Comments for The Lawminatrix http://www.lawminatrix.com Attorney Kerry O'Shea Gorgone whips up some commentary on legal news of the day. Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:03:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 Comment on But I Only Infringed a Little! by Overlooked Protection » MMA Social Networking - Powered | FightStuff.info http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=75&cpage=1#comment-14 Overlooked Protection » MMA Social Networking - Powered | FightStuff.info Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:14:03 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=75#comment-14 [...] The Lawminatrix » But I Only Infringed a Little! [...] [...] The Lawminatrix » But I Only Infringed a Little! [...]

]]> Comment on But I Only Infringed a Little! by Tips for Bowles » MMA Social Networking - Powered By ph | FightStuff.info http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=75&cpage=1#comment-13 Tips for Bowles » MMA Social Networking - Powered By ph | FightStuff.info Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:21:06 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=75#comment-13 [...] The Lawminatrix » But I Only Infringed a Little! [...] [...] The Lawminatrix » But I Only Infringed a Little! [...]

]]> Comment on But I Only Infringed a Little! by Milia Monacia http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=75&cpage=1#comment-11 Milia Monacia Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:26:22 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=75#comment-11 Personally I think the whole copyright infringement thing is ridiculous. All these anti-copyright groups spend so much time and efforts shutting down and trying to stop copyright infringement sites and such but for every one they shut down/stop 10 more take it's place. It's a losing battle. Drugs are costing millions if not billion of dollars a year trying to stop the drug trafficking trade and war on drugs. Yet like copyright infringement, it still goes on. So many dollars,time and efforts are taken to stop both but why are they still happening? Because they are illegal, people want it and therefore someone gives it to the public. That's why! Can you say,"This is a losing battle and why are we wasting our time?" Personally I think the whole copyright infringement thing is ridiculous. All these anti-copyright groups spend so much time and efforts shutting down and trying to stop copyright infringement sites and such but for every one they shut down/stop 10 more take it’s place. It’s a losing battle. Drugs are costing millions if not billion of dollars a year trying to stop the drug trafficking trade and war on drugs. Yet like copyright infringement, it still goes on. So many dollars,time and efforts are taken to stop both but why are they still happening? Because they are illegal, people want it and therefore someone gives it to the public. That’s why! Can you say,”This is a losing battle and why are we wasting our time?”

]]> Comment on “Seriously, We Were Gonna Buy That Music After We Stole It!” by Marc J. Randazza http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=69&cpage=1#comment-10 Marc J. Randazza Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:14:49 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=69#comment-10 I dunno, I can <b>sort of</b> buy the theory. I personally have illegally downloaded music, liked it, and then went out and bought the CD. Of course, that was before I had an iPod. Now that you can buy music a-la-carte like that, I bet I wouldn't do so if I still illegally downloaded content. That all said, just because the argument has a shred of plausibility to it, that doesn't mean it isn't a load of crap. The PB is full of crap, plain and simple. Maybe the record companies are evil and should be brought down. Copyright law is a load of crap with its "life plus 70 thanks to Disney" duration, and maybe companies abuse it all the time to squelch fair use. That's all true, and I'd love to see most of the major media companies on fire, burned to the ground, with everything they have destroyed... but that doesn't mean that it makes it okay for me to commit arson. I dunno, I can sort of buy the theory. I personally have illegally downloaded music, liked it, and then went out and bought the CD. Of course, that was before I had an iPod. Now that you can buy music a-la-carte like that, I bet I wouldn’t do so if I still illegally downloaded content.

That all said, just because the argument has a shred of plausibility to it, that doesn’t mean it isn’t a load of crap. The PB is full of crap, plain and simple. Maybe the record companies are evil and should be brought down. Copyright law is a load of crap with its “life plus 70 thanks to Disney” duration, and maybe companies abuse it all the time to squelch fair use. That’s all true, and I’d love to see most of the major media companies on fire, burned to the ground, with everything they have destroyed… but that doesn’t mean that it makes it okay for me to commit arson.

