Category: Lawsuits

Lawsuit settled over Beach Boys name
LOS ANGELES – Two former members of the Beach Boys settled a five-year legal dispute over use of the band’s name, a lawyer said.
Al Jardine and Mike Love reached an agreement after a two-day conference in Superior Court, attorney Lawrence Noble, who represents Jardine, said Thursday. Details of the settlement were not disclosed.
“Mr. Jardine feels very happy and feels that this is a friendly settlement that allows them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band,” Noble said.
Love sued Jardine in 2003, claiming he fronted a group that used various versions of the Beach Boys name. The lawsuit said Love was the sole licensee to perform under the name, and that Jardine was denied use because he did not agree to abide by terms of a proposed license.
Love was seeking $2 million in court costs and $1 million he said Jardine collected from using the name.
A judge ruled in January that the case could go to trial. It was set to begin April 14.
The Beach Boys were founded in 1961 by brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, their cousin Love and Brian Wilson’s friend Jardine.
Dennis Wilson died in 1983 and Carl Wilson died in 1998.

‘Gilligan’s Island’ star busted for pot
DRIGGS, Idaho – A surprise birthday party for Dawn Wells, the actress who played Mary Ann on “Gilligan’s Island,” ended with a nearly three-hour tour of the Teton County sheriff’s office and jail when the 69-year-old was caught with marijuana in her vehicle while driving home.
Wells is now serving six months’ unsupervised probation. She was sentenced Feb. 29 to five days in jail, fined $410.50 and placed on probation after pleading guilty to one count of reckless driving.
Prosecutors dropped misdemeanour counts of driving under the influence, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of a controlled substance.
According to a sheriff’s, Wells was pulled over after she swerved across the fog lines and centre lines of State Highway 33 and repeatedly speeded up and slowed down.
The officer who stopped her said he smelled burning marijuana.
Wells reportedly told him that she’d just given a ride to three hitchhikers and had dropped them off when they began smoking something.
Police found three half-smoked joints in the ashtray, a fourth half-smoked joint and two small cases used to store marijuana.
Wells’ lawyer Ron Swafford said a friend admitted he’d left a small amount of marijuana in the car after having used it that day and that Wells was unaware of it.
Wells is the founder of the Idaho Film and Television Institute in Driggs and the organizer of the region’s annual family movie festival called the Spud Fest.

Tolkien estate sues New Line Cinema
LOS ANGELES – The estate of “Lord of the Rings” creator J.R.R. Tolkien is suing the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books, claiming the company failed to pay a cut of gross profits for the blockbuster films.
The writer’s estate, a British charity dubbed The Tolkien Trust, and original “Lord of the Rings” publisher HarperCollins filed the lawsuit against New Line Cinema on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The lawsuit claims New Line was required to pay 7.5 percent of gross receipts from the films to Tolkien’s estate and the other plaintiffs. A call to a spokesman for New Line, a unit of Time Warner Inc., was not immediately returned.
The films ó 2001’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” 2002’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” and 2003’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” ó have reaped nearly $6 billion combined worldwide, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs seek more than $150 million in compensatory damages, unspecified punitive damages and a court order giving the Tolkien estate the right to terminate any rights New Line may have to make films based on other works by the author, including “The Hobbit.”
Such an order would scuttle plans New Line has in the works to make a two-film prequel based on “The Hobbit.”
“Rings” trilogy director Peter Jackson has already signed on to serve as executive producer on the project, which is tentatively slated to begin production next year, with releases planned for 2010 and 2011.
“The Tolkien trustees do not file lawsuits lightly, and have tried unsuccessfully to resolve their claims out of court,” Steven Maier, an attorney for the Tolkien estate based in Britain, said in a statement. “New Line has not paid the plaintiffs even one penny of its contractual share of gross receipts despite the billions of dollars of gross revenue generated by these wildly successful motion pictures.”
Maier also claims the film studio has blocked the Tolkien estate and the other plaintiffs from auditing the receipts of the last two films.

