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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Disney's Unauthorized Disneyland Horror Movie Will There Be a Legal Battle?

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Sundance breakout "Escape From Tomorrow," which depicts Disney princesses as prostitutes and was filmed without permission inside Disney's parks, fails to provoke a legal response from a studio unwilling to dole out free press.

The movie's backstory has all the ingredients of a classic Hollywood lawsuit: Escape From Tomorrow, a microbudgeted horror pic set for release Oct. 11, was filmed without permission inside Disneyland and Disney World and incorporates several of The Walt Disney Co.'s iconic (and copyrighted) characters doing things like attempting to crush a child.

What's more, Producers Distribution Agency, an arm of indie player John Sloss' Cinetic Media (along with Abramorama and FilmBuff), is brazenly provoking Disney's legal pit bulls with a poster that spells out the title in the company's familiar bubbly handwriting, above which looms an image of a Mickey Mouse-like blood-soaked hand.

Instant litigation, right? Not this time. Unlike so many knee-jerk studio reactions, sources tell THR that Disney will give this movie a free pass.

It's not that the company doesn't have a case. When the David Lynch-ian black-and-white film premiered at Sundance in January, many assumed it would be blocked by Disney lawyers faster than the Queen of Hearts could shout, "Off with their heads!" Director Randy Moore's dark vision is brimming with racy perversions of studio property, including Disney princesses depicted as high-class prostitutes and a parkwide outbreak of a deadly flu virus.

Loyola Law School professor Jay Dougherty says shooting the film inside a Disney park isn't necessarily actionable (beyond a possible trespassing claim on violation of park rules), and "fair use" exceptions to copyright law could be a defense for using the characters in a larger narrative. But "Disney could have a stronger case regarding trademark law and trademark dilution," he adds.

The trailer for Tomorrow slyly notes that the film has not been approved by Disney, but the poster bears no disclaimer distancing the studio from the movie -- and its Disney-esque font might confuse moviegoers into thinking it is studio-approved.

Regardless, Disney -- set to release its own Disneyland-set movie, Saving Mr. Banks, in December -- has decided the less attention paid, the better. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, but a studio source says the strategy is to avoid giving Tomorrow attention that could lead to bigger box office. After all, The Weinstein Co. this year parlayed Warner Bros.' objections to using the title The Butler, which Warners owns, into a mountain of media that put its film on the public's radar.

Disney's silence, rather than legal might, ultimately could hurt Tomorrow, according to studio marketing executives surveyed by THR. Because so much of the film's fascination hinges on its Disney-defying reputation, a shrug of the studio's shoulders could deflate that buzz like a three-day-old Mylar balloon.

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

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Bravo to Disney for Replacing a Stolen Hippo Statue from a Child's Grave

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

 A Massachusetts mom was devastated after someone stole a dancing hippo statue from her young daughter's gravesite.

The statue had tremendous sentimental value to the family and was essentially irreplaceable, until a worker from Disney called.

Michelle Roderick lost her four-year-old daughter, Erin, in 2009 to brain cancer. Erin and her stuffed hippo were inseparable.

"Purple hippo was her best friend in the entire world," Roderick said. "It was with her from the time she was diagnosed at 10 months, to the time she passed away."

After Erin's death, her family places a dancing purple hippo from Disney's Fantasia on her grave, but it was recently stolen.

The family couldn't replace the statue because it's no longer being made. But after people found out about the theft, Roderick said calls and emails were sent to Disney.

The messaged worked, and Roderick got a call from Disney.

"They were able to locate the mold from the original statue that was made and they had one made especially for Erin," Roderick said. "It doesn't take the pain away from the original being stolen. I still want that one to come back, but this is a symbol tome of the good that's in the world."

Disney is finishing up the model, and will ship it to the Roderick family in the next two months.

See Video... http://www.kplctv.com/story/23035127/disney-replaces-hippo-statue-stolen-from-childs-grave

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Marvel No Longer Pays Royalties to Inventor of a Spider-Man Toy

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Marvel Enterprises will no longer have to pay royalties to Stephen Kimble, the inventor of a Spider-Man toy called the Web Blaster that allows users to mimic the character's web-shooting abilities with a foam string.

the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals begrudgingly gave Marvel a victory on the basis that the Supreme Court has restricted the kinds of contracts that can be made with patent owners.

