copyright infringement-related stories
Posted Sep 11th 2009 10:41AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Daytime, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-Free

Hmmm, maybe Ellen
doesn't know a lot about music.
Right on the heels of
Ellen being named as the replacement judge for Paula Abdul on
American Idol comes this news:
she's being sued by various record companies. You know the segment at the start of the show where Ellen dances onstage and often in the audience? Yup, it looks like she's been playing those songs illegally (over 1000 times), and the record companies don't like it.
What's interesting is that the spokesman for TelePictures (they produce Ellen's show) says they've been trying to work with the record companies for months to get a resolution to the issue.
Continue reading Second copyright lawsuit news of the day: Ellen!
Posted Aug 14th 2007 11:00AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Late Night, Industry, The Daily Show

We've all seen the wary and tired look celebrities get when they give depositions and testimony; they all look like they'd rather be getting a prostate exam than be in that chair answering questions from a lawyer. If Google has their way, we'll be seeing both Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert with that look on their face.
According to C|Net News, Google and Viacom are in the discovery phase of the media conglomerate's $1 billion infringement lawsuit against YouTube, which was purchased by Google last year; in that discovery phase, the hosts of
The Daily Show and
The Colbert Report, both on Viacom's Comedy Central, are on Google's list of people they want to have deposed in the case.
Continue reading Google wants to depose Stewart and Colbert in YouTube suit
Posted Nov 12th 2006 12:02PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TV Royalty, OpEd, Syndicated, Celebrities

This is the type of news that would have led Elaine Benes to shout "Get out!" and give one of her patented two-handed shoves, but I like to just call it a "too stupid
not to be true" story:
Andy Griffith, the actor best known for playing Andy Taylor on
The Andy Griffith Show and Ben Matlock on
Matlock,
is suing a man who ran and lost for sheriff of Grant County, Wis., for taking his name and using it during the campaign. I shit you not, TV fans: William Harold Fenrick legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran for the sheriff's office under that name (the plaintiff's full name is Andy Samuel Griffith, by the way).
Continue reading Andy Griffith sues sheriff's candidate for taking his name