]]> Comment on She Beat Rumpelstiltskin to the Patent Office! by Twitted by Lawminatrix http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=72&cpage=1#comment-9 Twitted by Lawminatrix Mon, 04 May 2009 14:46:04 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=72#comment-9 [...] This post was Twitted by Lawminatrix - Real-url.org [...] [...] This post was Twitted by Lawminatrix - Real-url.org [...]

]]> Comment on Coldplay: Viva la Thief-a? by Jason http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=3&cpage=1#comment-8 Jason Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:21:39 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=3#comment-8 Without any real evidence of access, won't Satriani (and others) need to show striking similarity, not just substantial? It's fights like these that make we wish that Bright Tunes Music Corp. v. Harrisongs Music had never happened. Without any real evidence of access, won’t Satriani (and others) need to show striking similarity, not just substantial? It’s fights like these that make we wish that Bright Tunes Music Corp. v. Harrisongs Music had never happened.

]]> Comment on Someone’s Messing With The Zohan by admin http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=40&cpage=1#comment-7 admin Fri, 06 Mar 2009 15:09:34 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=40#comment-7 Mr. Cabell, I'd suggest uploading the PDF complaint to JaymsBlonde.com (or any other site you administer), and I'll link to it. The arguments in the complaint would certainly help to clarify your position on the issues of copyright and trademark. - Kerry Mr. Cabell, I’d suggest uploading the PDF complaint to JaymsBlonde.com (or any other site you administer), and I’ll link to it. The arguments in the complaint would certainly help to clarify your position on the issues of copyright and trademark.

- Kerry

]]> Comment on Someone’s Messing With The Zohan by Robert W Cabell http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=40&cpage=1#comment-6 Robert W Cabell Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:18:42 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=40#comment-6 Kerry, actually the law is more complicated than that, and since I have been in this business for a couple of decades, I took the time and care to create the concept and visual world of Jayms Blonde in a comic book for specifically for that reason. There are also fair usage laws, that protect one form or art, such as a book or a comic book or visual art from being copied or adapted into another form of art. Trust me my lawyers, nor I, would have filed a case that we did not feel would hold up in court. As far as a PDF of the complaint - I am down in Lima Peru visiting family, if I can find a way to create the PDF of the complaint while I'm here I will, but how would I post it or send it to you? Kerry, actually the law is more complicated than that, and since I have been in this business for a couple of decades, I took the time and care to create the concept and visual world of Jayms Blonde in a comic book for specifically for that reason. There are also fair usage laws, that protect one form or art, such as a book or a comic book or visual art from being copied or adapted into another form of art. Trust me my lawyers, nor I, would have filed a case that we did not feel would hold up in court. As far as a PDF of the complaint - I am down in Lima Peru visiting family, if I can find a way to create the PDF of the complaint while I’m here I will, but how would I post it or send it to you?

]]> Comment on Someone’s Messing With The Zohan by admin http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=40&cpage=1#comment-5 admin Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:56:42 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=40#comment-5 Mr. Cabell, if you'll post a PDF of the complaint on your web site, I'll be glad to link to it so everyone can better understand your case. For what it's worth, I agree with you that "Don't Mess With the Zohan" was insensitive to the gay community, to say the least. I also agree that many films out there (some of Sandler's included) seem cliched, or derivative of other ideas, but that doesn't mean there's been copyright infringement. Read the "info" description on cable about any given TV movie and it becomes obvious that there are no new ideas out there. In 50 words or less, every movie is identical to thousands of others. As far as trademark infringement goes, I don't think Zohan looks much like Jayms Blonde, at least based on the movie posters. What common elements there are seem to be generic, and not susceptible of trademark protection, but maybe I haven't seen the specific image to which you're referring. I was unable to find a federally registered trademark for Jayms Blonde. - Kerry Mr. Cabell, if you’ll post a PDF of the complaint on your web site, I’ll be glad to link to it so everyone can better understand your case. For what it’s worth, I agree with you that “Don’t Mess With the Zohan” was insensitive to the gay community, to say the least. I also agree that many films out there (some of Sandler’s included) seem cliched, or derivative of other ideas, but that doesn’t mean there’s been copyright infringement. Read the “info” description on cable about any given TV movie and it becomes obvious that there are no new ideas out there. In 50 words or less, every movie is identical to thousands of others.