Eastwood sues Cdn. furniture firm
WINNIPEG – He’s one of Hollywood’s most rich and famous, but Clint Eastwood is taking Palliser Furniture to court — for a few dollars more.
The actor has filed a lawsuit against the Winnipeg-based furniture manufacturing giant to strike back over The Eastwood, a line of home-theatre chairs he claims the company has produced, marketed and sold without his permission.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in United States District Court, comes as a similar lawsuit against Palliser from the estate of late actor Marlon Brando — launched last March — also heads to federal court in the Central District of California.
A lawyer representing Eastwood — a heavyweight of Hollywood’s A-list as well as a producer and director for a half-century — confirmed both court actions are taking aim at Palliser’s chairs for the same reason.
The Los Angeles lawyer, who asked not to be named, is also representing Brando’s family and the Marlon Brando Living Trust in its court argument they hadn’t been approached by Palliser Furniture before sales of the line of chairs called The Brando shortly after the star’s death in 2004, and making millions of dollars from it.
“Our complaint speaks for itself. We really just don’t comment on pending litigation,” the lawyer said yesterday from L.A.
Eastwood’s statement of claim argues Palliser’s advertising and sales of the chairs bearing his name is “likely to confuse, mislead or deceive the consuming public” into believing the furniture is “in some way affiliated, connected or associated with” himself.
As well as Palliser’s profits from the chairs, Eastwood is claiming unspecified punitive damages for “oppression, fraud and malice” in their sales.
Diane Dawiskiba, Palliser’s manager of corporate services, did not return a call for comment. But in a letter last winter, before the filing of the Brando estate’s lawsuit, she had stated Palliser’s position that the chair The Brando is not based on the actor, but on a town of the same name on the French island of Corsica.
“Palliser is certainly not associating its use of the name with the Hollywood Brando name,” the letter stated.
The lawyer representing Eastwood and Brando’s family slammed that claim at the time, in light of Palliser’s sales of other home-theatre chairs called The Bronson, The Connery, The Cooper and The Cagney.
Rebecca Brando, Marlon Brando’s daughter, said she’s pleased to hear Eastwood is taking a hard line like that of her family.
“I’m very happy for Clint. He’s on board with us. He’s joined the team,” she told the Winnipeg Sun from L.A.
“This company cannot use our name for marketing purposes. I’m very happy we’re going to federal court to set a precedent, so companies know they need permission from the estates — from us, in order to use my father’s name.
“He was a very private man, and it’s not right for them to use his name and likeness in that way.”

James Brown recordings locked in dispute
AUGUSTA, Ga. – The legal feud over the estate of James Brown is stalling the release of the soul legend’s final recordings, his longtime adviser said.
Brown cut an album in Los Angeles the summer before he died in December 2006, but the songs are not being released because of courtroom disputes about who should benefit from his legacy and music royalties, said attorney Buddy Dallas. There are also between 50 and 60 other previously recorded songs in vaults, Dallas said.
Brown’s fourth son, Daryl, is one of five heirs trying to have their father’s will voided because they say his former advisers ó including Dallas ó used undue influence to get the singer to create charitable trusts from which the advisers would profit. The other advisers named in the lawsuit are Alford Bradley and David Cannon.
Dallas quit as an estate trustee in November but now is trying to retract his resignation.
Daryl Brown, who is lead guitarist for his father’s backing band, the Soul Generals, says he is not aware of any recordings done in California in 2006. Brown and the Soul Generals were working on an album at a studio in Georgia, but they only finished two songs before the singer died, his son said.
But he said there are dozens of unreleased songs stored in vaults and on master tapes at Brown’s Beech Island, S.C., estate.
Brown died on Christmas Day 2006 of heart failure. He was 73.

