Entertainment Law News for 11.18.09

• Over the past year, various studios have told their distributors to withhold DVDs from low-cost rental kiosk service Redbox for a period of time after release. In response, Redbox filed an antitrust lawsuit and has recently tried to exploit the “first sale doctrine” by purchasing DVDs at full retail prices. The NY Times reports that Fox has spied on 1,105 Redbox kiosks in 35 states to determine whether the new strategy is working. Also, THR has a Q&A with Redbox CEO Mitch Lowe.
• How much would it cost Bob Weinstein to buy the “Miramax” trademark from Disney? “We want the name back,” says the movie mogul in an interview with NY Magazine.
• The Arnold & Porter firm is the latest to file a lawsuit against the Michael Jackson estate for owed money. The firm’s lawyers, among many in the legal world to have represented the late singer, say they are owed $164,800 in legal fees.
• The Swedish retailer who tried to trademark The Pirate Bay logo has decided to withdraw its registration of the mark. Meanwhile, in other file-sharing news, several Hollywood studios have filed a lawsuit against OpenBitTorrent, a rebranded copy of the The Pirate Bay torrent shut down yesterday.
• Social Action Network is asking a court to order Twitter to give up information that can help identify individuals who have allegedly made defamatory statements on the network. The company advertises itself as helping others strive for a higher purpose.
• Google has introduced a new search service that will let users dig through case law. Here’s some background on why it’s taken so long.