the suit on June 8th, 2020, alleging (again) that…
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Kevin Wooten is a high school English teacher from North Carolina that has written the adventure novel Pennywise: The Hunt for Blackbeard’s Treasure. Within Wooten’s novel, a group of teenagers living in the Outer Banks region of the North Carolina coast finds hidden treasure. After Wooten published his novel in 2016, Netflix released the first…
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Just weeks after Neil Diamond filed suit over Trump’s use of his “Rockin’ in the Free World” at rallies, singer-songwriter, and producer Eddy Grant filed suit against Trump and his campaign on September 1, 2020, alleging copyright infringement over the use of Grant’s 1983 hit “Electric Avenue” in a campaign video posted to Trump’s Twitter…
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