Effie Film v. Murphy: Second Victory for Emma Thompson Film
In February, we discussed Effie Film, LLC v. Pomerance, in which the Southern District of New York held that the Emma Thompson scripted film Effie did not infringe upon the copyrights in two screenplays by another writer on a similar historical subject. The upcoming film won another victory in the Southern District this week in
Golden Globe and SAG Award Noms for Client Sofia Vergara
CDAS partner Frederick P. Bimbler and all of us congratulate client Sofia Vergara on her Golden Globe nomination today for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television” for her role as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett on the hit comedy series Modern Family. The nomination comes
Court Finds That Use Of Registered Trademark to Identify Public Domain Cartoon Character is Not Infringement
In the latest phase of a long litigation, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, following a remand from an amended Ninth Circuit opinion, held that a company that claimed to have acquired the intellectual property rights in the cartoon character “Betty Boop” could not maintain a claim for trademark infringement against
Grammy Nom for Client Rebecca Pidgeon’s Album “Slingshot”
Congratulations to client Rebecca Pidgeon on the Grammy nomination for her album “Slingshot” for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, (Helik Hadar, engineer; Bernie Grundman, mastering engineer). Ms. Pidgeon, the acclaimed singer-songwriter and actress, also co-wrote nearly all its songs, composing primarily with longtime collaborator, Grammy-winning producer Larry Klein and one song, a country waltz entitled “Baby
CDAS at DOC NYC 2012!
CDAS returns to the DOC NYC Film Festival, (Thursday, November 8 through Thursday, November 15 at the IFC Center, and also at the SVA Theatre, please click links below for venue), once again representing a number of clients and their acclaimed films. CDAS is proud to co-sponsor this exciting festival again as it returns for
“A Late Quartet” – “Bravo”
With a powerhouse cast led by Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener, A Late Quartet, is now in theaters after its successful premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this fall.
CDAS at AFM (The American Film Market)
Susan H. Bodine, Marc H. Simon and Janis C. Nelson are in attendance at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California, which runs from Wednesday, October 31 through Wednesday, November 7. Over 8000 industry leaders from over 70 countries converge for eight days of deal-making, screenings of over 400 films, seminars and networking. Ms.
Louis Vuitton’s ‘Hangover 2’ Case Knocked Off Without Giving Judge a Headache
A filmmaker’s rights under the First Amendment to use well-known trademarks for artistic and expressive purposes will be protected against a challenge from the trademark holder so long as the use has genuine relevance to the film’s storyline. On June 15, 2012 the District Court for the Southern District of New York, on a motion
Viacom v. YouTube/Google: How Red Must a Red Flag Be?
Update: In an update to the below, on Thursday, April 5, 2012, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals revived and remanded the case to a lower court, instructing the district judge to determine if YouTube had knowledge or awareness of specific infringing material and whether it willfully blinded itself to that specific knowledge. Please
CLIENT ADVISORY: Sunrise Period for Trademark Owners Seeking to Defensively Block Registrations of .xxx Domain Names Is Now Open
The new .xxx top-level domain (TLD), designed to cater to the online adult entertainment community, is now available for registrations. But brand owners with registered trademarks outside that industry have a limited opportunity to defensively block registrations before the operator of a pornographic website claims BRAND.xxx – as long as the brand owner acts before