tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14436786857132052162024-03-05T11:16:49.224-08:00Copyright Cases in the Film IndustryUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1443678685713205216.post-16019026555181589182014-05-20T06:25:00.002-07:002014-05-20T06:31:01.190-07:00Coming To America<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><b>"Buchwald v. Paramount</b></i> (1990) 1990 Cal. App. LEXIS 634, was a breach of contract lawsuit filed and decided in California in which humorist and writer Art Buchwald alleged that Paramount Pictures stole his script idea and turned it into the 1988 movie <i>Coming to America</i>. Buchwald won the lawsuit and was awarded damages, and then accepted a settlement from Paramount before any appeal took place.<br />
The decision was important mainly for the court's determination in the damages phase of the trial that Paramount used "unconscionable" means of determining how much to pay authors, which is widely called "Hollywood Accounting."
Paramount claimed, and provided accounting evidence to support the claim, that despite the movie's $288 million in revenues, it had earned no net profit, according to the definition of "net profit" in Buchwald's contract, and hence Buchwald was owed nothing: a classic example of Hollywood accounting.
The court agreed with Buchwald's argument that this was "unconscionable", and therefore invalid. Fearing a loss if it appealed, and the subsequent implications of the unconscionability decision across
all its other contracts, Paramount settled for undisclosed terms. The case was the subject of a 1992 book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Subtraction-Inside-Buchwald-Paramount/dp/0787104949/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400592516&sr=8-1&keywords=Fatal+Subtraction%3A+The+Inside+Story+of+Buchwald+v.+Paramount" target="_blank"><i>Fatal Subtraction: The Inside Story of Buchwald v. Paramount</i></a> by Pierce O'Donnell, the lawyer who represented Buchwald, and <i>Los Angeles Times</i> reporter Dennis McDougal."<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchwald_v._Paramount">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchwald_v._Paramount</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1443678685713205216.post-62128989818527499262014-05-05T10:50:00.000-07:002014-05-05T11:31:34.024-07:00Stephen Hillenburg - "Spongebob Squarepants"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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ORIGINALLY: Bob Spongee by Troy Walker.</h4>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p8G50cwRkf_GnNb0kCz0Vvic4A9zVVp8XdN0mqvk4iKsfskGLrIM8YqxMTKuC2aFEBUIgDZsFdt9xp4Nzf4LbY2TCxVu_ksJ6dnZxs7as1JcHzS2jCCBvJilyIGCcIO5T9K1mSfgzxk/s1600/troy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4p8G50cwRkf_GnNb0kCz0Vvic4A9zVVp8XdN0mqvk4iKsfskGLrIM8YqxMTKuC2aFEBUIgDZsFdt9xp4Nzf4LbY2TCxVu_ksJ6dnZxs7as1JcHzS2jCCBvJilyIGCcIO5T9K1mSfgzxk/s1600/troy.jpg" height="400" width="305" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2007/03/13/77690.htm">http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2007/03/13/77690.htm</a> <br />
<a href="http://www.sbmania.net/forums/topic/20808-the-troy-walker-case-if-anyones-interested-in-what-happened/">http://www.sbmania.net/forums/topic/20808-the-troy-walker-case-if-anyones-interested-in-what-happened/</a><br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Walker">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Walker</a><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1443678685713205216.post-24767889676166538692014-05-05T10:40:00.000-07:002014-05-10T08:35:55.970-07:00Kevin James - "Paul Blart: Mall Cop"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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ORIGINALLY: Mall Cop by Alfred Catalfo.</h4>
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<a href="http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=FD&Date=20090204&Category=GJNEWS_01&ArtNo=702049960&Ref=V3&MaxW=250" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=FD&Date=20090204&Category=GJNEWS_01&ArtNo=702049960&Ref=V3&MaxW=250" /></a></div>
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<i>"Catalfo practices personal injury and criminal law in New Hampshire and has been writing screenplays since the early 1990s... the number
of similarities between Catalfo’s “Mall Cop” and “Paul Blart” are
remarkable, especially considering Catalfo says he submitted his work to
Happy Madison."</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/thelostboy/paul_blart_script_stealer">http://blogs.indiewire.com/thelostboy/paul_blart_script_stealer</a><br />
<a href="http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090205-NEWS-902050410">http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20090205-NEWS-902050410</a><br />
<a href="http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/mall-cop-same-title-same-plot-trouble-sony-1266">http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/mall-cop-same-title-same-plot-trouble-sony-1266</a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1443678685713205216.post-13717756660726214532014-05-05T10:25:00.000-07:002014-05-05T11:34:01.976-07:00Sean Ellis - "Cashback"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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ORIGINALLY: Cashback by Elizabeth Obisanya.</h4>
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<span class="null"><a class="_553k" href="http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/2215003.i_want_16m_cashback/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/2215003.i_want_16m_cashback/</a></span><br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><a class="_553k" href="http://ipkitten.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/cashback-claimant-struck-out.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://ipkitten.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/cashback-claimant-struck-out.html</a></span></span><br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><a class="_553k" href="http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/1800465" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/1800465</a></span></span></span><br />
<span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><span class="null"><a class="_553k" href="http://www.sporah.com/2012/06/this-week-on-sporah-show.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.sporah.com/2012/06/this-week-on-sporah-show.html</a></span> </span> </span> </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1443678685713205216.post-69109339379482586782014-05-05T09:49:00.002-07:002014-05-05T11:34:40.418-07:00Jonathan Lubell / Wachowskis - "The Matrix"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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ORIGINALLY: The Third Eye by Sophia Stewart.</h4>
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Court document: <a href="http://matrixterminator.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/18312603947-Doc-219.pdf">http://matrixterminator.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/18312603947-Doc-219.pdf</a></div>
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Reads: <i>"It is hereby ORDERED
that Defendant
Jonathan W. Lubell is
in default. Judgment will
be entered against
him
upon the submission by Plaintiff of evidence to support the amount of
damages to
be
entered in the judgment." </i></div>
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<br />
<a href="http://matrixterminator.com/">http://matrixterminator.com/</a><br />
<a href="http://www.truthaboutmatrix.com/">http://www.truthaboutmatrix.com/</a><br />
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No wonder she's smiling.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0