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.

Super Bowl commercial lawsuits keep coming

By Eriq Gardner

For the third time in the last 10 days, a commercial that aired during this year's Super Bowl has prompted a lawsuit.

The latest targets a spot aired by Kia Motors that allegedly rips off a classic funk tune by Dyke & the Blazers called "Let a Woman Be a Woman."

Will & Jada Pinkett Smith battle with film financier heads to arbitration

By Matthew Belloni

Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's aggressive lawsuit against the financier of her directorial debut will be decided behind closed doors.

Lawyers for the Smiths and Overbrook Entertainment have agreed with attorneys for Tycoon Entertainment and principal David Grasso to move the case to arbitration, avoiding a messy public spat. The parties submitted a stipulation today to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edward Ferns, who is expected to sign it.

If Warner Bros. accidentally sent you $1 mil, would you cash the check?

By Matthew Belloni

You get a fat check from a major studio that maybe shouldn't be yours. Do you cash it? David Bergstein would. At least that's what's implied in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Warner Bros. has sued Intermedia, the European production company with ties to the embattled film impresario, to recover $1.1 million in profit participations from "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" that the studio says it accidentally sent to Intermedia instead of the trust account set up to hold funds from the film.

5 possible reasons why Lindsay Lohan filed that talking-baby lawsuit

By Eriq Gardner

Lindsay Lohan's $100 million lawsuit against E-Trade for airing a commercial that featured a "milkaholic" baby named Lindsay has the town talking (video below).

Here's the actual complaint. 

We'd love to give a counterintuitive post that argues why this lawsuit stands a chance in hell -- but that seems fairly impossible. It's an obvious loser, leading to natural speculation about what prompted the actress to file it.

Possible Explanation 1: Lohan's representatives really think she can win the case. To do so, her lawyer will need to show that E-Trade knowingly traded on her good name and implied a commercial endorsement where there was none. Perhaps something could turn up in the discovery process implicating the ad agency that created the spot, but there may be enough outs for E-Trade even if it's revealed the online brokerage website had Ms. Lohan in mind. 

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.

Vancouver man files first 'Avatar' rip-off lawsuit

By Eriq Gardner

Well, it finally happened.

James Cameron has been sued for copyright infringement for allegedly stealing source material to create the international blockbuster "Avatar."

Since the first review of the film appeared in December, a popular parlor game has been figuring out exactly who will come out of the woodwork demanding royalties for helping inspire the 3D blockbuster. The makers of "Dances With Wolves"? "Pocahontas"? "Dune"?

Nope, guess again.

The 10 most interesting Oscar-related lawsuits ever

By Eriq Gardner

Here's an Oscar list you won't see anywhere else.

1. Disney sues the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, alleging that the infamous Rob Lowe-Snow White duet at the 1989 Oscars was unflattering to the beloved character and lacked permission.
2. The Academy sues a chocolatier in North Hollywood who made chocolate Oscar figurines of a former Sony Pictures president.
3. "Crash" producer Bob Yari sues the Academy after being denied an official producer's credit on the Oscar ballot, making him ineligible to receive a statue. 
4. The Academy sues the operator of "Oscarwatch," alleging that a website that predicts the winners violates its trademark.
5. The Academy sues the "Hackademy Awards," an annual event going on for more than a decade that highlights how tobacco use in movies influences young people. The Academy also sues an Italian TV station trying to broadcast "The Wine Oscars," "TV Oscars," "Fashion Oscars" and "Theater  Oscars."

TiVo destroys Dish in latest patent ruling

By Paul Bond

A federal appeals court has handed TiVo another victory in its long-running patent feud with Dish, one that was so significant that it propelled its stock 62% higher on Thursday.

The latest decision in the 6-year-old case determined that a Texas court was correct when it declared Dish was violating a permanent injunction against DVRs that infringe TiVo's patents.

TiVo says that the ruling paves the way for it to receive another $300 million. That's on top of the more than $100 million Dish has already paid TiVo.

Plus, says TiVo, since the $300 million only covers Dish's use of patent-infringing DVRs through July 1, it will pursue further damages covering the past eight months, which one analyst said could be worth another $320 million.

Lawsuit claims warlord documentary hijacked by warlord-like filmmaker

By Eriq Gardner

When we first heard that Douglas Busby of Damascus Films was being sued, we were intrigued. After all, very few production company websites tout a "cinematic effort to increase the well being of human kind by communicating paradigm-shifting ideas."

We finally got a hold of the complaint filed Monday by a company called Roller Coaster Films, and it doesn't disappoint.