Why Hollywood should be afraid of the iPad (video)

By Eriq Gardner

The technorati may be drooling over the iPad, but you'll forgive the Hollywood elite if they don't line up at the Apple Store to get their hands on this brawny new tablet computer.

In fact, the introduction of this device could interfere with with one of Hollywood's biggest cash cows -- adapting literary works for the big screen.

It's on! Kirby estate sues Marvel; copyrights to Iron Man, Spider-Man at stake

By Eriq Gardner

 The children of comic book icon Jack Kirby have officially sued Marvel to terminate copyrights and gain profits from such lucrative comic creations as Iron Man, X-Men, The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, follows the September move by the estate to send out 45 notices of termination to Marvel and owner the Walt Disney Co., as well as Sony, Universal, Fox and others, hoping to recapture control of much of Kirby's work. In January, Marvel filed its own lawsuit, claiming the creations were "work-made-for-hire" and that Marvel was the real "author" of such works under the 1909 Copyright Act.

Nike sues to include Vince Lombardi speech in commercial

By Eriq Gardner

Dead celebrities have become cash cows for their estates. Laws protecting the publicity rights of the deceased have been expanded, and no management firm has benefited more from the trend than CMG Worldwide, representing Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and other late entertainers.

But sometimes, an advertiser's request goes beyond the means of the estate.

Shoemaking giant Nike has filed a lawsuit in Washington Circuit Court against the Estate of famed football coach Vince Lombardi and CMG for breaching a contract.

'Hurt Locker' lawsuit claims breach of agreement with U.S. military

By Eriq Gardner

We've tracked down a copy of the complaint filed today in New Jersey District Court by the Iraq war veteran who claims producers of "The Hurt Locker" ripped off his life story.

As we've noted, Master Sgt. Jeffrey S. Sarver faces a long road uphill in showing that filmmakers breached his rights in making the film.

We also noted that Sarver's best claim might be that the film was wrong in its veiled depiction of him. And indeed, in addition to claims for right of publicity and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the defendants are being sued for defamation for portraying a character who is a "bad father," "messed up," "reckless," "unstable," enjoys playing cruel practical jokes on people, etc.

How a production company can be both plaintiff and defendant in a lawsuit

By Eriq Gardner

There aren't many lawsuits where a party is listed as both plaintiff and defendant. But leave it to litigation-happy Hollywood to find a way.

In a new lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Court, producer Joseph Di Palma claims that a Utah-based production company called SummitWorks breached a contract by failing to distribute the inspirational drama "Shannon's Rainbow" in the U.S.

Di Palma says he invested $1 million in the film based on SummitWorks principal Frank Johnson's stated credits as a TV director. Di Palma claims he later learned that Johnson had not directed eight years of the CBS series "Touched by an Angel," as he was told, but rather just three episodes. (Note to Di Palma: A quick check of IMDb could have cleared up any confusion.)

Oprah's Harpo sued by fired fitness trainers

By Eriq Gardner

Oprah Winfrey wants her employees to be fit. But she doesn't want her company's fitness trainers to talk about their job.

Two trainers have filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Oprah's Harpo Inc., alleging they were terminated from an assignment to create a fitness program for employees with the potential of making the "O Fitness Challenge" into a segment for the "Oprah" TV show.

According to the complaint, filed on Monday in Illinois circuit court, Dina Castillo and Frank Nunez had their contract canceled after the two allegedly violated the confidentiality provisions of the agreement. The trainers say they were hired to create a "customized fitness program" for Harpo staff, and after 341 employees were enrolled, they were asked to participate in an Oprah Radio XM program hosted by Winfrey's former personal trainer Bob Green.

New TV pilot deal language putting a squeeze on residuals

By Matthew Belloni and Nellie Andreeva

“Test deals” are making a lot of people, well, testy this pilot season.

TV studios and broadcast networks are insisting on new talent concessions to shave off-the-top costs like residuals. The test deals, which set the terms of employment for both the pilot and series, are tough for talent reps to negotiate because they must be signed before an actor auditions — when he or she has little leverage to extract concessions.

“The TV studios are getting more aggressive in that area,” a veteran talent agent said.

Several studios now are including non-negotiable language allowing residuals for a first primetime rerun to be considered a “prepayment” of a regular’s series compensation. For instance, an actor who makes $30,000 an episode as a regular on a broadcast series usually might make $2,500-$3,500 more when that episode (depending on its length) is rerun for the first time. Under several new test deals, the residual already would be included in that actor’s salary. 

Producer claims Warner Bros. killed his 'Mortal Kombat' film

By Eriq Gardner

Now that Warner Bros. is trying to reboot the "Mortal Kombat" franchise, a producer behind the two prior films is fighting mad about being left out.

Larry Kasanoff's Threshold Entertainment has filed a new breach of contract lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming the company has a deal to develop the third "Kombat" movie but that Warners "has avoided communicating with Threshold and has in bad faith prevented Threshold from utilizing the interest they have in the" franchise.

No deals yet for 'Twilight' stars to return for fifth movie

By Matthew Belloni

Summit Entertainment has denied reports that a decision has been made to split the fourth "Twilight" novel "Breaking Dawn" into two movies. But if the studio is planning to move forward with that plan, its lawyers should get busy locking in that cast first.   

We've learned that no talent deals are in place with the principal actors to return for a fifth movie. And they're not even close, we're told. That means neither Kristen Stewart nor Robert Pattinson nor Taylor Lautner has yet signed on to a (possibly 3D?) supersized "Breaking Dawn."

Conan's 'Tonight Show' contract revealed

By Matthew Belloni

If there was one big mystery in the Great Late-Night Fiasco of 2010, it was whether NBC actually specified in Conan O'Brien's contract that “The Tonight Show” had to begin at 11:35 p.m. This seemingly small detail was of crucial importance to O’Brien, who ended up exiting the network rather than accepting NBC’s offer to move him and “Tonight” to 12:05 a.m. -- a potential violation of his deal, which was never made public.

But we've finally tracked down a copy of the O’Brien contract, and -- lo and behold -- NBC did define “Tonight” as the series that airs at 11:35 as far back as 2002. However, what may have emboldened NBC to move the program anyway was the absence of that key language from later amendments to the deal.

Here's the backstory: