Does Warner Bros. Really Have Exclusive Movie Rights to a Story Posted on Reddit? (Analysis)

By Eriq Gardner
THR, Esq. | Article Link

Fledging author James Erwin sold Warner Bros. on movie rights to his short story posted on Reddit. But the user agreement for the news community website could raise some thorny intellectual property questions.

In the annals of Hollywood, there have been many tales of writers realizing their dreams by successfully pitching a studio on a film. But these days, with many studios getting sued left and right for allegedly ripping off ideas from writers, executives have become a lot more careful about unsolicited submissions.

U.S. Copyright Czar Cozied Up to Content Industry, E-Mails Show

By David Kravets
Wired | Article Link

Victoria Espinel, Copyright Czar

Top-ranking Obama administration officials, including the U.S. copyright czar, played an active role in secret negotiations between Hollywood, the recording industry and ISPs to disrupt internet access for users suspected of violating copyright law, according to internal White House e-mails.

The e-mails, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, (.pdf) show the administration’s cozy relationship with Hollywood and the music industry’s lobbying arms and its early support for the copyright-violation crackdown system publicly announced in July.

Piracy May Be An Indie Filmmaker’s Best Friend

By Anthony Kaufman

Indiewire | Article Link

Piracy might be a filmmaker’s best friend. Or at least not the worst enemy.

Despite the conventional wisdom that BitTorrent websites and illegal downloading are destroying the fabric of entertainment industries, a number of advocates and activists believe that piracy can help independent filmmakers as both a distribution mechanism and promotional tool.

Revenue generation may be another matter, but as “Ink” producer Kiowa Winans says, “The torrent community spread the film everywhere and helped build an audience more effectively than any decent-budget ad campaign could have.”

Why an Allegation That Beyoncé Plagiarized Dance Moves Is Truly Unique (Analysis)

By Eriq Gardner
THR, Esq. | Article Link

A Belgian choreographer is really bucking the trend by accusing the pop star of infringing a copyright to her choreography. How claims over choreography compare to ones made over music, film, and yes, maps.

Pop star Beyoncé is currently defending herself against charges of plagiarizing the work of the Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker in the music video, "Countdown."

Since the choreographer went public with charges that Beyoncé plundered movements from two films, Rosas danst Rosas and Achterland, the film's lawyers have contacted Sony about alleged similarities, and there's been tremendous chatter in the press and on blogs about whether the singer is really in legal jeopardy.

Top 10 Most Pirated Movies of All Time

By Ernesto
TorrentFreak | Article Link

Netflix recently published a list of the ten most rented movies of all time. This got us thinking; what are the most downloaded movies on BitTorrent? Today we present the full chart of the top ten most pirated movies transferred via the now ubiquitous protocol, a list headed by Avatar.

Every day millions of people use BitTorrent to download and share movies. But what are all these people downloading?

For nearly half a decade we have compiled weekly and yearly lists of the most popular downloads, and following on from Netflix’s publication of the most rented movies of all time, we today present the equivalent for BitTorrent downloads.

Stan Lee Media's Attempt To Reclaim 'Conan the Barbarian' Is Called 'Untimely'

By Eriq Gardner
THR, Esq. | Article Link

In August, just as Conan the Barbarian 3D was released, Stan Lee Media Inc. filed a lawsuit in an effort to reclaim ownership on the fictional Conan character. The move by SLMI, which was founded by comic book legend Stan Lee but now operates independently, is part of a larger campaign to put back the pieces from a turbulent bankruptcy from nearly a decade ago.

SLMI believes that finally having a court-recognized board of directors will give it the necessary standing to pursue reclamation of its intellectual property, but the current owners of the Conan character say it's too late.

Harlan Ellison Sues Claiming Fox's 'In Time' Rips Off Sci-Fi Story (Exclusive)

By Eriq Gardner

THR, Esq. | Article Link

Legendary sci-fi author files copyright infringement lawsuit to stop the New Regency movie starring Justin Timberlake and Cillian Murphy.

