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Cameo Clips
FILM PRODUCTION/ARBITRATION
The California Court of Appeal, Second District, decided that an arbitration provision in two producer loan-out contracts for the animated film 'Dinotopia: Quest for the Ruby Sunstone' applied to an additional agreement containing a production fee. Answar Ltd. V. Bold Entertainment LLC, B194924. An arbitrator had awarded $75,000, interest, attorney fees and costs to Bold Entertainment, owned by producers Jonathan Dern and Paul Sabella. The court of appeal noted in an unpublished opinion: 'The loan-out contracts for Mr. Dern's and Mr. Sabella's services, the contractual obligation to pay each of them a producer's fee, and the agreement to pay a production company fee, were all part of substantially one transaction whereby plaintiff hired them to produce the film. Therefore, the arbitration clauses in the loan-out agreements governed the entire transaction including the production company fee dispute. ' On a separate but related point, it is undisputed and plaintiff concedes the expansive language in the loan-out contracts concerning arbitration ('any and all disputes arising out of or in connection with') is sufficiently broad to cover the production company fee dispute.
RIGHTS IN BAND NAMES/LACHES DEFENSE
The U.S. District for the Western District of Washington ruled that laches barred a suit, by a band that has performed as the 'Wailers' since 1959, against members of the internationally known 'Wailers' co-founded by the late reggae star Bob Marley in 1964. Ormsby v. Barrett, CV07 5305 RBL. The plaintiffs obtained federal registration for 'Wailers' from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2003 and filed suit in 2007, alleging infringement and dilution, among other things. The defendants argued the plaintiffs knew of the defendants' use of 'Wailers' at least since the 1970s, when a fan of the plaintiffs' had asked if the plaintiffs 'backed up Bob Marley.'
Applying Washington's three-year limitations period for common-law trade-name infringement claims to the laches defense, the district court noted: 'Neither application for nor registration of a mark at the federal level wipes out the prior, non-registered, common law rights of others. ' Accordingly, the act of applying for registration does not toll the limitations period, and the Plaintiffs' 2007 lawsuit to enforce the rights they claim to have obtained by registration is outside the three year limitations period.'
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