Hollywood Docket: MGM NDA; Google's French disconnection; Wayans bros' golddigging

Entertainment law news while looking forward to our second viewing of "Avatar" this weekend:

• Negotiations over confidentiality agreements are slowing down the sale of MGM. The studio, which is struggling with nearly $4 billion in debt, sent out NDAs to about 20 interested parties in November, according to Reuters, but has not received signed documents from everyone. Time Warner and Lionsgate have sent their NDAs back signed, but News Corp hasn't signed its document. The stumbling block could be over the restriction of potential buyers to talk directly to MGM's creditors.
• In France, Google has been convicted of copyright infringement for publishing extracts of French books and ordered to pay $430,000 in damages and interest to French publisher La Martiniere-Le Seuil. Google's attorney says the company plans to appeal. 
• The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of several large news organizations in an appeal over whether they had to turn over documents to a Belgian firm that would have revealed the identity of an anonymous source. The U.S. senate will soon take up a media shield law, but it looks like the Europeans have beat the Americans to the punch. The ECHR ruled that document disclosure would violate Article 10 pertaining to freedom of expression of the European Convention of Human Rights.
• The BBC has apologized to radio listeners who heard Zack de la Rocha, lead singer of Rage Against the Machine, swear during a live performance on Radio 5's breakfast show. A BBC spokesman explained the net had been assured the band wouldn't use curse words. 
• No joke — the Wayans brothers are being sued by a former employee named Jared Edwards who claims that Keenen, Shawn and Marlon stole his book manuscript, published by St. Martin's Press as "101 Ways to Know You're a Golddigger."