Fresh Filings

Musical artist Kimberly Jones a/k/a Lil' Kim, Trio Entertainment Services Group and Universal Attractions have been sued by promoter Remo Palladini for breach of contract in New York Supreme Court, New York County. The suit, filed by Block Longo LaMarca & Brzezinski, accuses Lil' Kim of failing to perform at the Hot in Toronto Music Festival, and post about the event on her website and social media accounts despite receiving an $82,500 payment from the plaintiff. The case is Palladini v. Universal Attractions Inc., 654449/2024. … Lions Gate Entertainment was sued by CPPIB Credit Investments in New York Supreme Court, New York County. The complaint alleges that after losing money from the purchase of cable network Starz, Lions Gate conspired with certain lenders to obtain consent to sell Starz to a special purpose acquisition company. According to the suit, Lions Gate obtained consent by offering to redeem notes on favorable terms from certain lenders to the detriment of the plaintiff and other lenders. The suit was brought on behalf of the plaintiff by Latham & Watkins. The case is CPPIB Credit Investments II Inc. v. Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., 654398/2024. … NFL Player Association, the union that represents professional football players, has sued DraftKings, the daily fantasy sports and sports betting site, in New York Southern District Federal Court in relation to DraftKings' digital sports-themed, non-fungible tokens (NFTs). According to the complaint, the defendant committed guaranteed payments to the plaintiff to license the name, image and likeness of NFL players for its NFTs. The plaintiff argues that DraftKings abruptly announced that it had decided to shut down the products on July 30, 2024, and that it would no longer abide by its payment obligations to the plaintiff. The complaint, which seeks an undisclosed amount of damages, was brought by the Winston & Strawn law firm. The case is National Football League Player Association v. DraftKings Inc., 1:24-cv-06407. … Linda Cummings-Ramone, widow of the late Ramones lead guitarist Johnny Ramone, was sued for trademark infringement and dilution in New York Eastern District Federal Court. The suit was brought by Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld on behalf of Mickey Hyman, brother of the late Ramones lead singer Joey Ramone. The complaint accuses the defendant of misappropriating the band's music, art and trademarks to promote her own business and social media ventures. According to the suit, the defendant began marketing herself as "Linda Ramone" without the band's permission after the death of Johnny Ramone, falsely suggesting a collaborative and professional relationship with the band. The case is Hyman v. Cummings-Ramone, 1:24-cv-05920. … Music distribution and sharing platform Soundcloud was named in a patent infringement lawsuit in New York Southern District Federal Court. The action, asserting two patents related to creating and distributing media content, was filed by Loaknauth Law and Direction IP Law on behalf of Virtual Creative Artists. The case is Virtual Creative Artists LLC v. Soundcloud Inc., 1:24-cv-06356. … The New York Mets, Major League Baseball and other defendants were sued for civil rights violations in New York Supreme Court, Queens County. The lawsuit, filed by and on behalf of Black female Aura Moody, accuses the defendants of forcing the plaintiff to remove her "Make America Great Again" hat for entry into the stadium while white spectators were allowed to wear their hats. The case is Moody v. New York Metropolitan Baseball Club Inc. …Paramount Pictures, Will Smith and other defendants were sued for copyright infringement in New York Southern District Federal Court. The lawsuit, filed by and on behalf of attorney-author Kissinger N. Sibanda, alleges that his book The Return to Gibraltar was adapted for the screen as Gemini Man, the movie starring Will Smith. The complaint alleges that recasting the white leading man into a Black lead was based on Gibraltar's cultural ethos and context and the lead's initials are H.B. in both works. The case is Sibanda v. Ellison, 1:24-cv-06310. … Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in Arizona District Federal Court on behalf of Wavve Americas Inc., a distributor of Korean-produced media in American markets. The suit takes aim at the registrants of websites, including goplay.pw, over the allegedly unauthorized streaming of Korean programming. The case is Wavve Americas Incorporated v. Unknown Party, 2:24-cv-02071. … Hollywood Unlocked was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit in California Central District Federal Court. The lawsuit was brought by SRIPLaw on behalf of Harry Langdon, who contends that a photograph of singer Donna Summer was used without permission. The case is Langdon v. Hollywood Unlocked Inc., 2:24-cv-06941. … Multinational video-game developer Sega filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Illinois Northern District Federal Court over the alleged sale of counterfeit goods bearing its "Shin Megami Tensei" video-game marks. The court action, filed by Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, pursues claims against unidentified online retailers. The case is Sega Corp. v. The Individuals, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A Hereto, 1:24-cv-07267. … The Miami Dolphins and South Florida Stadium filed a lawsuit in Florida Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, alleging breach of a sponsorship agreement. The lawsuit, brought by Brodsky Fotiu-Wojtowicz, takes aim at Mr. Meat Master for alleged failure to pay over $3.1 million after receiving promotional and advertising rights and other benefits. The case is South Florida Stadium, LLC v.  