Entertainment Law Matters

•    Band Members Say “We Ran With the Gang Too”: Three former members of the Bay City Rollers are suing Arista Records and six other band members claiming they are owed royalties from album sales.  The popular 1970s Scottish band (pictured below) went through numerous personnel changes over the years.  The six band members named as defendants in this case filed their own lawsuit against Arista in 2007 seeking unpaid royalties.  That action is still pending in New York federal court.  If you’re in the mood for some nostalgia, watch the band perform “We Sang Shang-a-Lang as we Ran with the Gang.”

•    New Zealand to be Renamed “Middle-Earth”: Well not exactly.  But after weeks of wrangling, New Zealand has passed a labor law designed to keep film production for the “Hobbit” in the country.  The legislation characterizes film and video game workers as independent contractors rather than employees, thereby preventing them from engaging in collective bargaining.

•    Mark. Trade Mark: The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) has approved trademark registration of the gun carried by James Bond.  According to the decision, gun manufacturer Carl Walther GmbH demonstrated that the gun “has acquired distinctiveness” for product design under Section 2(f) of the Trademark Act.  The TTAB rarely approves product design trademarks, leading some commentators to attribute the result to the gun’s cinematic fame.

•    How America Gets its Publicity: Author Charles Harris is suing Oprah Winfrey for copyright infringement in Pennsylvania federal court, alleging she read aloud portions of his booklet “How America Elects Her Presidents” on her television show in 2008.  Harris claims he sent Winfrey ten copies of the booklet in an attempt to drum up publicity.  The lawsuit may not survive a Fair Use defense, but it is finally getting Harris some of the media attention he was seeking.

•    Real Gay Journalist Sues Fake Gay Journalist: Mike Skiff, a self-described “gay journalist,” is suing actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen for civil rights violations based on an incident at a pro-gay marriage rally.  Baron Cohen attended the rally as flamboyant fashion journalist, Bruno, the title character from his 2009 film.  Skiff claims he was filming Baron Cohen when members of the Bruno film crew confronted him and “roughed him up.”  Skiff has posted footage of the altercation on YouTube.

•    Lost in Translation: Egyptian author, Alaa al-Aswany, is claiming an unauthorized Hebrew translation of his book “The Yacoubian Building” constitutes “theft” and “piracy.”  A group called the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information is reportedly offering a Hebrew translation of the book, despite the author’s refusal to allow the book to be translated and sold in Israel.

•    Updates: We have an update to our Disturbia post concerning a new lawsuit filed by the The Abend Trust.   Also, on Tuesday, November 2, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the video game case Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Assn.  We will continue to provide updates on both cases.

- Nicole Hyland