Real money was at stake here. Since the product's invention in 1990, Kimble has earned $6 million in royalties from an agreement with Marvel that allowed him three percent of net product sales.

Read Full Ruling here.... http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2013/07/16/11-15605.pdf

In 1990, after Kimble patented his idea for a toy that was activated via a trigger attached to a valve in the palm of a glove, the inventor met with the president of one of Marvel's predecessor companies.
Marvel passed on the idea, and after the company began manufacturing a similar Spider-Man role-playing toy, Kimble sued in 1997 for patent infringement and a claim that the company had breached a contract to pay him for use of his idea. The patent claim was dismissed, but a judge ruled there were genuine issues of fact precluding summary judgment on the contract claim, entering a judgment that awarded him 3.5 percent of sales. Both sides appealed.
In 2001, the parties came to a settlement agreement. As part of the deal, Marvel purchased the patent for more than $516,000 and also agreed to give him 3 percent of net product sales. (Kimble later sold an interest in his property to Robert Grabb, a co-appellant.)

Kimble then filed a new lawsuit for breach of contract, and Marvel submitted counterclaims that sought a declaration that it was no longer obligated to pay Kimble based on the sale of products after the expiration of his patent.

That has the Ninth Circuit reviewing Brulotte v. Thys Co., a 1964 Supreme Court decision which forbids patent holders from collecting royalties after the expiration date of the patent. Where it gets tricky is so-called "hybrid agreements" that allow for payments during the patent period and non-patent period. In baseball, this would be equivalent to the Los Angeles Dodgers agreeing to lock up a young superstar beyond his early restricted free agent years.
Courts around the nation have been dubious about royalty payments under hybrid agreements, not wishing to allow patent holders to use their leverage in the early years of a patent's issuance. The Ninth Circuit has been more careful on this topic, reviewing a later 1979 Supreme Court case and holding that there should at least be a discount in the post-expiration period.

On appeal, Kimble argued that the settlement agreement with Marvel distinguishes between patent and non-patent rights and that Brulotte did not apply.
Ninth Circuit Judge Consuelo Callahan writes, "We cannot agree because the agreement plainly involved one royalty rate for both patent and Web Blaster rights, with no discount or other clear indication that the Web Blaster royalties were not subject to patent leverage."

Read More.... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/appeals-court-frees-marvel-spider-586148

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"Disney" is for Fighting Deforestation in Peru

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

The world needs these dense tropical forests to absorb carbon dioxide and emit oxygen, which is one of many reasons environmental NGO Conservation International (CI) launched a REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation) project here nearly five years ago.

Last year, the Alto Mayo REDD+ project was validated under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) as well as the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCB).

Before the project's validation, Disney, in a landmark move, donated $3.5 million to CI's work in Alto Mayo, contributing significantly to what the project has been able to achieve thus far.

The arc of deforestation

The story of the Alto Mayo REDD+ project began around 2008 and involves 419 farmers and their families as much as it does CI and Disney. At the time, Disney was looking to offset the environmental impact of their resorts by preserving a forest or ecosystem and had reached out to CI for suggestions. CI presented them with two nations containing endangered rainforest that needed saving: the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru. Disney decided to start with Alto Mayo in Peru.

Agree and maintain

As part of the CA, Arcos says, each farmer was offered a technical package containing instructions for planting. The package discouraged using herbicides and included training on how to sow coffee in a way that’s compatible with the growth of native trees. The CA benefited the local people as much as it did the ecosystem. Their unsustainable farming practices had been depleting the soil, which forced farmers to relocate and cut down trees constantly in order to reach healthy soil.

Espinel also pointed out that because the farmers practiced sustainable agriculture, they avoided the devastating disease known as coffee rust that decimated 20 percent of Peru's total coffee production one year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Guevara and other farmers were able to improve production and avoid pests thanks to CI's REDD project. Along with the agricultural training the project provided, CI offered the local populations medical equipment, educational materials and jobs patrolling the forests. In return, the locals promised to participate in reforestation and not cut down the forest anymore.

