Entertainment Law News for 2.19.10

• A federal judge put off a ruling on whether to approve Google’s class action lawsuit settlement with publishers over digital books. During a marathon hearing, lawyers representing the Justice Department, children’s book authors, privacy advocates and business competitors blasted the proposed settlement. [NYT]
• Hearings over the Comcast-NBC Universal merger are being used as an opportunity to examine cable carriage agreements. Senator Russ Feingold sent a letter asking if Comcast intends to use its leverage as the owner of various cable networks, including USA, Syfy and Bravo, to force consumers to pay for less popular channels. [LAT]
• Infomercial star Kevin Trudeau was held in criminal contempt and sentenced to 30 days in jail with a $5,000 fine after exhorting supporters to email the court to explain “how I have changed your life for the better.” The court was swamped with 300 messages. An appeals court then granted a last-minute stay. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• “Sex and the City,” the Beatles, Paris Hilton and “the Situation” from MTV’s “Jersey Shore” make the list of the 15 most bizarre trademark battles. [The Street]

Entertainment Law News for 2.9.10

• TV producers are now overwhelmingly choosing AFTRA to govern contracts over SAG jurisdiction. Almost every scripted network primetime pilot currently being shot is under AFTRA, leading to questions about whether SAG is fading out of the TV business. [Digital Media Law]
• The recording industry has opted for a third trial against Jammie Thomas-Rasset rather than accepting a court’s decision to reduce a jury’s award from $1.92 million to $54,000. Previously, the plaintiffs offered to settle the case, but the offer was rejected. [Copyrights & Campaigns]
• Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are suing a British tabloid for libel over allegations that the couple would separate and divide their assets and custody of children. [Reuters]
• British government ministers have decided to allow product placement on television with restrictions on the placement of alcohol and food and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar. Previously, legislators in the country couldn’t pass a law allowing more product placement, but officials are looking for revenue to help the country’s media. [Politics UK]
• After an unsuccessful lawsuit brought by the agent for the estate of Marilyn Monroe to enforce post-mortem rights of personality, a lobbying campaign is under way in New York to get state senators to introduce a bill to amend N.Y. civil rights law to add a 70-year post-mortem right to prevent the use of the persona of a dead celebrity. [Trademark Blog]

WWE vs. Wine School: Trademark Dispute

WWE has reportedly threatened legal action against the Wine School of Philadelphia for their use of the word “Smackdown” in a contest pitting professionals against students.

The Wine School is labeling their contest “Sommelier Smackdown.” The Philadelphia City Paper reports the contest “pits a professional sommelier’s food and wine pairings against those of a member of the Wine School team, with the students voting for the winner.”

WWE issued a cease-and-desist letter to the school. Keith Wallace, the director of the school, says he’s not going to let WWE CEO Vince McMahon and his attorneys bully him.

“They don’t have a leg to stand on. I am not going to bow down to a bully,” Wallace said in a press release. “They claim that they own the term ‘smackdown,’ but they don’t.”

According to the U.S. government’s trademark office, the Wine School filed a trademark for the term “Sommelier Smackdown.” WWE believes this is an infringement on their ownership of the trademark “Smackdown.”

WWE’s threat of legal action comes less than two weeks after the company hyped the ten-year anniversary of the weekly Smackdown show and released a commemorative DVD on the top 100 moments in Smackdown history.

“Smackdown” has become a common word used in news reports and formal writing. The Merriam-Webster dictionary has included the word since 1997, which is around the time “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson popularized the word. The dictionary lists four separate definitions. One of the definitions includes “a confrontation between rivals or competitors.”

Article located here.