Tamilrockers Leaks Hindi Version of Frozen 2; Bohemian Rhapsody Producer Sets Eye on Michael Jackson Biopic; Another Billion-Dollar Lawsuit Looms Over Spotify; DISH Files Copyright Infringement Suits Against Six IPTV Services; Prince’s Estate Faces Copyright Infringement Suit by Photographer and more.
Tamilrockers Leaks Hindi Version of Frozen 2
Notorious piracy website Tamilrockers released the Hindi dubbed version of Frozen 2, Disney’s sequel to its 2013 animated blockbuster, within a day of its theatrical release. Voiced by actors Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Parineeti Chopra, the film is reportedly available on a number of sites. This is just the most recent of a string of illegal online releases of films including Dream Girl, Saaho, Kabir Singh, Bharat, India’s Most Wanted, Gully Boy, De De Pyaar De, and Student of the Year 2. Piracy websites like Tamilrockers are extremely prevalent online, despite efforts by lawmakers and the government to curb online piracy. Presently, a bill to impose a strict penalty to combat piracy has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha.
Bohemian Rhapsody Producer Sets Eye on Michael Jackson Biopic
Graham King, one of the producers of the biopic of musician Freddie Mercury, has reportedly acquired the rights to make a biographical film on the late renowned American singer Michael Jackson, which is to be scripted by Oscar-nominated writer John Logan. Reports indicate that the makers of this film do not intend to gloss over the controversies in the troubled singer’s life. This is notable as a recent documentary by television network HBO. chronicling the sexual abuse allegations levied against Jackson, has been the subject of a USD 100 million lawsuit filed by the Jackson estate against HBO. While the rights to the film have been acquired from the estate, the estate will reportedly not be involved in the development of the film’s script.
Another Billion-Dollar Lawsuit Looms Over Spotify
Sweden-based music streaming service provider Spotify faces yet another billion-dollar lawsuit. Filed by public performance rights organization PRO Music Rights, which represents over two million artists, the suit alleges that Spotify failed to pay royalties on over 500,000,000 music streams, and accuses it of unfair and deceptive trade practices, unfair competition, and copyright violations pertaining to this non-payment.
The suit, filed in Florida, also claims that Spotify wilfully and unjustly removed content from its streaming service, resulting in the violation of certain rules, without advance notice or providing any reason for the same, or allowing an opportunity to correct the alleged issue with the content. A major part of the issue pertaining to Spotify’s failure to pay royalties stems from this removal of content, which started around May 2017. This suit follows another multi-billion-dollar infringement lawsuit filed by publisher Eight Mile Style as recently as August.
DISH Files Copyright Infringement Suits Against Six IPTV Services
DISH, the American television satellite provider, has ramped up its war on infringing Internet Protocol television (IPTV) services, with copyright infringement suits filed against six services along with fifteen other unknown services. DISH claims that these services used DISH’s signals or streamed content that DISH has exclusive rights over and have continued operating despite legal notices being sent to them. The suits claim that over 112 registered works have been affected and seek damages of up to USD 150,000 for each of them, plus attorney fees. DISH has been successful in recent cases against IPTV services and even won a ruling in its favour that directed companies like PayPal, Google, Facebook, Twitter, among others, to hand over information that would be useful in identifying the owners of IPTV service Easybox.
Prince’s Estate Faces Copyright Infringement Suit by Photographer
Photographer Madison Dube has sued the estate of late American musician Prince for exploiting her work without a license. Dube, who collaborated with and was hired by Prince on several occasions in the years leading to his death, alleges that the musician’s estate and its associated companies have been using her work on advertising, merchandise, record releases and other promotional material, without her permission.
The estate was aware of Dube’s ownership over the work because, according to the suit, the photographer was credited on some of the work, and a representative of the estate even reached out to her for a license. The suit seeks damages for the use of her work till date and an injunction restraining any such use in the future.
Authored and compiled by Neharika Vhatkar (Associate, BananaIP Counsels) and Param Gupta (Legal Intern)
The Entertainment Law News Bulletin is brought to you jointly by the Entertainment Law and Consulting/Strategy Divisions of BananaIP Counsels, a Top IP Firm in India. If you have any questions, or need any clarifications, please write to contact@bananaip.com with the subject: Ent Law News.
Disclaimer: Please note that the news bulletin has been put together from different sources, primary and secondary, and BananaIP’s reporters may not have verified all the news published in the bulletin. You may write to contact@bananaip.com for corrections and take down.