Selza International LLC, 2024-015289-CA-01. … Holland & Hart and Harness, Dickey & Pierce filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Wyoming District Federal Court on behalf of Mob Entertainment Inc., a digital media company and creator of the Poppy Playtime video game. The court action, which takes aim at Falcon Liberty LLC, accuses the defendant of using an identical mark to the plaintiff's "Smiling Critters" trademark. The case is Mob Entertainment Inc v. Falcon Liberty LLC, 2:24-cv-00154. … Sirius XM Satellite Radio sued CPA firm Adeptus Partners and Lewis Stark in New York Supreme Court, New York County, in connection with an independent audit of Sirius XM's 2018 royalty payments to non-party SoundExchange. The court action, brought by Weil, Gotshal & Manges, contends that the defendants performed a "one-sided" inspection of royalty statements to formulate support for alleged royalty underpayments owed to SoundExchange. The suit claims that the defendants did not perform an independent audit under standards set forth in the code of professional conduct for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and seeks to recover fees Sirius expended in legal defense work. The case is Sirius XM Radio Inc. v. Adeptus Partners LLC. … Dearica Hamby, who won a bronze medal in women's 3×3 basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics, sued the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the Las Vegas Aces in Nevada District Federal Court alleging pregnancy-based discrimination. The lawsuit, brought by HKM Employment Attorneys, accuses the Aces, Hamby's former team, of discriminating and retaliating against her while she was pregnant. Hamby also accuses Aces's head coach Becky Hammon of questioning Hamby's commitment and dedication to the team and stated that she was not "taking proper precautions not to get pregnant.'" According to the complaint, the WNBA suspended Hammon for two games without pay for violating league polices but provided no redress for her. The case is Hamby v. WNBA LLC, 2:24-cv-01474. … iHeartMedia sued Elevation Festivals d/b/a the Elevation Group in Ohio Court of Common Pleas, Cuyahoga County, alleging breach of contract. The court action, filed by Mason, Schilling & Mason, seeks damages based on the alleged failure to pay for the plaintiff's goods and services. The case is iHeart Media vs. Elevation Group LLC, CV-24-101982. … Valve, operator of the video game distribution platform Steam, was hit in an antitrust class action in Washington Western District Federal Court. The action alleges Valve contractually prevents game publishers from offering their games, as well as additional game content, for a lower price on a rival platform. The lawsuit was brought by Bucher Law and Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro on behalf of John Elliott, Ricardo Camargo, Javier Rovira and Bradly Smith. The case is Elliott v. Valve Corp., 2:24-cv-01218. … Fox Rothschild filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Georgia Northern District Federal Court on behalf of Aristos Petrou, G59 Merchandising and Scott Arceneaux Jr. The suit takes aim at unidentified defendants who allegedly use the plaintiff's "$UICIDEBOY$," "G59" and "G59 RECORDS" marks to sell unauthorized merchandise outside of concert venues. The case is Arceneaux v. Various John Does, 1:24-cv-03509. … Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, on behalf of sports management company Rival Sports Group. The suit pursues claims against J. Keyshawn Johnson, a former professional American football wide receiver, for allegedly failing to pay the plaintiff $291,370 pursuant to a series of promissory note agreements. The case is Rivals Sports Group v. Johnson. … Universal Music Group, music producer DJ White Shadow and record label Mr. 305 Inc. were hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit in New York Southern District Federal Court. The court case, filed by Sanders Law Group on behalf of All Surface Publishing, is brought in connection with the song "I Feel Good" by recording artist Pitbull featuring DJWS and Anthony Watts. The complaint alleges that the song incorporates copyrighted elements of "Samir's Theme" by musician Debonair Samir and therefore constitutes infringement of the plaintiff's registered work. The case is All Surface Publishing Inc. v. Universal Music Group, 1:24-cv-06039. … Fleischer Studios Inc. filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Illinois Northern District Federal Court over the alleged sale of counterfeit goods. The suit, filed by Aronberg Goldgehn Davis & Garmisa, pursues claims against unidentified e-commerce operators selling products using the plaintiff's "Betty Boop" mark. The case is Fleischer Studios Inc. v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A, 1:24-cv-06988. … Paramount Pictures and other defendants were hit with a wrongful termination lawsuit in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County. The action was filed by Levin & Nalbandyan on behalf of a prop maker and welder for Paramount who contends that he was subjected to antisemitism while performing work for the defendants. The plaintiff also contends that he attempted to report safety concerns in the workplace as he was subjected to asbestos and lead paint exposure, but his supervisor threatened him with termination. Additionally, the plaintiff accuses the defendants of disability-based discrimination and failing to provide a reasonable accommodation to his disability. The case is Woldman v. Paramount Pictures Corp. … Esmelin Santiago Matias-Garcia a/k/a Alofoke, a Dominican radio host and producer, was hit with a defamation lawsuit in Florida Circuit Court, Miami-Dade County, in connection with rapper Tekashi 69. The lawsuit was brought by Chusid, Katz & Sposato on behalf of Sean Michael Hotusing, a professional fighter who alleges that the defendant falsely accused him of attempting to assassinate him on instruction by Tekashi. The case is Hotusing v. Matias-Garcia, 2024-014612-CA-01. … DraftKings, the daily fantasy sports and sports betting site, was named as a nominal defendant in a shareholder derivative lawsuit in Nevada District Court, Clark County. The case, filed by Grabar Law Office, Rigrodsky Law, and Albright, Stoddard, Warnick & Albright on behalf of Michael Cottrell, accuses the company's board of directors and certain executive officers of facilitating the sale of unregistered securities in the form of NFTs for compensation. The case is Cottrell v. Robins, A-24-899012-C.