Viacom and Time Warner Cable have announced a deal that will allow TWC's customers to see Viacom programming on the iPad and other supported devices. In making the agreement, the two companies are putting an end to litigation that erupted last year when TWC introduced an app that let its subscribers view Viacom stations including Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and CMT on the iPad while at home.
A New York judge has dismissed claims brought by MTV reality star John Devenanzio, who alleged in a lawsuit last year that HBO's Entourage damaged his name and personality and caused him emotional distress by featuring a character named "Johnny Bananas."
The Entourage character was played by Kevin Dillon in a show-within-a-show, and Devenanzio, who appeared as a cast member on The Real World: Key West and won the most recent season of MTV's The Challenge, said he was already known in the entertainment world as Johnny Bananas.
But New York Superior Court Judge Lucy Billings has ruled that Devenanzio filed his claims too late.
ESPN is about to be sued for libel over a report about former assistant Syracuse University basketball coach Bernie Fine, who was fired after the network's Outside the Lines reported that two former ball boys were accusing the coach of molestation. The lawsuit comes from the ex-coach's wife, Laurie Fine, who says that a secret tape recording from one of the accusers was taken out of context in the broadcast.
The anonymous masseur who sued John Travolta for sexual battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress has withdrawn his claims. On Tuesday, the "John Doe" formally filed a notice of dismissal.
Bret Michaels has settled a lawsuit against CBS over an injury he suffered during the 2009 Tony Awards. The singer had alleged that producers were to blame for him being smacked in the face by a descending set piece because they failed to tell him how to exit the stage safely.
A new lawsuit contends that it is very difficult for disabled individuals to appear as contestants on Let's Make A Deal, the TV game show that has been around for decades and now airs on CBS.
Two plaintiffs, Arnie Pike and Christie Rudder, both of whom use wheelchairs, are suing CBS Broadcasting, Fremantlemedia and other producers of the show, alleging they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and California's civil rights laws in the way the show has allegedly failed to provide full and equal access to facilities and services.
A dispute over a troubled documentary about the Mayan civilization has prompted a libel lawsuit against a Los Angeles news blog.
The Wrap and writer Steve Pond were sued Monday for at least $1 million by Elisabeth Thieriot on allegations of libel, invasion of privacy and defamation.
Actress Hilary Swank is joining the growing ranks of celebrities suing to protect the value of their name and likeness. The double Oscar winner has filed a lawsuit against a home-audio company that allegedly used her photos in an unauthorized promotion on its website.
MGM has promoted its longtime top legal executive Scott Packman to senior executive vp, general counsel and secretary. Separately, the studio has named Cheryl Rodman as executive vp and deputy general counsel.
The moves come as MGM continues to reinvent itself after emerging from bankruptcy under the guidance of Spyglass chiefs Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum and COO Ken Schapiro.
Last week, in what must have seemed for many in the entertainment industry to be a case of history replaying, Dish Network introduced the Auto Hop, its new device that will let subscribers watch recorded television programming without the commercials.
The technology isn't exactly a new idea. But for more than a decade, cable and satellite distributors have been careful about going too far with DVR functionality, not wanting to upset programmers worried about the future of the 30-second commercial.
Australian singer-songwriter Allan Caswell is alleging in a lawsuit that the band Alabama stole its chart-topping 1982 country hit, "Christmas in Dixie," from the song he penned as the theme for the 1980s Australian television soap, Prisoner.
What makes the case peculiar -- besides litigation over songs created three decades ago -- is that in Caswell's new lawsuit, he isn't suing Alabama but rather his own music publisher, Sony ATV Music Publishing Australia, for failing to collect royalties from the alleged lift. Caswell and Alabama are signed to different divisions of Sony Music.
As Facebook gets ready for its IPO this week, a judge in Massachusetts has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit from one of Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard classmates, Aaron Greenspan. The plaintiff claimed that he was robbed of glory for playing a role in the founding of Facebook when author Ben Mezrich changed his name in The Accidental Billionaires and Columbia Pictures omitted any reference to him in 2010 best picture Oscar nominee The Social Network.
In the decision, the judge has dismissed the allegations along with other claims that the book and film infringed the copyright on Greenspan's autobiography.
Brendan Fraser is suing producers of William Tell...The Legend, alleging they violated a written agreement to star in a proposed film about the Swiss folk hero known for his expert bow-and-arrow marksmanship.
Paramount Pictures has made an offer to the Mario Puzo estate that couldn't be refused.
Thanks to an agreement between the parties, a new Godfather-based book will be coming out. The deal doesn't end a nasty dispute between the parties, but each has seen the wisdom of allowing onto the marketplace a book titled The Family Corleone that is expected to detail Vito Corleone's rise to power in Depression-era New York.