As far as trademark infringement goes, I don’t think Zohan looks much like Jayms Blonde, at least based on the movie posters. What common elements there are seem to be generic, and not susceptible of trademark protection, but maybe I haven’t seen the specific image to which you’re referring. I was unable to find a federally registered trademark for Jayms Blonde.

- Kerry

]]> Comment on Someone’s Messing With The Zohan by Robert W. Cabell http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=40&cpage=1#comment-4 Robert W. Cabell Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:14:09 +0000 http://www.lawminatrix.com/?p=40#comment-4 Read the lawsuit carefully. We are talking about the misappropriation of a Trademark logo and visually copyrighted storyline and characters. "Jayms Blonde" gives tribute and sites the source of its parody of James Bondconstantly within its text and visual graphics. In the very beginning Jayms says "I talk like Oscar Wilde and kick ass like James Bond" Where did Zohan come from? Between 1998 and 2005 Sandler, Smigel and Aptaow filed 127 copyrights, not one of them about a soldier, a secret agetn, a hairdresser, a barber, - then after becoming friends with my Jayms Blonde MySpace website in 2005, where I blogged the first several chapters of the novel - they come up with "their idea" of Zohan? Jayms Blonde has been in existence as a website and comic strip and bi-weekly entertainment magazine from 2002 - 2004 with three film critics based out of LA and - yes - we reviewed a few of Sandlers movies, then it became dedicated to the comic book in 2005 and the development of the novel from 2006 on. The novel was published in June of 2007 received unanimous rave reviews including the front cover of Oct 6, 2007 LA Independent Weekly, Xtra West in Vancouver, Miami Herald, Washington DC Blade, The Connecticut Post, Book Beat column in New Orleans, Kirkus, over 1 million printed publications between July 1st 2007 and December of 2007. THE LOGO used by Zohan is my trademark. A trademark is created to define a specific source of a product. MINE a Former Navy Seal turned hairdresser (Zohan - a former Masada agent turned hairdresser) who fights evil capitalist to save the planet from bad hair (make the whole world silky smooth) and though Zohan wasn't gay they used every chance to denigrate gays and say hair homo, fagala, funny boy and queer that they could instead of Jayms Blonde - which was used to promote a positive image of Gays. ALSO - Sandler & Apatow have a pattern o raiding ideas for their films from foreign markets - Paul Hogan pitched "Strange Bedfellows" to Sandler as an American version for Rob Schneider - (Lawsuit available on the web) but due to foreign rights and fair use laws, couldn't make the suit worth the cost of prosecuting, also the Canadian author of "Knocked Up" a novel about a young female journalist who got drunk and "Knocked Up" the night she got a big promotion - and the cover of her book was a martini glass with a nipple top tried to sue, but legal technicalities and foreign copyright laws and legal fees made that difficult. I had contracts with Robert Gant and Chad Allen and their company Mythgarden. Wewe started to negotiate back in 2004, but had to wait till Robert Gant finished filming Queer as Folk, due to a conflict of interest clause in his contract. We sealed the deal in December of 2006 when I flew from NYC out to LA to meet with their entire group and were set to begin production of the pilot for the animated series in August of 2007. Then Zohan went into production, and the project was abandoned and quit claimed back to me in September 2007 where a new team of writers and a good agent optioned it to pitch to several studious, Columbia and Dreamworks among them only to be held up by the writers strike during which time Zohan put out its posters using my trademark, and killed all future deals. When you want to make a definitive statement about someone's lawsuit you might want to take the time to contact them or research it. I think Zohan is a demeaning,homophobic, juvenile, pile of ?