Entertainment Litigation Blog

ANDY KENNEDY'S ARREST LEADS TO COMPETING CIVIL CLAIMS

The defamation lawsuit filed by University of Mississippi head basketball coach, Andy Kennedy, has taken some interesting twists. Kennedy was arrested on December 18, 2008 after allegedly punching a cab driver in the face and using ethnic slurs outside a Cincinnati nightclub. A valet attendant supported the cabbie's claims in a police report. The next day, Kennedy filed a defamation lawsuit against both the driver and valet.

As I previously wrote, filing a "preemptive" defamation lawsuit can be a valid, aggressive response in order to false accusations. However, the Kennedy case illustrates the kind of unintended consequences that may result when a lawsuit is brought so quickly after an incident.

Continue reading "ENTERTAINMENT LITIGATION: UPDATE ON DEFAMATION CASE FILED BY OLE MISS BASKETBALL COACH" »

WELL KNOWN ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER TAKEN TO TASK OVER HIS REPRESENTATION OF LATE WRITER-DIRECTOR COLLIN HIGGINS

The Daily Variety reported yesterday that entertainment lawyer, Barry Hirsch, has been sued by the trust of the late writer-director, Collin Higgins, for malpractice. You can find the Variety story here.

According to the report, the Higgins trust sued Hirsch on January 14 for malpractice and conflicts of interest over Hirsch's representation of Higgins on his deal with Fox to rewrite the screenplay for the film "9 to 5" in 1979. Fox hired Higgins to rewrite Patricia Resnick's original screenplay for that picture.However, Resnick later wrote a stage musical based on "9 to 5" -- and Hirsch supposedly represented her in that endeavor.

That did not sit well with the Higgins trust.

Continue reading "ENTERTAINMENT LITIGATION: BARRY HIRSCH SUED FOR MALPRACTICE" »

PROTECTING CELEBRITIES FROM DEFAMATION AND INVASION OF PRIVACY

It's been said that "a good reputation is more valuable than money." When it comes to celebrities -- and most recently sports figures -- reputation is both valuable and easily tarnished. In this electronic age, damaging information can circulate instantly through cyberspace. Rumor quickly becomes generally accepted fact. Pictures can go "viral" and disseminated to millions at the speed of light. Once established, public perception becomes very difficult if not impossible to change.

So what can be done to protect a celeb's privacy and reputation -- and at what cost?

Continue reading "ENTERTAINMENT LITIGATION: WHAT IS YOUR REPUTATION WORTH?" »

SETTLEMENT PROMPTED BY CHRISTMAS EVE RULING

Certain details of the settlement between Fox and Warner Bros. over the "Watchmen" movie have been reported since my post yesterday on the end of the litigation between the studios.

The settlement apparently was prompted by a ruling by the court on December 24 that the film's producer, Larry Gordon, failed to properly secure the rights from Fox before setting up the project at Warners and that Fox owned the copyright to the property. Since Warners' rights were based on whatever rights Gordon acquired, the Christmas Eve ruling likely meant that Warners would have been enjoined from releasing "Watchmen" at the permanent injunction hearing scheduled for next week. The ultimate settlement between the parties was therefore inevitable.

Continue reading "ENTERTAINMENT LITIGATION: "WATCHMEN" SETTLEMENT UPDATE" »

FOX AND WARNER BROTHERS COME TO AN APPARENT AGREEMENT ON UPCOMING TENTPOLE FILM

In a filing with the United States District Court in Los Angeles yesterday, Fox and Warner Bros. revealed that they have apparently settled their differences over the upcoming motion picture, "Watchmen." The studios have been embroiled in a lawsuit since February 2008 over who controls the right to produce and distribute a motion picture based on the "graphic novel." Warner produced the picture and is the movie's distributor. Fox claimed that it still owned the rights to make and/or distribute any film based on the property.

I was asked to comment on the dispute for the Los Angeles Times in a story penned by John Horn in November 2008. That story details the long arduous process of getting the story to the silver screen -- which in large part caused this dispute among the studios.

Now that the film's opening is approaching, it's no surprise that the studios want to settle.

Continue reading "ENTERTAINMENT LITIGATION: STUDIOS SETTLE "WATCHMEN" LITIGATION" »

A good friend from UCLA, Michael J. O'Gara, was enrobed as a Los Angeles Superior Court judge earlier this week. Judge O'Gara was elected to the bench after a distinguished career with the Los Angeles District Attorney's office. I am confident that Judge O'Gara will continue to distinguish himself on the bench. Here's a picture of some of our college friends at Judge O'Gara's robing ceremony.