Recently, I saw an interview with Julia Roberts and George
Clooney. Julia was asking the questions
and eventually asked if Clooney had ever had any “work done.” This of course is
asking if he has had any plastic surgery or has altered his look in any way.
His response was, “No.” Then he turned it around and asked her. Her response
was that she hadn’t done it yet but would consider it. This was a surprise to
me, but then I thought about it.
Youthfulness is really important in the film and theatre world. It could
make or break you. So an actress might
not always want to reveal their age.
This was the case for Huong Hoang who ended up suing the
online website IMDb about revealing her true age on their site. In her favor
was the Screen Actors Guild that also agreed that the site reveals too much
information about stars. Huong’s argument was that her actual age listed on the
site might deny her opportunities in the business. She argued that there was a
misconception about age and talent that is perpetrated in Hollywood. Huong
tried several times to get the company and its parent company Amazon to change
the information on the site but to no avail. Her claim was that the company
used her credit card information to obtain the factual age and that was a
privacy issue. The courts later agreed with IMDb. IMDb claimed that they were
only interested in telling the truth.
As part of my business plan, I want to include local actor’s
headshots and resumes. This issue reminds me that I should not to offer up too
much information about my actors.
Click here for more info from my source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/imdb-wins-lawsuit-actress-age-437828http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/imdb-wins-lawsuit-actress-age-437828
Three of my favorite movies are The Borne Trilogies. I just
love spy thriller movies. While watching them, I had no idea that the rights
and profits of those movies have been debated for years. I will try to simplify
what the lawsuit is about. The author, Robert Ludlum owned the rights first, and
then sold them to the Windwood/Glen Production Company who then sold it to
Orion Pictures, who is the parent company of Warner Brothers. Warner brothers
sat on the novel and then let it go back to the original owner, Ludlum. Ludlum
then sold it to Universal Pictures and now we have The Borne Trilogies.
Now that the Borne Trilogies have become the highest grossing
trilogies ever, one/half of the Windwood/Glen wants their money. But here’s the
kicker, that one half, Anthony Lazzarino, passed away in 2012 after fighting
for his chance to be heard in court. His widow is now suing Warner Brothers
over a film that they do not even own. The rights are now owed by Universal.
Yes, this was all complicated. This tells me that it is very
important to maintain your records and always get the rights to whatever you
want to create.
Click here for more info from my source: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/warner-bros-fighting-lawsuit-universals-436911
As a former singer, it has always been confusing when it
comes to sampling in songs. I hear so many different stories about how much of
a song an artist can use before it is a rights infringement. Six seconds to
thirty seconds, it really is confusing.
A recent lawsuit against, rapper, Kanye West about the
phrase, “Get Down” in his Gold Digger song comes from the family of David
Pryor. David Pryor was an artist in the 1970’s with a hit song, “Bumping Bus Stop.”
In the song, performed by Pryor's band, Thunder and Lighting, he repeats the
phrase “Get Down.” It turns out that the sample is from the song, however
several legal sources says that there is not enough of the song present in
West’s song to constitute an infringement.
What this teaches me is that gaining the rights to anything
creative is a first step and should not be an after thought.
Click here for more info from my source: http://www.ipbrief.net/2013/04/14/kanye-west-sued-for-unauthorized-sampling-in-gold-digger-was-he-messin-with-someone-elses-song/