#%*! I tried to get them to abandon using their knock-off logo for the DVD release, they ignored that Cease and Desist and now I have no other recourse than to deal with it in court. NOT SOMETHING I WANTED TO DO. Even if I win any money, the damage it will do to my career as far as an author having access to marketing my books (I have two new books with my agent now) for film will be next to impossible, after suing SONY & Columbia. BUT a real writer or author or playwright, and I am all of those, writes because he has to because he is driven to tell a story. And each of those stories is like a child that has to be nurtured and protected. AND NO MATTER WHAT - I will do that for each and everyone of my plays, songs, books, or artwork. Read the lawsuit carefully. We are talking about the misappropriation of a Trademark logo and visually copyrighted storyline and characters. “Jayms Blonde” gives tribute and sites the source of its parody of James Bondconstantly within its text and visual graphics. In the very beginning Jayms says “I talk like Oscar Wilde and kick ass like James Bond” Where did Zohan come from? Between 1998 and 2005 Sandler, Smigel and Aptaow filed 127 copyrights, not one of them about a soldier, a secret agetn, a hairdresser, a barber, - then after becoming friends with my Jayms Blonde MySpace website in 2005, where I blogged the first several chapters of the novel - they come up with “their idea” of Zohan? Jayms Blonde has been in existence as a website and comic strip and bi-weekly entertainment magazine from 2002 - 2004 with three film critics based out of LA and - yes - we reviewed a few of Sandlers movies, then it became dedicated to the comic book in 2005 and the development of the novel from 2006 on. The novel was published in June of 2007 received unanimous rave reviews including the front cover of Oct 6, 2007 LA Independent Weekly, Xtra West in Vancouver, Miami Herald, Washington DC Blade, The Connecticut Post, Book Beat column in New Orleans, Kirkus, over 1 million printed publications between July 1st 2007 and December of 2007. THE LOGO used by Zohan is my trademark. A trademark is created to define a specific source of a product. MINE a Former Navy Seal turned hairdresser (Zohan - a former Masada agent turned hairdresser) who fights evil capitalist to save the planet from bad hair (make the whole world silky smooth) and though Zohan wasn’t gay they used every chance to denigrate gays and say hair homo, fagala, funny boy and queer that they could instead of Jayms Blonde - which was used to promote a positive image of Gays. ALSO - Sandler & Apatow have a pattern o raiding ideas for their films from foreign markets - Paul Hogan pitched “Strange Bedfellows” to Sandler as an American version for Rob Schneider - (Lawsuit available on the web) but due to foreign rights and fair use laws, couldn’t make the suit worth the cost of prosecuting, also the Canadian author of “Knocked Up” a novel about a young female journalist who got drunk and “Knocked Up” the night she got a big promotion - and the cover of her book was a martini glass with a nipple top tried to sue, but legal technicalities and foreign copyright laws and legal fees made that difficult. I had contracts with Robert Gant and Chad Allen and their company Mythgarden. Wewe started to negotiate back in 2004, but had to wait till Robert Gant finished filming Queer as Folk, due to a conflict of interest clause in his contract. We sealed the deal in December of 2006 when I flew from NYC out to LA to meet with their entire group and were set to begin production of the pilot for the animated series in August of 2007. Then Zohan went into production, and the project was abandoned and quit claimed back to me in September 2007 where a new team of writers and a good agent optioned it to pitch to several studious, Columbia and Dreamworks among them only to be held up by the writers strike during which time Zohan put out its posters using my trademark, and killed all future deals. When you want to make a definitive statement about someone’s lawsuit you might want to take the time to contact them or research it. I think Zohan is a demeaning,homophobic, juvenile, pile of ?#%*! I tried to get them to abandon using their knock-off logo for the DVD release, they ignored that Cease and Desist and now I have no other recourse than to deal with it in court. NOT SOMETHING I WANTED TO DO. Even if I win any money, the damage it will do to my career as far as an author having access to marketing my books (I have two new books with my agent now) for film will be next to impossible, after suing SONY & Columbia.
BUT a real writer or author or playwright, and I am all of those, writes because he has to because he is driven to tell a story. And each of those stories is like a child that has to be nurtured and protected. AND NO MATTER WHAT - I will do that for each and everyone of my plays, songs, books, or artwork.

]]>