Law Offices of Jonathan Franklin: Spiderman

Showing posts with label Spiderman. Show all posts

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Disney Suing Musicals that are Featuring "Spider-Man", "Mary Poppins", "Lion King"

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

A Pennsylvania theatre group draws the company's by showcasing its popular works.

The company is now drawing the line at a musical that attempts to showcase the glories of the genre with tributes to famous characters and songs. On Tuesday, in Pennsylvania federal court, Disney and some of its partners filed a lawsuit against Entertainment Theatre Group, doing business as American Music Theatre.

The defendants are staging Broadway: Now and Forever, which includes references to The Producers, Billy Elliot, Wicked, Jersey Boys and more. Disney is upset about the inclusion of Mary Poppins, The Lion King and Spider-Man.

The show is advertised as providing theater-goers with a "larger-than-life theatrical compilation of unforgettable music from the hottest new blockbusters to all-time favorite classics... Broadway: Now & Forever recreates the greatest moments ever on stage."

Disney won't stand for Broadway piracy. A movie that shows iconic Disney characters doing things like attempting to crush a child is one thing. More horrifying perhaps is a theatrical production that is described in the complaint as presenting six actor-dancers dressed in Spider-Man costumes performing a choreographed dance routine. This is said to be unfair competition. Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark is the most expensive production in Broadway history. This new show apparently shows off the more famous one on a video screen.

The appearance of Mary Poppins is no less concerning for Disney. In the complaint, Disney provides photographic proof that a woman portraying Ms. Poppins dances with children and flies above the stage with her umbrella open.

Read Full Complaint here.... http://www.scribd.com/doc/171196860/Poppins

Disney is suing for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, unfair trade practices and more, seeking damages for willful infringement after saying the defendants have refused to stop the show even after being warned. Disney says this is an "exceptional case" under trademark law. The defendant hasn't yet responded to a request for comment.

Source.... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com

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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Disney Wins Over Stan Lee Media in Marvel Copyright Lawsuit

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Turns out the Walt Disney Company really does own the rights to the Marvel characters created by Stan Lee, at least according to a federal judge today. U.S. District Judge William J. Martinez Thursday granted with prejudice Disney’s motion to dismiss Stan Lee Media’s multibillion-dollar lawsuit superhero copyright suit. In his 11-page order (read it here) Martinez did little to hide his annoyance with the litigious SLMI. “Plaintiff has tried time and again to claim ownership of those copyrights; the litigation history arising out of the 1998 Agreement stretches over more than a decade and at least six courts,” he wrote of the company’s many legal moves.

This latest attempt started in mid-October 2012 when SLMI filed a copyright infringement complaint seeking the profits from the $5.5 billion it said that Disney made from Marvel superhero movies and merchandise based on characters created by Lee. In its suit, SLMI claimed that Lee, who no longer has anything to do with the company with his name, signed over the rights to comic book characters like Iron Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider-Man and many more that he created or would create to its corporate predecessor in October 1998 for shares in the company. In November 1998, Lee signed an agreement with Marvel handing over the rights to the same characters. In late November 2012, Disney, who purchased Marvel for $4 billion in 2009, filed its motion to dismiss, calling the lawsuit is “completely frivolous.” The November 30 motion to dismiss, like the initial suit by SLMI, was filed in Colorado.

Judge Martinez obviously agreed with Disney and he wants to make sure that SLMI think twice before trying to use the courts in such a manner again. “Taking its cue from the Southern District of New York and the Central District of California, this Court holds that Plaintiff is precluded from re-litigating the issue of its ownership of copyrights based on the 1998 Agreement, which issue was decided against it,” he wrote today. Disney was represented by James Quinn, R. Bruce Rich and Randi W. Singer of New York’s Weil Gotshal & Manges and Frederick J. Baumann and Holly Ludwig of Denver firm Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons. Stan Lee Media was represented by John McDermott of the Denver office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Robert Chapman and Jon Jamison Hill out of the LA’s Eisner Kahan Gorry Chapman Ross & Jaffe.

Source..... http://www.deadline.com

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Marvel Entertainment, Broadway Spider-Man, and Marvel Briefcase Suits

The on-again, off-again litigation between director Julie Taymor and producers of the Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, appears to be going dark again. Earlier in the month, the litigation was revived when the parties admitted there was still some work on the settlement negotiating front. Last week, Taymor's attorney Charles Spada notified the court that a final settlement agreement would be executed soon, describing the hold-up as being for producer 8 Legged Production and non-party Marvel Entertainment to to amend a license to produce the Spider-Man musical. Spada said that "8 Legged and Marvel will be executing a formal amendment to their licensing agreement within days."

Speaking of Marvel, the studio has gotten out of an odd dispute over a briefcase featured in The Avengers. Last August, Rimowa GmbH, a German manufacturer of luxury travel briefcases, sued because the Topas attaché case seen being used by Samuel L. Jackson's character Nick Fury was allegedly repurposed as the packaging for Blu-ray versions of the film. Last week, the parties stipulated to dismiss the case with prejudice. No further terms of the agreement were made public.

Read More... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/hollywood-docket-hobbit-slot-machine-417117