In a story that has had more twists and turns than the graphic novel it’s based on, the legal battle over the movie rights to Watchmen is in the final stretch. Gary Allen Feess, a federal judge, set a trial date of January 6th for the copyright suit between 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers. …
Uh-oh. Nikki Finke broke the news last night that a federal judge has denied a Warner Bros. motion to dismiss 20th Century Fox’s legal battle over the rights to develop, produce and distribute a film based on Watchmen. Fox was seeking to enjoin Warner Bros from going forward with the project, and U.S. District Court Judge…
A few months back, retailer Gordon Lee escaped prosecution when a mistrial was declared in the case against him for distributing obscene material. Today comes word the case won’t be brought again. The legal battle began in 2004 after an employee at Lee’s comic book store accidentally gave a minor a sampler book containing a…
For those who came in late… As has been widely reported, the Federal District Court ruled somewhat in favor of the estate of Jerry Siegel in its lawsuit to have all publishing rights to the Superman story in Action Comics #1 be taken from Time Warner’s DC Comics subsidiary and given to Jerry’s heirs. The…
Yesterday we reported that a lawsuit filed by J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate and publisher HarperCollins against New Line Cinema could impede production of "The Hobbit" films, and now another much anticipated film could become mired in legal limbo. 20th Century Fox filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over "Watchmen," the big-screen adaptation of the Alan Moore…
The world is a bit nicer today, as the acrimonious lawsuit between Harlan Ellison and Fantagraphics has not only been settled,but the terms of the settlement have been released. Both parties agreed that "ad hominem, personal attacks" will cease as long as each is alive (or, in the case of Fantagraphics, in business). In addition,…
Earlier this week, ComicMix covered recent developments in the case of Georgia comic retailer Gordon Lee. On The Big Comicmix Broadcast today, we talk to the creator whose project The Salon is at the heart of this legal battle… and we offer you your chance to produce your own music video, and Wonder Woman misses…
The Rome News Tribune (via JK Parkin at Newsarama) reports that the Gordon Lee case has been postponed yet again. Judge Larry Salmon, who is presiding over the case, is sick. A new start date for the trial has not been set. Any minute now, Galactus will just show up and interrupt the hearing.
According to Dirk Deppey at The Comics Journal’s ¡Journalista! website, and Dirk should know, the Harlan Ellison vs. Fantagraphics Books lawsuit has been "resolved." Deppey received the following e-mail from his boss, Gary Groth: THE LITIGATION BETWEEN THE PARTIES HAS BEEN RESOLVED. THE PARTIES ARE NOT AT LIBERTY TO DISCUSS THE TERMS OF THE RESOLUTION…
At New York’s Book Expo America today, Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth took time out from a busy schedule with booksellers, rights agents and talent to talk to ComicMix‘s Martha Thomases and Mike Gold briefly about the upcoming arbitration session to settle Harlan Ellison’s lawsuit. We asked why he wasn’t able to go to Los Angeles…
As previously reported, the scheduled mediation in the civil case between Harlan Ellison and Fantagraphics Press, originally scheduled for May 29 in the 9th Circuit Court in Santa Monica California, has been delayed until June 28. "As to the postponement of the court-mandated mediation hearing that was scheduled for the 29 of May, which did…
Long-time comics writer Gary Friedrich has sued Marvel Comics, Sony Pictures and their Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, Relativity Media, Crystal Sky Pictures, Michael De Luca Productions, Hasbro Inc. and Take-Two Interactive for copyright infringement over his version of Ghost Rider. Filed last week in Illinois, Friedrich claims 21 separate copyright and trademark violations based…