Another unwitting “Borat” cast member files lawsuit
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The creators of the hit film “Borat” were sued again on Tuesday, this time by a driving instructor seen in the comedy admonishing the fake Kazakh reporter for yelling insults at other drivers.
Michael Psenicska was duped into participating in the film after it was described to him as a “documentary about the integration of foreign people into the American way of life,” he said in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.
The suit named British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays the title role, One America Productions and the film’s distributor, 20th Century Fox, a unit of News Corp. It also named Todd Lewis, a representative of One America who is listed in other lawsuits as Todd Lewis Schulman.
Psenicska said he was paid $500 in cash to give Borat a driving lesson. He described the experience as “surreal,” saying Cohen drove erratically down residential streets, drank alcohol and yelled to a female pedestrian he would pay her $10 for “sexy time.”
The lawsuit seeks $400,000 in actual damages and additional punitive damages for misleading Psenicska and for emotional harm he continues to suffer. Psenicska said if he had known the true nature of the film, he never would have participated.
The comedy has grossed $270 million at the box office, plus more than $60 million in DVD sales, the lawsuit said.
Fox said the lawsuit was without merit, calling Psenicska a willing participant who was paid to be in the movie.
“The fact is that Mike Psenicska gave the producers his consent,” the studio said in a statement. “He signed a release and we have an agreement. Now, 2 1/2 years after giving his consent, and more than one year after the movie was released, Mr. Psenicska has decided to file a lawsuit, citing the financial success of the film, in spite of our agreement.”
“Borat” has been sued at least four times already.
In June, a man seen in the film running away from Borat down the streets of New York City sued Fox in federal court in Manhattan.
In February, a judge threw out a lawsuit brought in Los Angeles Superior Court by two college fraternity members shown guzzling alcohol and making racist remarks. They claimed the scenes tarnished their reputations.
Last year, two residents of a Romanian village sued Fox for $30 million, claiming the film wrongly depicted them as rapists, abortionists, prostitutes and thieves. Scenes depicting Borat in Kazakhstan were filmed in Romania.
A South Carolina man also sued over a deleted scene.

‘Grandma … Reindeer’ singer is sued
LOS ANGELES – A feud involving the man who sang “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” could wind up in court, just in time for Christmas.
Elmo Shropshire was sued for breach of contract Monday by a company that claims he interfered in a $1 million-plus deal to sell musical trucks, bobblehead dolls, snow globes and cookie jars featuring characters from an animated show based on the novelty song.
The tale about Santa mowing down a tipsy grandma with his sleigh was first heard in 1979 and has become a holiday favorite. It inspired a 2000 animated TV program that continues to run seasonally around the world.
The Fred Rappoport Co. of California contends it has the rights to use the song for products featuring characters from that program. Rappoport claims it got those specific rights under a 2004 settlement of a lawsuit filed by Shropshire.
The new lawsuit, which seeks at least $2 million in damages, was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It contends that Shropshire this month improperly sent cease-and-desist letters to two companies that made a deal with Rappoport to market products featuring characters from the animated show.
Shropshire, who lives north of San Francisco in Novato, contended Tuesday that he was legally enforcing his rights to the song.
Rappoport “can sell any characters he wants from the movie,” Shropshire said. “But I own the copyright from the song. He can’t use the song without my permission.”
Shropshire continued: “The song preceded the (animated) show by 20 years. There are a number of companies that license that song from us to make toys and to make CDs and to make a number of things. They’re not going to feel so good if we allow someone else to use it for free.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers sue Showtime
LOS ANGELES – The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Monday sued Showtime Networks over the name of the television series “Californication,” which is also the name of the band’s 1999 album and a single on it.
The lawsuit alleges unfair competition, dilution of the value of the name and unjust enrichment, claiming the title is “inherently distinctive, famous … and immediately associated in the mind of the consumer” with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“Californication is the signature CD, video and song of the band’s career, and for some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right,” the band’s lead singer, Anthony Kiedis, said in a statement.
The television series stars David Duchovny as a novelist suffering from writers’ block and a mid-life crisis.
The show features a character named “Dani California,” which is also the title of a Red Hot Chili Peppers song released in 2006, the lawsuit noted.
The suit also names the show’s creator and executive producer, Tom Kapinos, and two production companies, Twilight Time Films and Aggressive Mediocrity, Inc.
A call Monday to an attorney for Showtime was not immediately returned. Attempts to find a listing for Kapinos were not successful.
The suit seeks a permanent injunction barring Showtime and the other defendants from using the title “Californication” for the show, damages and restitution and disgorgement of all profits derived by the defendants.
In July 2007, Kapinos told reporters at a Television Critics Association press tour in Beverly Hills that he first heard the term in reference to Oregon.
“Apparently in the ’70s there were bumper stickers that said ‘Don’t Californicate Oregon,’ because Californians were coming up there, and I just thought it was a great, great title for this show,” said Kapinos.

