Entertainment Law News for 11.19.09

• A federal judge has extended an injunction against Bluebeat.com, preventing the sale of Beatles and other EMI tunes on the website. The court was unconvinced that the technological process used to create “new” recordings entitled Bluebeat to a copyright claim over the Beatles catalogue. Bluebeat.com owner says he’s “shocked” at the ruling because the company “worked with EMI directly, and the RIAA, in secret agreements to create these works lawfully.”
• Turner Broadcasting has asked a Georgia appeals court to overturn a $281 million jury verdict — the largest in state history — tied to a broken agreement that Turner made to sell two professional sports franchises to a Texas businessman. Lawyers for Turner are arguing that it’s inconceivable that such a major transaction would be based on an oral agreement.
• Nu Image and First Look Studios won’t have to destroy DVD copies of their film “Finding Rin Tin Tin: The Adventure Continues.” The owner of a Rin Tin Tin museum, who holds the trademark over the phrase, sued the film companies, but a Texas district judge has ruled that the film’s title is descriptive of a historical subject, and thus is fair use.
• “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis is now out of prison, but things aren’t going much better for the troubled adult entertainment visionary. The IRS has filed a federal tax lien against Francis for $34 million.
• Speaking of adult entertainment, Vivid Entertainment acquired the Carrie Prejean sex tape. Vivid is offering Prejean $1 million for the right to distribute the tape, and Prejean’s lawyer is threatening to sue the porn company for invasion of privacy, publicity rights, public disclosure of private facts and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
• Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, is not happy that The Times of London took a tribute to the late actor Edward Woodward he penned on his blog and reprinted his words without permission as a featured column.
• Bitter Lawyer interviews THR Next Generation honoree Tara Kole. She explains how she went from clerking for Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia to entertainment work at Gang Tyre Ramer & Brown.