Thursday, November 21, 2013

Week 8 EOC Bratz Battle

Mattel felt it owned the idea of bratz and sued the designer in an effort to make that a reality. From that point on it went from bad to worse to farcical. At one point, the court ordered MGA to turn over all future plans for the Bratz line. Which was then reversed? which was reversed by a lower court. which was re-reversed by the original court. This led to counterclaims flying from both directions and the last we had heard, Mattel, which had originally filed the suit, was being hit with a judgment for $309 million in damages, including MGA's court fees. Adding that together with Mattel's legal expenses and this fight over dolls put Mattel on the hook for nearly $700 million. “Now, it appears the fight is finally over. And, like many long legal battles, the lawyers are the only ones coming out ahead.”

“A federal judge ordered Mattel, the world's biggest toy maker, to pay MGA Entertainment, which introduced the Bratz line of pouty, multi-ethnic dolls a decade ago, more than $309m in damages, fees and other costs arising from a legal wrestling match quite unbecoming of the plastic ladies they make”

We will do whatever it takes, to protect our intellectual property. "You can bet that anyone working for Mattel that's thinking of freelancing and coming up with a product of their own is going to think twice about how they do it," added McGowan.


this whole thing I really blown out of proportion if you ask me. Its two doll companies fighting over right to who created Bratz. With all the legal things that are going on. This be revised then it being re-revised. It is a cycle going on. It keeps going right back to the courts. In the end it seems like the only people getting paid is the lawyers if It keeps going like that.

Week 8- 10 Questions


1.       Can you please explain the difference between optioning a screenplay and buying the rights to a screenplay?
2.       I want to make a film about a deceased celebrity. Do I need to option or pay for their life rights?
3.       Should I be concerned about filming a famous building? How about verbally referencing a specific brand?
4.       I’m shooting my film in another state. Do I need to set up a limited liability company (LLC) in that state?
5.       Do I really need errors and omissions (E & O) Insurance?
6.       Can I use a song or other copyrighted work in my film if I change ... percent of it?
7.       What good legal resources are out there?
8.       Why should I copyright my work?
9.       Do I need to get the rights to music used in my film if I'm not charging people to view it?

1.   Can treatments be sold to film studios or production companies to adapt them into screenplays?

Thursday, November 14, 2013

week 7 EOC Lawyers!

Week 7 EOC lawyers     Zachariah stepke
Name
CRAIG P. KENNY                               (702) 380-2800                   ckenny@cpklaw.com
BRADLEY L. KENNY           (702) 380-2800                   bkenny@cpklaw.com.
JOHN L. DUFFY                  (702) 380-2800                   jduffy@cpklaw.com
Peter H. Ajemian             Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Las Vegas
Bryce Earl                            Cotton, Driggs, Walch, Holley, Woloson & Thompson, Las Vegas
Michael N. Feder                             Gordon Silver, Las Vegas
LAWRENCE E. MITTIN                     lmittin@cpklaw.com
Billie-Marie Morrison                     bmorrison@cpklaw.com
Marianne Y. Denton                       mdenton@cpklaw.com

Michael McOsker                             mmcosker@cpklaw.com

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Week 3 EOC

Erin said that because she suffers from dyslexia, she is unable to read and comprehend in a normal manner. In order to cope with her illness, she said that she has learned mostly everything in her life through memorization. This is how she remembered all of the Hinkley residents' cases

“A single mother, with no formal education, brought an American powerhouse crashing down to the tune of £229million”. Julia Roberts' push-up bra barely scratched the surface of the real Erin. She went though many divorces. Had more than one kid and was struggling when she got a job and started that case

I think it is somewhat fair. There are other factors you can put in. Did it go farther than just that little area? They did receive a good amount of money. It paid for everything. In all it was $229 million. Then Erin received a check for $2 million of it from her boss. The firm also got 40% of it.
“In the course of working on a pro-bono real estate case, Erin stumbles upon a series of questions that, when deftly investigated by her, ultimately result in over six hundred plaintiffs winning a $333 million lawsuit against the $30 billion corporate giant, Pacific Gas and Electric.” It is still the largest settlement ever paid in a class action lawsuit in the United States. That shows how uch she worked for the people that she started to represent.

Week 4 EOC

The exclusive legal right, given to an originator or an assignee to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do the same. “Many people think online material is free for the taking. They search Google images, for instance, and take whatever they like, post their findings on their blogs or websites and think nothing of it”. No you can’t do that. You can be sued just for doing that. It is considered illegal.

If you are publishing or using different material from other with out there consent then you might be putting yourself in legal liability for violations of intellectual property law. Fortunately, if you allow your site's user to post this type of content you can protect yourself from copyright infringement claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act promptly remove content when a copyright owner notifies you that it is infringing, and have no knowledge that the material in question is infringing.  This page explains how this important law works. “If you publish or use the creative work of others, their trademarks, or certain confidential business information without the permission of the owner, you may be exposing yourself to legal liability for violations of intellectual property law”.
 “Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture.” Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. The original authorship appearing on a website may be protected by copyright.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

StepkeVFX

Hello my name is Zachariah Stepke, I am a inspiring visual effect and motion graphic. I am moving up in the world and going to go for my dream. I am going to school to improve my skills and help me understand what I need to know. I have a burning passion to get better and to show I can make it. I have grown to love this field through a teacher in high school. He showed me the fun and interesting things about this field that I now love. He was the real reason I wanted to peruse this field and all that is in it. he really changed what i wanted to do. I went to a high school for aviation. Then toke his class for fun and it changed my mind set in what I wanted to do when i graduate. I did a drastic change from wanting to fly to doing visual effects and motion graphics. The business inspired me to do more and learn more to pursue my new dream that I want to accomplish.  In anything I do I strive to be the best, and shoot for nothing less. that is my quote that I made. I live by it and it goes with everything I do. It has helped me go through everything and made me do my best in everything. I want to be the best at what I do. So I will study and work hard to make that dream come true. I will become the best I can be in this field. Then when you are watching your new favorite movie at the end you will see my name in the credits Zachariah Stepke, I WILL BE BIG!!