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Law Enforcement Training Company Seeks To Interrogate Netflix After “When They See Us” Series Blames Company For Encouraging False Confessions

October 17, 2019

Neflix’s original series “When They See Us” was released in May of this year and portrayed the prosecution of five teenagers of color who were wrongfully convicted of raping a white woman in Manhattan’s Central Park in 1989. The series depicts the detectives and police abusing the teens, isolating them from their parents, and subjecting them to continuous hours of questioning without food or bathroom breaks to elicit false confessions. In Part 4 of the…

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Phillie Phanatic Could Become a “Free Agent” in 2020

By Conrad B. Wilton

August 15, 2019

Currently standing nine games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and vying for a National League Wild Card spot, the last thing the Phillies need is to have to fight to keep its most valuable player on the team. I am not talking about Bryce Harper (who has largely underperformed this year given his mega 13-year $330 million contract signed this past offseason). Rather, I am talking about the one personality…

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Lanham Act’s Prohibition of Immoral and Scandalous Marks is Officially “FUCT”

By Conrad B. Wilton

June 28, 2019

The U.S. Supreme Court this week officially pulled the plug on the Lanham Act’s prohibition on the registration of trademarks that comprise “immoral” or “scandalous” matter on First Amendment grounds. The prohibition, found in Section 2(a) of the Act, was already on life support after the Court’s 2017 decision in In re Tam found the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s refusal to register the name of an Asian rock band called “THE SLANTS” constituted an…

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App Store Purchasers Entitled to Bite at the Antitrust Apple, Says Supreme Court

By Charlie Nelson Keever

May 17, 2019

The United States Supreme Court decided this week that purchasers of apps through the Apple App Store have standing under federal antitrust law to bring a class-action lawsuit against the tech giant. The Sherman Antitrust Act makes it unlawful for any person to “monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States…” 26 Stat. 209, 15…

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Comic Relief! “Stolen Joke Case” Settles Weeks Before Trial

By Conrad B. Wilton

May 13, 2019

After almost four years of litigation between TBS late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien and comedy writer Alex Kaseberg over five jokes Kaseberg alleged Conan and his writing team stole from Kaseberg’s Twitter feed, the clashing comics finally reached a settlement. Though the terms of the agreement are confidential, both parties seem relieved the case has finally run its course. O’Brien told Variety that the dispute ended “amicably.” He added, “I stand by every word…

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Fashion Companies Face Lawsuit from ‘King of Cool’ Estate

By Mikella P. Wickham

May 1, 2019

A fashion designer and two luxury department stores have landed in hot water after selling products reminiscent of “The King of Cool”. While right of publicity cases frequently turn on alleged appropriation of a celebrity’s name or likeness, the case here seeks to extend a celebrity’s personal brand to cover his fashion choices. Chadwick McQueen, the son of the late Steve McQueen, has filed suit against Tom Ford, Neiman Marcus, and Bergdorf Goodman for trademark…

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Court Kicks Joke Experts Off Stage As “Stolen Joke Case” Heads for Trial

By Conrad B. Wilton

April 29, 2019

The cast list for the upcoming trial between TBS late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien and comedy writer Alex Kaseberg just got shorter as District Court Judge Janis Sammartino dropped the curtain on Kaseberg’s two expert witnesses. Kaseberg intended to team up with David Barsky, a mathematics professor at California State University San Marcos, and comedian Elayne Boosler to prove that O’Brien stole Kaseberg’s jokes about Tom Brady, Caitlyn Jenner, and the Washington Monument. Kaseberg…

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Winter Is Coming: Writers and Agents Hunker Down for a Battle of Attrition

By Jody Simon

April 25, 2019

This is an update on my blog post regarding the face-off between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the major talent agencies, through the Association of Talent Agencies (ATA). To summarize–OMG!! The WGA issued an ultimatum requiring the agents to sign their Code of Conduct forswearing package commissions. This is the practice by which agencies are paid directly out of the budget of television shows rather than by taking 10% of their clients’ gross…

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TV or Not TV: Does Academy’s Push to Block Streaming Services From the Oscars Violate Antitrust Law?

By Charlie Nelson Keever

April 9, 2019

A change in the rules for Oscar eligibility proposed by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) may violate antitrust laws, according to the Department of Justice. At issue is whether feature-length films produced by streaming services like Netflix should be eligible for Oscar consideration, even though they don’t have a significant theatrical run. The DOJ weighed in on the issue in the wake of reports that Academy board member Steven Spielberg was…

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Celebrity Plaintiffs Alleging “Fortnite” Publisher Stole Their Dance Moves Face the Music and Dismiss Claims

By Conrad B. Wilton

March 29, 2019

Rappers Terrence “2 Milly” Ferguson and James “BlocBoy JB” Baker, influencer Russell “Backpack Kid” Horning, and actor Alfonso Ribeiro (best known for his role as “Carlton Banks” in the sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) have dismissed their claims against Epic Games for allegedly infringing their signature dance moves in the wildly popular videogame “Fortnite.” “Fortnite” is an animated battle royale where fictional characters perform a victory dance after defeating an opponent. “Pay or Play”…

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Entertainment Law. Coast to Coast.®

Blog Authors

Law Enforcement Training Company Seeks To Interrogate Netflix After “When They See Us” Series Blames Company For Encouraging False Confessions

Phillie Phanatic Could Become a “Free Agent” in 2020

Lanham Act’s Prohibition of Immoral and Scandalous Marks is Officially “FUCT”

App Store Purchasers Entitled to Bite at the Antitrust Apple, Says Supreme Court

Comic Relief! “Stolen Joke Case” Settles Weeks Before Trial

Fashion Companies Face Lawsuit from ‘King of Cool’ Estate

Court Kicks Joke Experts Off Stage As “Stolen Joke Case” Heads for Trial

Winter Is Coming: Writers and Agents Hunker Down for a Battle of Attrition

TV or Not TV: Does Academy’s Push to Block Streaming Services From the Oscars Violate Antitrust Law?

Celebrity Plaintiffs Alleging “Fortnite” Publisher Stole Their Dance Moves Face the Music and Dismiss Claims

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