This week’s copyright, media and entertainment law updates are as below:
Producers of Rambo V: Last Blood File for Copyright Infringement
The U.S. District Court, denying the motion of the defendant, RCN Telecom Services LLC, to dismiss, allowed the petitioners, the dozen copyright owners of the movie Rambo V: Last Blood, to proceed with the suit of copyright infringement. Defendant, an internet provider, allegedly failed to terminate the accounts of internet users pirating the movies over BitTorrent networks. The ruling comes after the plaintiff’s showed that the defendants failed to terminate the accounts of prolific copyright pirates, even after repeated reports and requested by the petitioners.
US Supreme Court to Decide the Fate of Copyright Over Andy Warhol’s Orange Prince Portrait
The U.S. Supreme Court heard the oral arguments, in the 2017 case, filed by photographer Lynn Goldsmith for copyright infringement. Her 1981 portrait of musician Prince was initially licensed by Andy Warhol for 16 screenprints. Lynn filed the case against the Andy Warhol Foundation over for their re-license of those screenprints to vanity fair. Lynn was neither credited, not paid for the prints at Vanity Fair. This ruling can “have dramatic spillover consequences not just for the Prince series, but for all sorts of works of modern art that incorporate preexisting images and use preexisting images as raw material in generating completely new creative expression by follow-on artists”.
Tattoo Artist Successfully Sues Gaming Company for Use of Tattoo on Gaming Avatar
Catherine Alexander, a tattoo artist, successfully sued gaming company, Take-Two Interactive for copyright infringement. The tattoo artist initially tried negotiating, without avail, a licensing deal to showcase, on the gaming avatar, the tattoos on pro wrestler Randy Orton, inked by her. Take-Two’s argument on fair use was rejected by the court and Alexander was awarded £3299 ($3,750) in damages. However, the jury observed that no additional compensation was to be paid as none of profits come directly from the tattoo.
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