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Georgia Fed. Ct. Dismisses Suit Over <i>Honey</i> Films

BY Stan Soocher
December 31, 2014

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, dismissed a lawsuit brought by hip-hop dancer Ereina “Honey Rockwell” Valencia over Universal's Honey and Honey 2 movies, released respectively in 2003 and 2011. Valencia v. Universal City Studios LLC, 1:14-CV-00528.

Like the plaintiff, the films' “Honey Daniels” is a Bronx native with Hispanic family roots who teaches dance classes in the Bronx. Valencia sued in 2014. In Georgia, claims alleging violation of right-of-publicity, and intrusion on a plaintiff's seclusion and solitude, have two-year statutes of limitations. (The court said it assumed for purposes of its ruling that Valencia was a Georgia or New York resident.)

In Valencia's case, District Judge Richard W. Story found these claims to be time-barred. The district judge wrote he wasn't convinced by Valencia's “discovery rule” argument that “that she could not have brought suit earlier due to her unfamiliarity with the film industry. ' Plaintiff has not alleged that Defendants acted fraudulently, merely that she was unable to ascertain their identities without the advice of counsel.” (Marc Platt Productions is a co-defendant with Universal.)

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