Science fiction legend Harlan Ellison is attempting to kill a high-profile movie that is scheduled to come out in theaters next month. The Hugo award-winning writer has filed a lawsuit against New Regency and director Andrew Niccol over the 20th Century Fox-distributed film, In Time, starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy. He is demanding an injunction to prevent the film's October 28 release and the disposal of all copies of the film.

Lionsgate Sued Over Music Used in LeBron James Documentary

By Eriq Gardner
THR, Esq. | Article Link

A songwriter says that his music was used in 'More Than A Game' without permission.

Lionsgate has been hit with a quirky copyright infringement lawsuit over a piece of music used in documentary More Than A Game, which chronicles basketball superstar LeBron James' rise during his high school days in Ohio.

Tech Execs Should Read the PROTECT IP Act Before Attacking It

By Alex Swartsel
MPAA Blog | Article Link

There’s a theme in the series of letters that we’ve seen so far from collections of people opposed to the PROTECT IP Act, including today’s message from tech executives: they convey sweeping, generic concerns that, compared with the actual language of the bill, seem completely unfounded.

Today’s letter announces: “[W]e fear that if PIPA is allowed to become law in its present form, it will hurt economic growth and chill innovation in legitimate services that help people create, communicate, and make money online. … the bill will create uncertainty for many legitimate businesses and in turn undermine innovation and creativity on those services.”

Illegal Downloading: When Has the Crackdown Gone Too Far?

By Elizabeth Morris
Fordham Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment Law Journal
IPLJ Article Permalink

College students love music and movies, but they don’t always have the time or the financial means to feed their entertainment interests.  Illegal file sharing allows them to download the entertainment they love quickly and easily, without the cost. It is especially prevalent among students on college campuses because of the high-speed Internet access provided by the schools, and the typical low regulation of Internet usage. These factors make it so easy for students to share files that most students don’t even think they are doing anything wrong. How could something that is this easy be illegal, right?

Is Netflix Reducing Illicit File Sharing? Depends on Which Stats You Believe

By Ryan Singel
Wired | Article Link

Arbor Networks's traffic analysis of IPv4 applications based on payload analysis in a small number of North American consumer providers from August 2010 to February 2011. Courtesy Arbor Networks.

Netflix, the DVD-by-mail company that turned into a streaming-movie giant, now has nearly as many subscribers as Comcast. In the evenings, Netflix accounts for more than 40 percent of U.S. bandwidth usage, by some measurements.

Those astounding numbers are leading some to wonder whether Netflix is reducing the amount of peer-to-peer file sharing, once the easiest way to find movies to watch.

ICE Uses Seized Domains for Best Anti-Piracy Video Ever

By David Kravets
Wired | Article Link

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement bureau is hoping to lay a little guilt on movie downloaders by dramatizing the stark human toll BitTorrent inflicts on Hollywood boom mic operators … or something.

Meet the Lawyers Featured in Morgan Spurlock's 'Greatest Movie Ever Sold'

By Jonathan Handel
THR, Esq. | Article Link

The legal experts enlighten and entertain in the product-placement adventure.

“THR, Esq. Presents: The Greatest Blog Post Ever Written,” By Jonathan Handel, Edited by Matthew Belloni, Inspired by Morgan Spurlock’s “Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” Based Upon a Story Suggestion By Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC’s Marc Handelman, and with the Assistance of Block-Korenbrot Public Relations on Behalf of Its Client Sony Pictures Classics.

Who Profits from Piracy? By Ellen Seidler

By Chris Castle
Music • Technology • Policy | Article Link

MPAA Files Copyright Suit Against Zediva

By Greg Sandoval
Media Maverick | Article Link

The trade group representing the six major Hollywood film studios filed a copyright suit in federal court against online video distributor Zediva today.

The suit has started the process that almost certainly will end with Zediva's demise.

"Zediva illegally streams movies to its customers without obtaining required licenses from the movie studios," the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) said in a statement today. "Zediva claims it is like a brick-and-mortar DVD 'rental' store and therefore not obligated to pay licensing fees to copyright holders. But the DVD 'rental' label is a sham. In reality, Zediva is a video-on-demand service that transmits movies over the Internet using streaming technologies in violation of the studios' copyrights."

