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Bruce Lee Enterprises Can Proceed with False Endorsement Claim

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a defense motion to dismiss a false endorsement claim brought under Sec. 43(a) of the federal Lanham Act over the alleged unauthorized manufacture and sale of t-shirts featuring the image of the late movie star Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC (BLE) v. A.V.E.L.A. Inc., 10 Civ. 2333. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain emphasized: “Plaintiff need not allege trademark rights in a particular image of Lee because the mark at issue is Lee's persona. Plaintiff [a company established by Lee's family] has sufficiently alleged ownership of Lee's persona.” Judge Swain further noted: “Neither must Plaintiff identify its own specific goods or services that are similar to the t-shirts at issue in order to allege sufficiently a likelihood of confusion. Plaintiff alleges that it 'expends countless resources ' to ' protect the L[ee] Intellectual Property ' all of which serve to designate those goods and services distributed in interstate and [i]nternational commerce as associated with, approved by, and emanating from BLE.' According to Plaintiff, '[t]he Infringing Merchandise designed, manufactured, marketed, and/or sold by ' the Defendants bearing the LEE Intellectual Property are [sic] substantially similar to licensed merchandise marketed and sold by BLE's licensees ” These allegations adequately plead a likelihood of confusion.” But the district judge dismissed an unfair competition claim brought under New York common law against retailers Urban Outfitters and Target on the ground that BLE alleged “that Target and Urban acted in bad faith without proffering any facts to make that conclusion plausible.”

Contributory Infringement Claim over Terminator Is Dismissed

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted a defense motion for summary judgment dismissing a contributory copyright infringement claim against Gail Anne Hurd, producer of the movies The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Goldberg v. Cameron, C'05'03534. Plaintiff Neil Goldberg alleged that The Terminator movies and spin-off TV series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, infringed on copyrights for his script outline, Long Live Music, and his music album, Energy. Goldberg claimed to have sent his works to New World Pictures over 30 years ago; Hurd worked at New World at the time. In 1998, Hurd assigned her Terminator rights over to the producers of two more Terminator movies (“T-3″ and “T-4″), as well as the TV series. In 2008, the district court dismissed Goldberg's direct infringement claims on statute-of-limitations grounds. In the recent ruling, District Judge Ronald M. Whyte noted: “This case presents unique circumstances: the situation where the alleged material contribution or inducement of infringement occurred years before the allegedly infringing works were created or released. Defendants contend that there is no evidence that Hurd had knowledge of the copyright infringement alleged with respect to T'3, T'4, and the Terminator television series at the time she made the 1998 assignment of her rights to develop future installments of the Terminator Franchise, and thus cannot be liable for contributory copyright infringement. In other words, defendants argue that Hurd could not have known that future films, television programs, and music would be infringing when those projects had not even been undertaken, let alone released.” Judge Whyte added: “Goldberg's argument assumes that Hurd knew that she was assigning rights to material subject to Goldberg's copyright.” In any case, the district court determined that the later Terminator works weren't substantially similar to Goldberg's works.

Eastern District of New York Illuminates Infringement Test for Reality TV Series

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed a copyright suit that alleged the sports-themed reality TV series, Pros v. Joes, infringed on the plaintiffs' treatment for a proposed sports-themed reality show titled Two Left Feet. Castorina v. Spike Cable Networks Inc., 10'CV'2954. Both shows involved amateur sports fans competing against professional athletes. District Judge Joanna Seybert noted: “The Second Circuit has not yet had the opportunity to articulate how similar reality television programs must be for a 'substantial similarity' to exist between them under the copyright laws. But the Second Circuit's general framework for analyzing copyright claims is certainly insightful.” Judge Seybert continued: “Unfortunately for Plaintiffs, the 'Two Left Feet' treatment contains limited 'original' 'select[ion], coordinat[ion], and arrange[ment]' of unprotectable elements. Indeed, Plaintiffs concede as such. As Plaintiffs explain, the Two Left Feet treatment left certain specifics 'up in the air,' supposedly to show Plaintiffs' 'flexibility.' ' But the treatment's vagueness, however intentional, also undercuts its protectability ' Moreover, the treatment's choices in 'select[ing], coordinat[ing] and arrang[ing]' stock elements are largely inherently functional to the idea of a sports reality show, not 'original' creative expressions of any particular idea.”

