Mays v. Xtreme Entertainment Group, Case No. BC383445 (Los Angeles County Superior), filed Jan.8
Claims: Publicity rights, defamation, invasion of privacy, emotional distress
Allegations: While plaintiff Kory Mays was attending high school, two other students videotaped him participating in a fight. Without his consent, defendants have used the footage in DVDs including “Westside 2” and “Bareknuckle Beatdowns,” which promises “real street brawls … in the baddest, seediest, most dangerous street corners and back alleys ever caught on tape.” Viewers would reasonably understand from the DVDs that Mays “was a violent individual who participates in fights.”
Filing attorney: Jean-Paul Le Clercq, Makarem & Associates, Los Angeles
Wixen Music Publishing v. Twentieth Century Fox, Case No. 08-CV-00112 (USDC, C. Calif.) filed Jan.8
Claims: Copyright infringement
Allegations: Plaintiff holds the publishing rights to songs of progressive rockers Styx including the hit “Mr. Roboto.” A representative of the production company KIOS contacted Wixen about obtaining a synchronization license to use “Mr. Roboto” in the break-dancing movie “Kickin’ It Old Skool.” But after receiving price quotes from Wixen, defendants including KIOS, Fox and producer Bob Yari, released the film without licensing the song, “despite recognizing that plaintiffs had the rights to license the use of the Composition by virtue of the fact of submitting an ‘Urgent Film Synch Request” on two occasions.”
Filing attorney: Martin Keleti, Cohen & Cohen, Los Angeles