Studio Suing BitTorrent Pirates Does Not Own the Movie, Records Show

By David Kravets
Wired | Article Link

A film company suing 5,865 BitTorrent downloaders over the flick Nude Nuns with Big Guns doesn’t own the rights to the movie, according to court documents and interviews.

Incentive Capital of Utah took ownership last month of the B-rated flick about a sister who is “one Bad Mother.” Yet two weeks after Incentive Capital foreclosed and assumed Camelot Distribution Group’s titles because of an allegedly soured loan, Camelot filed a mass copyright lawsuit (.pdf) on behalf of Nude Nuns claiming it owned the rights.

Judge Who Said Lumping Together Unrelated Copyright Cases Is Fine... Is A Former RIAA Lobbyist

By Mike Masnick
Techdirt | Article Link

Last week, we noted that Judge Beryl Howell seemed to go against numerous other rulings by mass copyright lawsuit filers in saying that it was just fine to lump all the defendants together, despite the fact that each one was totally unrelated to the others. She even went so far as to claim that this benefited the defendants. She also pointed out that this made it easier for the plaintiffs, and seemed particularly concerned that things be as easy as possible for those plaintiffs. As we noted, our legal system isn't supposed to work that way. The point was making sure that actual due process was allowed, and joining together totally unrelated cases went against that principle.

Of course, perhaps there's a reason why Howell wanted to make things easier for plaintiffs in mass copyright lawsuits. You see, as TorrentFreak points out, Judge Beryl Howell is a recent appointment to the bench, and prior to that worked as a lawyer for a law firm that did plenty of work for the RIAA, and Howell herself was a lobbyist for the RIAA. It also notes that she helped write the DMCA among other copyright expansion laws from the last decade and a half.

As TorrentFreak notes, this certainly seems like a conflict of interest.

Superman Legal Fight Heats Up As New Appeal Sought

By Matthew Belloni
THR, Esq. | Article Link

As Warner Bros.’ big-budget reboot Superman: Man of Steel finally takes off under the guidance of director Zack Snyder and producer Christopher Nolan, the long-running battle over who owns the Man of Steel is entering a new phase.

The nasty dispute between Warners and the heirs of co-creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster stems from a 2008 court ruling that the Siegels are entitled to terminate the copyrights to some—but not all—of Superman’s defining characteristics, such as his costume, Clark Kent and his origin story, as described in the first editions of Action Comics.

Zediva Streams New Releases Through Copyright Loophole

By Ryan Singel
Wired | Article Link

Zediva, a streaming movie service you’ve likely never heard of, is a most clever and useful middle finger to Hollywood — even if the site is careful to say it’s not about sticking it to the studios.

Zediva’s offering is quite simple: new release movies that you can’t get on Amazon, Netflix or iTunes that cost $2 for a digital rental that lasts for two full weeks. It hasn’t struck any deals with studios and doesn’t plan on doing so.

And the company says it’s perfectly legal for you to stream The Social Network or 127 Hours right now and are exiting their beta-test phase Wednesday morning.

So how do they get away with it?

If You Want to Know Why Your Favorite TV Show Isn't on DVD, Blame It on the Music

By Aaron Moss
Law Law Land | Article Link

One of the joys of living in the DVD/Blu-ray age is that TV fans can easily relive their most joyous television experiences, with series that range from the iconic to the obscure. Megahits like The Simpsons and Seinfeld are obviously readily available, as are cult favorites like Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development. Even less iconic one-season-wonders are available for home viewing consumption, like Greg the Bunny, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and my personal favorite, Square Pegs, complete with New Wave soundtrack and a pre-Sex and the City Sarah Jessica Parker as nerdy high schooler Patty Greene.

But given the hundreds of shows to choose from, do you ever wonder why some of the most popular series, like The Wonder Years are AWOL on home video?