I was recently tasked to search for a few podcasts that focused with Entertainment Law. During my search I subscribed to two podcast and found a wealth of information regarding a few cases that peaked my interest. One case I heard about briefly and two others that made my jaw drop.
The first podcast was done by two guys by the name of Jonathan Arnold, Esq and James Harrell. The name of the Episode was called, "Don't sign that! Standup Comedy". In this podcast they discussed copyright on jokes and standup routines or acts. Jonathan explained that the copyright protects the expression not the idea. As Jonathan explained more in detail, it can be difficult to copyright a joke a comedian tells. For example, one comedian can tell a joke about flying. Then another comedian can tell a joke about flying as well and that can't be protected. If a comedian has a routine sketch or act, then it can be copyright. Whoopi Goldberg does a standup act as Fontaine. Fontaine is a junky and tells her story and adventures to the audience. Whoopi has become this character and can copyright Fontaine and her story. I found this to be very informative. I've heard comedians get annoyed about other comedians stealing their jokes and passing them off as their own. Jonathan suggested the advice he gives his clients, and that is to record your shows that you do, to help protect yourself from theft of joke or act stealers. This can be a good way to copyright your act.
http://www.dontsignthatpodcast.com/
Another podcast I listened to was Entertainment update. I listened to a few episodes that really caught my attention. Gordon P. Firemark, Esq hosts a entertainment law update once a month where he discusses recent copyright and trademark infringement cases in the entertainment industry. In Episode 23, he talked about the case Warner Bros V. X One X Productions lawsuit over the Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz was written by Frank Baum in 1900. The book is public domain since it was written in 1900. X One X productions was taking old posters from the movie version of the Wizard of Oz and making lunch box,s wallets etc. When the company was brought to court over the copyright infringement by Warner Bros, their defense was that the characters from the Wizard of Oz were public domain. However, the court showed favor to Warner bros as they currently hold the copyright to the movie version which X one X productions were using the movie poster images to make their product. This made my jaw drop, as I never thought about WB owning the rights to Wizard of OZ the movie. With so many new remakes coming out and the use of these characters, it will be interesting to see how the copyright would play for these future release.
Episode 23: Http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/podcast-logo.png
The next episode that I enjoyed and took note on was episode27. This was a year in review of 2011. I recently watched the movie Hangover 2 and enjoyed laughing at some of the sick tactics this movie showed. In one scene one of the characters wake up in Bangkok with a tattoo on his face. It wasn't until later in the movie when Mike Tyson appeared that I realized it was like the exact copy of his tattoo on his face. I didn't think anything of it until I was reading Entertainment magazine that WB was being sued by the original tattoo artist who did Mike Tyson's tattoo.
As Gordon explained the case, he stated that S. Victor Whitmill brought a lawsuit against WB stating that this was his work of art that they copied and he wasn't given any credit or paid for using his art. However, it is clear that the tattoo was a replica of the one on Tyson's face. As part of Whitmill lawsuit against WB he wanted to stop the release of the movie until the lawsuit was settled. The judge did allow the case to go forward, but did not stop the injunction of the films release. WB stated that they would digitize the design out of the movie when it was released on dvd. However, in June 2011, WB settled with Whitmall. The terms of the lawsuit was never made public.
Episode 27: Http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/podcast-logo.png
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