The fat lady has not sung yet.
On the same day file-sharing Web site Grokster Ltd. shut down last week, local counterpart StreamCast Networks Inc. began gearing up for its court battle against the motion picture and music industries.
StreamCast and Grokster suffered a severe legal blow in June when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that motion picture studios had the right to sue them for illegally sharing copyrighted material.
The case was sent back to U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for trial.
After Grokster announced last week it would settle out of the case, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson set a timetable outlining what steps the movie studios must take to shut down StreamCast Networks’ software, Morpheus.
StreamCast could have a difficult time responding. In writing the high court’s opinion, Justice David Souter called StreamCast’s unlawful intent “unmistakable.” StreamCast says it has made several changes since then, including marketing itself as a site with legitimate services.
“We’ve been in existence and operating for years,” said Charles Baker, a partner at Porter & Hedges LLP who represents StreamCast. “It weighs against them to go in and claim irreparable harm when they could have done that many, many years ago.”
A hearing on StreamCast’s fate is scheduled for March 27.
Wedding Workers
The wedding dresses may not be the only discounts at David’s Bridal.
According to a lawsuit filed by a former assistant manager at the retailer’s Torrance store, employees regularly work overtime without pay, lose their earned vacation days and work through their lunch breaks.
Letisha Jackson, who became a sales associate in 2002, filed the suit last month in Los Angeles Superior Court against May Department Stores Co., the owner of David’s Bridal Inc. In a proposed class action, she claims that the chain misclassified at least 200 of its current and former California managers and assistant managers as exempt from overtime pay, said Edward Wynne, a partner at Righetti Wynne PC in San Francisco who represents Jackson. Another 500 current and former hourly employees were not given their vacation time or lacked adequate meal and rest breaks, he said.
“As far as we know, the stores were understaffed and they were literally running in the back room to grab a bite of a sandwich in between customers,” said Wynne.
Cindi Freeburn, a spokeswoman for David’s Bridal, declined comment.
David’s Bridal, which sells wedding gowns off the rack at less than $1,000 each, has 250 stores nationwide with about 25 in California.
Jackson, a Carson resident who resigned last month, is suing on behalf of California employees who worked overtime at David’s Bridal within the past four years. Wynne did not specify how much they are seeking in the suit.
May Department Stores is now a subsidiary of Federated Department Stores Inc., which also owns Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
Lawsuit Gets Axed
This case wasn’t so scary after all.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge threw out a libel suit over this year’s release of “The Amityville Horror” remake, calling it “an activity of widespread public interest,” according to court papers. The suit had been filed by George Lutz, whose family’s 28-day stay in a Long Island house was the basis for the storyline behind the “The Amityville Horror.”
Lutz, who filed suit five months ago, claims that the producers depicted him as a “homicidal maniac” who killed his dog, built coffins for his wife and kids, choked his wife, attempted to drown her, shot her and his kids and attacked his son with an axe. He claims that a 2002 agreement to make the sequel with Barstu Productions included a provision that the film not “intentionally defame or libel Lutz.”
Citing “supernatural forces,” Lutz’s family moved out of the Amityville house, which had been occupied by a young man who killed his parents and four siblings. The family signed a book deal in 1977 and, the next year, signed an agreement with Professional Films Inc. to make the 1979 movie.
Still pending is a separate claim by Lutz that he was not paid $50,000 in compensation outlined in the 2002 contract.
Domain Duel
A West Covina man was ordered by the World Intellectual Property Organization to turn over two registered domain names to Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.
The domain names, http://www.livestrongbracelets.net and http://www.talk-live-strong.com, were transferred from Chris Angeles to Armstrong, who complained they infringed on his trademarks because the Lance Armstrong Foundation sells $1 yellow rubber bracelets with the words “LiveStrong” on them.
The two Web sites sell similar bracelets and “incorporate the mark in its entirety, adding descriptive or non-distinctive words that a prospective customer might reasonably expect to see associated with a Web site operated by the complainant,” said the WIPO ruling.
Comings & Goings
Loeb & Loeb LLP has hired a new partner in its litigation department in Los Angeles. Bruce Ishimatsu, a partner at Bryan Cave for 11 years, joins the firm along with Thomas Lawson, who is returning after nine years to be counsel in the tax and wealth services department in Los Angeles.
*Staff reporter Amanda Bronstad can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 225, or at
[email protected]
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