Latest in copyright infringement

EXCLUSIVE: A federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit filed by the estate of playwright Paul Zindel accusing filmmaker Guillermo del Toro of appropriating plot elements from Let Me Hear You Whisper in his Oscar-winning film The Shape of Water. The suit was filed and fanned for maximum publicity on the day…

Redbox accuses Disney of attempting to stifle competition through a lawsuit that seeks to halt the sale of digital movie codes to the automated kiosk service’s customers. In a response to Disney’s copyright infringement suit, Redbox argues that the Burbank entertainment giant is engaging in anti-consumer and…

In a significant free-speech victory, Loretta A. Preska, Chief United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, ruled Tuesday that 3C, a play that parodies the 1970s sitcom Three’s Company, does not infringe on that copyrighted program. The ruling ends nearly three years of court tennis during…

Over two years since notorious cyberlocker Megaupload was shut down on January 19, 2012, Hollywood today has gone on the legal offensive. Disney, 20th Century Fox Film, Paramount Pictures, Universal, Columbia Pictures and Warner Bros. today filed a mega-lawsuit against the site and its principals in federal court in…

Looks like not everyone in Hollywood is on the same page when it comes to combating copyright infringement. Specifically, the Writers Guild of America West thinks that the multimillion-dollar damages the Motion Picture Association of America wants extracted from file-sharing sites "has little additional deterrent…

The Hollywood lobby group responded to a request from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative for names of countries that it should consider including in its list of “notorious markets” to penalize for failing to crack down on piracy. The MPAA’s collection had a lot of familiar targets including Ukraine, Canada…

Nearly two years and a half years after first filing their suit on behalf of several studios, the MPAA today scored a victory against file-sharing service Hotfile. A federal court in Florida has found the site and its boss Anton Titov liable for copyright infringement. Today is the first time a U.S. court has ruled…

The highest-grossing movie of all time is again the subject of a copyright legal battle. Artist William Roger Dean filed a complaint against James Cameron and 20th Century Fox on Thursday seeking more than $50 million in damages over Avatar. Unlike past Avatar plaintiffs, Dean has an established pedigree. He is a well…

The Motion Picture Association of America, lead by former Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, approves of what the Republicans have to say about protecting intellectual property and internet freedom in their party platform. The GOP platform, which was formally approved last night at the party’s convention in…

UPDATE, 6:56 PM: Aereo CEO and Founder Chet Kanojia is taking a victory lap following today’s court decision. He says it “shows that when you are on the right side of the law, you can stand up, fight the Goliath and win." The ruling “should serve as a signal to the public that control and choice are moving back into…

27% Of Australians Admit To Illegal Downloads Some 27% of Australians persistently or casually download screen content illegally and at a growing rate over the past 12 months, according to new research from the Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation, a coalition of film and TV organizations. The report showed 86%…

Sylvester Stallone has been sued by a writer who alleges the hit movie The Expendables copies a script and short story he filed with the U.S. Copyright Office in 2006. Marcus Webb says he then made available to Hollywood studios a script about mercenaries recruited to defeat a dictator named General Garza. Webb…