Fox Sues to Stop Film & TV Script Leaks

By Eriq Gardner

THR, Esq. | Article Link

Twentieth Century Fox is taking aggressive steps to keep its movie and TV scripts off of the Internet.

The studio has filed a lawsuit alleging roughly $15 million in damages against a New York woman, Patricia McIlvaine, who is said to have put up roughly 100 scripts online without authorization.

On her personal website, McIlvaine describes herself as a "struggling screenwriter who sells flowers over the phone by day and writes scripts by night." She says she collected scripts that were already posted on the web and made a free online library of scripts in order to assist other screenwriters. She's already soliciting donations for a legal defense fund.

Why is the studio targeting her? Spoiler alert!

According to the complaint, McIlvaine's actions allegedly cause particular damage to films and TV shows that are still in development. The postings "interfere and trade off of the costly and carefully designed creative processes that produce finished works ready for public consumption. They harm the fans who do not want their enjoyment of a movie or television show to be spoiled by knowing the story ahead of actually being able to watch it."

Fox's lawsuit mentions various scripts including Aliens, Edward Scissorhands, Wall Street, and Glee. It also mentions the leak of the script for the X-Men sequel Deadpool, which isn't scheduled to be released until 2012.

Game Over: Supreme Court to Review California’s Violent Video Game Restrictions

By Joey Weiner
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal
IPLJ Article Permalink

Following the attempts of a number of state legislatures, including those of Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana and California, to restrict minors’ rights to purchase violent video games, the Supreme Court will determine whether video games are granted the same free speech protection as other forms of expression.  On November 2nd, the Court began its review of the California Assembly Bill 1179, which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law in 2005.[1] The law imposes a $1,000 fine on anyone who sells or rents a violent video game to a minor[2] and requires that each violent video game imported to or distributed in the state must “be labeled with a solid white ‘18’ outlined in black.”[3]

In February 2009, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision to grant the Video Software Dealers Association’s motion for summary judgment to permanently enjoin enforcement of the California Assembly Bill.[4] Though both courts ruled that the Bill would violate the First Amendment, the opinions of the district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reflect varying perspectives regarding the inherent value of video games.  The district court ruled that despite the fact that video games are “mere entertainment” and are “base and malignant,” they are still protected by the First Amendment.[5] The Ninth Circuit, on the other hand, recognized that some games, though violent, may “have extensive plot lines that involve or parallel historical events, mirror common fictional plots, or place the player in a position to evaluate and make moral choices.”[6]

French Film Director: “There is no such thing as intellectual property.”

By S. Scott Miller
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal
IPLJ Article Permalink

Influential French New Wave film director, Jean Luc Godard, has donated one thousand euro to the defense of Jean Climant, who has been accused of downloading more than 13,000 mp3s via bitorrent.  Godard has been vocal in his criticisms of intellectual property law: “I am against Hadopi [the French internet-copyright law, or its attendant agency], of course. There is no such thing as intellectual property. I’m against the inheritance [of works], for example. An artist’s children could benefit from the copyright of their parents’ works, say, until they reach the age of majority… But afterward, it’s not clear to me why Ravel’s children should get any income from Bolero… “ It looks like Godard is putting his money where his mouth is.