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1: Good grief! Dollywood Sued Over Use of ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ Song in Copyright Claim
First off today, Matt Lakin at the Knoxville News Sentinel repors that Lee Mendelson Film Productions has filed a lawsuit against the Dollywood theme park alleging that the park has used the theme from Charlie Brown Christmas in their annual Christmas show.
According to the lawsuit, Dollywood has used the song Christmas Time is Here as part of their annual Twas the Night Before Christmas show for more than a decade. However, the lawsuit claims that they did not have permission to perform the song and even ignored warnings from their attorneys last year. Dollywood, however, has denied using the song in their 2018 show.
Though it’s unclear how long they have (or had) been using the song, YouTube videos suggest it had been going on since at least 2007. As such, the lawsuit is seeking some $150,000 in damages for each performance and attorneys fees. Dollywood’s website says that the new show is set to begin in November.
2: Lifelong Fan Sues Cubs Again, Alleging Team Ripped off World Series Commemorative Idea
Next up today, Same Charles at the Chicago Sun Times reports that a Michigan man has filed a lawsuit against the Chicago Cubs claiming that he came up with the idea for a for a souvenir trinket that the team sold following their 2016 season World Series win.
The man, named Daniel Fox, alleges that, in 1984, he came up with the idea for a souvenir that would take a piece of the Wrigley Field ivy and encase it in an acrylic container. He struck a licensing deal with the team to create the items but that deal expired a year later after the team failed to win the World Series. However, when the team did clinch the win in 2016, the team made their own versions of his idea, selling 2016 of them for $200 apiece.
Fox had previously filed a lawsuit in August 2018 but the case was dropped in October of that year. The new lawsuit claims that Fox has attempted to register his idea with the U.S. Copyright Office but was denied and had his appeal denied. However, with the denial the lawsuit can move forward, even if it means the claims are much less likely to succeed.
3: Venezuela Designers Turn to Piracy After Adobe Announces it Will Cut Service
Finally today, Luc Cohen and Brian Ellsworth at Reuters reports that, software maker Adobe has announced it is being forced to exit the Venezuelan market due to trade embargos placed upon the country. As a result of this, many former customers in the country are looking for piracy workarounds that will let them keep working.
Adobe makes a variety of software including image editor Photoshop, desktop publishing software Indesign and video editor Premiere Pro. The software is popular in Venezuela but the country’s economic woes have made it so that piracy is already extremely common in the country.
However, now it looks like even the legitimate users in the country will have to turn to piracy as Adobe will cease operations in the country on October 28. Forums in the country have lit up with concerned users looking for solutions to keep using Adobe software, including pirated alternatives.
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