Carbon truth

While VCS verified the carbon impacts, CCB also measures the project's effects on communities as well as on the local plant and animal life. The standard confirmed the local life had improved with the REDD project and the CAs. This means 420 species of birds and 50 species of mammals, including the yellow-tailed woolly monkey found only in the Peruvian Andes, benefitted.

So far, the project has generated 3 million tons of emissions reductions, the equivalent of taking 500,000 cars off the roads for one year, according to Espinel. Disney's contribution resulted in a 400,000-ton reduction of carbon emissions, helping to shrink the giant companies' ecological footprint.

Disney has agreed, as part of its environmental commitments, to another grant of $3.5 million to CI's work in Alto Mayo. Disney is also considering showing films about Alto Mayo on their cruise ships.

Caring for the green and water

"It supplies water to many communities living in the vicinity," he says.

The Alto Mayo ecosystem supplies the 200,000 people living in this vicinity with clean water that they use in their homes as well as to water their crops. The area is replenished with rainwater that runs over trees and through the grooves of lush hills to fill the entire ecosystem. Cutting down the trees deprives the forest, and perhaps those who live around it, of a full life.

Dispel the mist

Trees also create a home for those 420 bird species and 50 mammal types as well as amphibians, reptiles and insects. As in many of Disney's well-known films, man and animal should care for the Earth responsibly.

As for Guevara, the changes still seem exciting and he is eager to discuss how his way of life and farming techniques have been transformed.

Read More.... http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2013/07/15/why-disney-fighting-deforestation-peru

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Disney Film Units Settle Silicon Valley Anti-Poaching Lawsuit

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Walt Disney Co's Lucasfilm Ltd and Pixar units have settled a lawsuit accusing them and other technology companies of conspiring not to poach each others' employees, resolving their part in a case that involves some of Silicon Valley's biggest names.

The settlement was disclosed in a Friday court filing that did not elaborate on terms of the deal. Disney was not immediately available for comment.

This year, a U.S. judge in San Jose, California ruled that the lawsuit, brought by five tech employees alleging a broad industry conspiracy, cannot proceed as a class action but left the door open for workers to eventually sue as a group.

The case has been closely watched by Silicon Valley, with much of it built on emails among top executives, including the late Apple chief executive Steve Jobs and former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

If the plaintiffs win class certification, then they would have more leverage to extract large financial settlements than if they were to sue individually.

The plaintiffs claim the companies' agreement to refrain from recruiting each others' employees drove down wages in Silicon Valley.

Other defendants in the case include Adobe Systems Inc, Intel Corp and Intuit Inc.

Source.... http://finance.yahoo.com/news/disney-film-units-settle-silicon-015812811.html

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Disney and Publix Want to Cut Lawsuit - Millions on Payouts

Newsflash from your Hollywood Attorney:

Millions of dollars are at stake. Publix Super Markets and Walt Disney World — are spearheading an effort to cut the size of civil-lawsuit awards, which could lead to enormous savings for the frequently sued companies through smaller jury verdicts and pretrial settlements.

Their goal is to persuade state lawmakers to rewrite the way medical damages are determined if a business is found responsible for an accident, whether a customer slips in the aisle of a grocery store or a tourist is hurt aboard a theme-park ride.

Records show that Publix alone spent more than $37 million last year defending itself against or settling civil lawsuits, with about 80 percent of those costs incurred in Florida. Other documents show the Lakeland-based grocery chain expects it could save at least $1 million a year, and potentially much more, if lawmakers enacted its proposed changes.

Businesses lobbyists argue that the current system has been manipulated by shrewd trial lawyers and by complicit doctors who exaggerate the cost of medical services and perform more work than is necessary on accident victims — which then encourages juries to award much larger amounts in damages.

Read More... http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-07-10/business/os-disney-publix-lobby-for-lawsuit-changes-20130710_1_accident-victims-walt-disney-world-jury

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