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Bit Parts
Amazon Didn't Exceed Scope of License to Stream Chinese Drama
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Amazon didn't exceed the scope of a license to stream the Chinese TV drama General and I on the Warner Bros.' DramaFever channel on Amazon Prime. Wanjuan Media (Tianjin) Co. Ltd. v. Amazon.com Inc., 22-CV-1434. The Chinese company Wanjuan Media had executed a joint-production agreement with Shanghai Croton Culture Media, which later entered into a non-exclusive agreement with DramaFever for General and I to be distributed online "on DramaFever Platforms," including on Amazon Prime. But Warner Bros. shut down the DramaFever channel in 2018. In 2022, Wanjuan Media sued Amazon for copyright infringement, alleging "certain screenshots and other evidence 'suggest that it is possible that Amazon was still streaming' [General and I] in November 2020, and even perhaps 'as late as October 2021.'" District Judge J. Paul Oetken granted summary judgment for Amazon, noting: "There is no hard evidence that Amazon streamed the show after October 2018 or that it discontinued streaming only after Wanjuan's cease-and-desist notice. Screenshots of the 'General and I' product detail page, taken on August 3, 2021, and submitted into the record by Wanjuan, clearly indicate that '[t]his video is currently unavailable.'"
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|California Talent Agency's Lawsuit in Texas Won't Be Stayed Pending Proceeding Before California Labor Commissioner
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, adopted a federal magistrate's recommendation that a dispute between California-based A3 Artists Agency and the Austin-based management company Night Media should be initially heard by the California Labor Commissioner under the California Talent Agencies Act (TAA), Calif. Labor §1700 et seq. A3 claims in part that Night Media acted as an unlicensed talent agent that lured an artist away from A3. In his ruling dismissing A3's claims without prejudice, District Judge Robert Pitman noted A3 "argues that even if this Court were to find that its claims should be presented to the California Labor Commissioner, the appropriate remedy would be to stay this case pending adjudication of those claims, rather than dismissing the claims." But the district judge added: "A3 has not persuasively argued what hardship it would face if this action were to be dismissed without prejudice as opposed to stayed. Instead, it appears that a stay would compromise judicial economy by indefinitely delaying the resolution of this case while A3 pursues its administrative remedies."
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