Bruce Lee Enterprises Can Proceed with False Endorsement Claim

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a defense motion to dismiss a false endorsement claim brought under Sec. 43(a) of the federal Lanham Act over the alleged unauthorized manufacture and sale of t-shirts featuring the image of the late movie star Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee Enterprises LLC (BLE) v. A.V.E.L.A. Inc., 10 Civ. 2333. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain emphasized: “Plaintiff need not allege trademark rights in a particular image of Lee because the mark at issue is Lee's persona. Plaintiff [a company established by Lee's family] has sufficiently alleged ownership of Lee's persona.” Judge Swain further noted: “Neither must Plaintiff identify its own specific goods or services that are similar to the t-shirts at issue in order to allege sufficiently a likelihood of confusion. Plaintiff alleges that it 'expends countless resources ' to ' protect the L[ee] Intellectual Property ' all of which serve to designate those goods and services distributed in interstate and [i]nternational commerce as associated with, approved by, and emanating from BLE.' According to Plaintiff, '[t]he Infringing Merchandise designed, manufactured, marketed, and/or sold by ' the Defendants bearing the LEE Intellectual Property are [sic] substantially similar to licensed merchandise marketed and sold by BLE's licensees ” These allegations adequately plead a likelihood of confusion.” But the district judge dismissed an unfair competition claim brought under New York common law against retailers Urban Outfitters and Target on the ground that BLE alleged “that Target and Urban acted in bad faith without proffering any facts to make that conclusion plausible.”

Contributory Infringement Claim over Terminator Is Dismissed

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted a defense motion for summary judgment dismissing a contributory copyright infringement claim against Gail Anne Hurd, producer of the movies The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Goldberg v. Cameron, C'05'03534. Plaintiff Neil Goldberg alleged that The Terminator movies and spin-off TV series, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, infringed on copyrights for his script outline, Long Live Music, and his music album, Energy. Goldberg claimed to have sent his works to New World Pictures over 30 years ago; Hurd worked at New World at the time. In 1998, Hurd assigned her Terminator rights over to the producers of two more Terminator movies (“T-3″ and “T-4″), as well as the TV series. In 2008, the district court dismissed Goldberg's direct infringement claims on statute-of-limitations grounds. In the recent ruling, District Judge Ronald M. Whyte noted: “This case presents unique circumstances: the situation where the alleged material contribution or inducement of infringement occurred years before the allegedly infringing works were created or released. Defendants contend that there is no evidence that Hurd had knowledge of the copyright infringement alleged with respect to T'3, T'4, and the Terminator television series at the time she made the 1998 assignment of her rights to develop future installments of the Terminator Franchise, and thus cannot be liable for contributory copyright infringement. In other words, defendants argue that Hurd could not have known that future films, television programs, and music would be infringing when those projects had not even been undertaken, let alone released.” Judge Whyte added: “Goldberg's argument assumes that Hurd knew that she was assigning rights to material subject to Goldberg's copyright.” In any case, the district court determined that the later Terminator works weren't substantially similar to Goldberg's works.

Eastern District of New York Illuminates Infringement Test for Reality TV Series

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York dismissed a copyright suit that alleged the sports-themed reality TV series, Pros v. Joes, infringed on the plaintiffs' treatment for a proposed sports-themed reality show titled Two Left Feet. Castorina v. Spike Cable Networks Inc., 10'CV'2954. Both shows involved amateur sports fans competing against professional athletes. District Judge Joanna Seybert noted: “The Second Circuit has not yet had the opportunity to articulate how similar reality television programs must be for a 'substantial similarity' to exist between them under the copyright laws. But the Second Circuit's general framework for analyzing copyright claims is certainly insightful.” Judge Seybert continued: “Unfortunately for Plaintiffs, the 'Two Left Feet' treatment contains limited 'original' 'select[ion], coordinat[ion], and arrange[ment]' of unprotectable elements. Indeed, Plaintiffs concede as such. As Plaintiffs explain, the Two Left Feet treatment left certain specifics 'up in the air,' supposedly to show Plaintiffs' 'flexibility.' ' But the treatment's vagueness, however intentional, also undercuts its protectability ' Moreover, the treatment's choices in 'select[ing], coordinat[ing] and arrang[ing]' stock elements are largely inherently functional to the idea of a sports reality show, not 'original' creative expressions of any particular idea.”