Record companies win music sharing trial
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) ó The recording industry won a key fight Thursday against illegal music downloading when a federal jury found a Minnesota woman shared copyrighted music online and levied $220,000 in damages against her.
Record companies have filed some 26,000 lawsuits since 2003 over file-sharing, which has hurt sales because it allows people to get music for free instead of paying for recordings in stores.
This was the first such case to go to trial. Many other defendants have settled by paying the companies a few thousand dollars.
The jury ordered Jammie Thomas, 30, to pay the six record companies that sued her $9,250 for each of 24 songs they focused on in the case. They had alleged she shared 1,702 songs in all.
The companies accused Thomas, 30, of Brainerd, of offering the songs online through a Kazaa file-sharing account. She denied wrongdoing and testified that she didn’t have a Kazaa account.
During the three-day trial, the record companies presented evidence they said showed the copyrighted songs were offered by a Kazaa user under the name “tereastarr.”
Their witnesses, including officials from an Internet provider and a security firm, testified that the Internet address used by “tereastarr” belonged to Thomas.

U.S. trial over music downloads starts Tuesday
A group of record companies says Jammie Thomas illegally shared everything from Enya to Swedish death metal online. Tuesday, she will become the first of 26,000 people sued by the recording industry to take the case to trial.
The Brainerd, Minn., resident is accused of illegally sharing 1,702 songs for free on a file-sharing network. Her trial offers the first chance for both sides in the debate over online music sharing to show a jury its version of the facts.
Thomas is accused of violating the song owners’ copyrights. Her lawyer says the record companies haven’t even proved she shared the songs.
Most of the 26,000 people the record industry group has sued have settled by paying a few thousand dollars.
“We think that speaks to the clarity of the law here,” said Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America.
But lawyers for the defendants say they’ve settled because trials cost tens of thousands of dollars. Thomas’s lawyer, Brian Toder, said she was determined to fight. He declined to make her available for an interview.
“She came into my office and was willing to pay a retainer of pretty much what they wanted to settle for,” he said. “And if someone’s willing to pay a lawyer rather than pay to make it go away, that says a lot.”
Thomas is at risk for a judgment of more than $1.2 million. The recording association is seeking damages set under federal law, of $750 to $30,000 for each copyright violation.
“We repeatedly offer out-of-court settlements far less than what the law allows,” Lamy said. The lawsuits aim to “communicate that there are consequences for breaking the law and encourage fans to turn to legal online services.”
Jury selection starts Tuesday in Duluth, Minn., and opening statements are expected the same day.
The record companies claim that on Feb. 21, 2005, online investigators at SafeNet Inc., found 1,702 files shared under what they said was a Kazaa account being used by Thomas. The songs included Swedish death metal band Opeth, German industrial group VNV Nation and American rock band Chevelle.
“This individual was distributing these audio files for free over the internet under the username ‘tereastarr@KaZaA’ to potentially millions of other KaZaA users,” according to court papers.
Virgin Records America Inc., Capitol Records Inc. and Warner Bros. Records Inc. are among the companies suing Thomas.
In addition to filing the lawsuits, the industry group has sent 4,000 pre-lawsuit letters, Lamy said.
File-sharing continues
The recording industry convinced a federal judge in 2001 to shut down Napster, which made copyrighted music available on its own computers. Since Napster reopened, it has charged users for music.
The file-sharing programs that emerged to take Napster’s place point users to files available on a variety of computers and servers. But their impact has been the same: millions of songs are being downloaded for free instead of purchased legally.
So the recording industry began naming individual file-sharers users in lawsuits in September 2003. The industry association says the lawsuits have helped. But the number of households that have downloaded music with file-sharing programs has risen from 6.9 million in April 2003 to 7.8 million in March 2007, according to industry tracking.
“I think by most any metric you choose, it’s been a failure,” said Fred von Lohmann, the senior intellectual property attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group.
He questioned whether the lawsuits are much of a deterrent, because the 26,000 cases have targeted only a small percentage of music downloaders.
“The vast majority of people will never know anyone who’s gotten sued for this,” he said.
Toder, Thomas’s attorney, plans to start with the basics ó making the record companies prove they own the songs. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Michael J. Davis threw out 784 pages of documents produced by the record companies to show they owned a sample of the songs. Toder had argued that the documents were produced seven months late.