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1: Netflix Sued Over ‘Wild Wild Country’ Footage of Controversial Guru
First off today, Ashley Cullins at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that filmmaker Michael Hilow and the Osho International Foundation have filed a lawsuit against Netflix and others involved with the documentary series Wild Wild Country.
The Wild Wild Country series covers the history fo the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who goes by the name Osho. Osho International Foundation was founded in 1984 by Osho and is responsible for administering all of the intellectual property he created during his life. This includes scenes from a 1993 film created by Hilow entitled Rajneeshpuram an Experiment to Provoke God.
According to the lawsuit, Netflix used that content without permission and is an infringement of their copyright. They cited 88 specific instances of appropriation in the first episode alone. Those incidents amount to about 12 minutes of footage. They are seeking an injunction barring further infringement and unspecified damages as well as profits from the film.
2: Ariana Grande Sued Over “God Is a Woman” Video
Next up today, Madison Bloom at PitchFork reports that Ariana Grande has been sued by artist Vladimir Kush over alleged copyright infringement in Grande’s music video God Is a Woman.
According to the lawsuit, the scene in the video where Grande is depicted as dancing inside a candle flame is an infringement of two paintings Kush made 20 years ago entitled The Candle and The Candle 2.
Kush further claims that the company that produced the visual, Freenjoy Inc., was similarly sued for infringement for their work on the video All the Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA. That lawsuit was settled out of court. The new lawsuit is seeking an injunction to get the video removed from the internet.
3: AMC Fails to Kill Copyright Suit Over Fear the Walking Dead
Finally today, Kyle Jahner at Bloomberg Law reports that AMC Networks have failed to convince a judge to toss a lawsuit over The Walking Dead, moving the case one step closer to a trial.
The lawsuit deals with the spinoff TV show Fear the Walking Dead. According to the lawsuit, plot points, characters, dialogue and more were pulled from a 2008-2010 comic series entitled Dead Ahead. However, AMC and the other defendants argued that the comic’s creators had failed to show any substantial similarity between the works.
However, the judge ruled that it was premature to look at such similarities during the motion to dismiss stage, saying that they were more for the motion for summary judgment, which happens after discovery. The judge also allowed claims of breach of fiduciary duty to move forward in addition to the infringement claims.
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