Former Go-Go’s bassist Kathy Valentine is suing four of her former bandmates, claiming they are attempting to “deprive her” of her full stake in the legendary female-fronted band.
According to the complaint filed Friday with the Los Angeles Superior Court, Valentine is entitled to a 20 percent share of the band’s revenues as a one-fifth member of both Ladyhead LLC and Smith-Pocket Industries, Inc. – the entities authorized to conduct the group’s business.
Members of Stone Temple Pilots are suing their former frontman Scott Weiland, according to court documents filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday.
The suit, which refers to STP as "one of America's most popular rock bands," claims that Weiland has "violated his duties" and has been "misappropriating" their name to further his current solo career. The suit specifically targets STP's 2012 20th anniversary tour on which they claim Weiland's actions damaged the group.
Responding to a lawsuit filed Friday against SAG-AFTRA regarding its foreign levies program, the union told The Hollywood Reporter that it had not yet been served with the suit but that “the claims as presented in the plaintiff’s earlier correspondence have been thoroughly reviewed and are completely without merit.”
Television broadcasters are taking the fight over unauthorized streaming to the nation's capital.
On Thursday night, Fox, NBCU, Disney/ABC, Allbritton Communications and Telemundo filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Alki David's TV digital distribution services in Washington D.C. federal court.
The complaint (read in full here) seeks to restrain Aereokiller and FilmOn.TV from retransmitting local TV programming online.
Before The Walt Disney Co. could complete its $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm in October, its lead attorney, Brian McCarthy, and a team from Skadden Arps faced a daunting task: figuring out whether George Lucas actually owned the rights to Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and about 10,000 characters and elements from the six Star Wars movies and their various offshoots.
Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson insists his studio isn’t searching for new outside sources of money -- even as industry speculation centers on whether Universal will partner with Thomas Tull's Legendary Pictures.
Ten years ago, Nick Denton started Gawker with the idea of capturing the gossip that journalists tell one another privately but won't put into print. Since then, he has been at the center of several legal battles with celebrities looking to protect secrets.
The network of Gawker sites have become celebrated for its scoops, most recently uncovering MantiTe'o's fake girlfriend and Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. Denton also has overseen many high-profile battles with stars including John Travolta, Hulk Hogan and Sarah Palin. His digital empire now attracts tens of millions of readers monthly.
Denton occasionally will admit to having made a judgment error. See what he has to say about a Lena Dunham book proposal below. But overall, Denton is unrepentant and argues an unconventional point of view on privacy that surely will keep the Hollywood legal community busy in the years to come.
We recently spoke to Denton about a decade worth of living on the edge online. Also joining the conversation was Gawker editor John Cook.
Beleaguered movie investors David Bergstein and Ronald Tutor suffered another legal setback as the federal appeals court in the central district of California rejected their plea to reverse an injunction that stops the sale of movies that were part of ThinkFilm and four other now bankrupt companies.
In a ruling that some in the entertainment industry are going to love and others are going to hate, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals revived former Rutgers QB Ryan Hart's lawsuit against Electronic Arts for allegedly violating his publicity rights in the video game "NCAA Football."
Hart played at Rutgers from 2002 to 2005 and objected to EA's video game which let users go into "dynasty mode" and control digital avatars that bore strong resemblance to real-life counterparts.
The case tested the balance between an individual's right to protect their likeness from commercial exploitation and an entertainment studio's right to engage in free speech. In September, 2011, a federal judge granted EA summary judgment victory, finding that EA's free expression outweighed Hart's publicity rights and that the game contained creative elements that were transformative fair use.
The case then went on appeal, and among those supporting EA was the Motion Picture Association of America, which submitted an amicus brief. On the other side, supporting Hart was the Screen Actors Guild. (Other amici included the professional sports leagues, A&E Television, Gawker, ESPN, The New York Times, etc.)
On Tuesday, the Third Circuit judges overturned by a 2-1 margin the lower court's call and remanded the case back to a trial court for further proceedings.
A New York federal judge has declined to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit against, as he puts it, "the whole of the digital music industry."
Norman Blagman is the named plaintiff and seeks to hold liable for copyright infringement several powerhouse companies including Apple, Amazon.com and Google. The defendants in the lawsuit sought to have the lawsuit dismissed for failure to state a plausible claim, but U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter says not so fast.
