Tag: First Amendment
Texas Appellate Court Strikes Down State’s Revenge Porn Law
This week a Texas Court of Appeals in Ex Parte Jones struck down the state’s law making it a criminal offense to “disclose intimate visual material” without the permission of the person depicted when that person expected the image to remain “private.” Texas Penal Code § 21.16 (b) The appellate court held that the law...
First Amendment Protects Use of Olivia de Havilland in FEUD Docudrama
In a resounding victory for FX, the California Court of Appeal today reversed the trial court’s decision in de Havilland v. FX Networks on all counts. The panel held that the anti-SLAPP motion to strike de Havilland's claims should have been granted both as to the right of publicity and false light claims. The three-judge...
Seventh Circuit Certifies Question to Indiana Supreme Court in Fantasy Sports Case
Today, the Seventh Circuit with lightening speed issued an opinion in the Daniels v. Fanduel case seeking guidance from the Supreme Court of Indiana. The case, which I have previously written about, involves a lawsuit by former college football players against online fantasy-sports companies FanDuel and DraftKings. An Indiana district court dismissed the case last...
L.A. Times Op-Ed: What Does Olivia de Havilland Have Against Allison Janney?
My op-ed on the Olivia de Havilland v. FX Networks lawsuit, currently on appeal in California, has been published by the Los Angeles Times and will appear in Sunday's print edition just in time for this year's Oscar's ceremony. If de Havilland succeeds, movies that tell unuathorized stories about real people may be a thing...
“Simpsonized” Animated Character Held Transformative
Earlier this week, the California Court of Appeal gave a Valentine’s Day present to Twentieth Century Fox, by throwing out a right of publicity lawsuit brought by Frank Sivero. Sivero, a film actor, best known for his work playing mafiosos, objected to a recurring character in the animated television series, The Simpsons, that he claimed...
Briefs Rain Down on California Court of Appeal in De Havilland Case
At least five separate amicus briefs have been filed in the expedited appeal in Olivia de Havilland v. FX Networks. I filed an amicus in this case with a number of other law professors in support of FX Networks. We argue that the First Amendment protects the use of real people, particularly public figures, in...
Law Professors Call for Reversal in De Havilland and the Protection of Biographies and Biographical Films
Yesterday, I filed a brief co-authored with Rebecca Tushnet and Eugene Volokh asking the California Court of Appeal to reverse the trial court’s decision in De Havilland v. FX Networks as to the right of publicity claim. The case, first filed at the end of June last year, involves a lawsuit by Hollywood legend Olivia...
Fox Moves for a TKO in Lawsuit Brought by Muhammad Ali Estate
Earlier this week Fox filed motions for judgment on the pleadings and an Anti-SLAPP motion to strike in the case brought last fall against it for airing a tribute to the recently deceased boxing great Muhammad Ali before its broadcast of the 2017 Superbowl. I previously expressed the view that the lawsuit should be tossed...
Whitney Houston Estate Settles with IRS over Right of Publicity Valuation
The Whitney Houston estate and the IRS have settled their dispute over the value of the Grammy award-winner’s estate. The more than $11 million dollar disagreement in the amount of taxes owed centered on the valuation of Houston’s intellectual property rights, and particularly the value of her postmortem right of publicity. The estate had claimed...
Amazon Beats Right of Publicity Claim for Use of Photograph on Book Cover
Last week the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Roe v. Amazon held that booksellers Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble (among others) could not be held liable for violating the privacy and publicity rights of a couple whose image was used without permission on the cover of an erotic novel displayed on those companies’ websites....