NY High Court Sees Right of Publicity Claim in Avatars but Rules Against Celebrity Plaintiffs
May 01, 2018
<i><b>Legislature Considers Publicity Law Update</b></i><p>Ruling in a matter of first impression, New York's high court dismissed suits filed by Lindsay Lohan and the daughter of ex-mobster Sammy “The Bull” Gravano against the makers of Grand Theft Auto V, by disagreeing with the plaintiff's claims that characters in the game were intended to be their look-alikes.
Why Second Circuit Found No Fair Use in 'TVEyes' Case
May 01, 2018
Only a small fraction of television news broadcasts are made available online. For a party to monitor and view all news coverage of an event, it would essentially have to watch and record all news broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That's exactly what media-monitoring service TVEyes did. Fox News filed suit against TVEyes, claiming copyright infringement of 19 of its hour-long programs and alleging that TVEyes would divert Fox News's viewership and its ability to license its news clips to third parties.
Preserved Farmland Really Is for Farming
May 01, 2018
The Appellate Division, Second Department, recently decided <i>Long Island Pine Barrens Society, Inc. v. Suffolk County Legislature,</i> an important case that pitted the interests of farmers and conservationists against a local advocacy group focused on open space and water quality.
De Havilland's Loss in Docudrama Portrayal Suit
May 01, 2018
The California Court of Appeal created some First Amendment breathing room for the creators of docudramas — at the expense of legendary actress Olivia de Havilland — when the court ordered her suit against FX Networks over its Emmy Award-winning miniseries Feud be stricken under California's anti-SLAPP law, even if it did play a little fast-and-loose with de Havilland's character.