From his office window, attorney Jon Katz has a direct view of the Fairfax County Courthouse in Virginia, and for the past several weeks, he has watched fans gathering outside to catch a glimpse of Johnny Depp.
The trial pitting the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, is the biggest case Katz can recall in 20 years of practicing criminal defense in the area. He also does free-speech work — clients have included strip clubs, adult toy shops and the Westboro Baptist Church — so he has a professional stake in the outcome.
“I want a verdict against both of them,” he says.
Depp and Heard are suing each other for defamation. Depp alleges that Heard destroyed his career when she accused him of domestic violence. She is countersuing over his claim that her allegations are a hoax.
The trial has become a digital media spectacle. At one point during Heard’s May 4 testimony,...
The trial pitting the “Pirates of the Caribbean” star against his ex-wife, Amber Heard, is the biggest case Katz can recall in 20 years of practicing criminal defense in the area. He also does free-speech work — clients have included strip clubs, adult toy shops and the Westboro Baptist Church — so he has a professional stake in the outcome.
“I want a verdict against both of them,” he says.
Depp and Heard are suing each other for defamation. Depp alleges that Heard destroyed his career when she accused him of domestic violence. She is countersuing over his claim that her allegations are a hoax.
The trial has become a digital media spectacle. At one point during Heard’s May 4 testimony,...
- 5/10/2022
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
The assumed answer of this question has been yes, but one filmmaker, set to make a film about the history of the song, is questioning this assumption in a very public way. Jennifer Nelson filed for a class action suit against the publishing company, Warner/Chappell, who owns the right to the song's tune, originally a song called "Good Morning to All" written by two sisters in the late 19th Century. Nelson's tentatively titled documentary "Happy Birthday" includes a scene where the song is performed, and she arranged for a $1,500 licensing fee to secure the rights to use the song. Eventually, though, she came to realize that, under her interpretation of the law, Warner/Chappell didn't own the rights to the tune. Richard Brauneis, a George Washington University law professor who agrees with her, and he's written a 68-page article making that claim. The question is a particularly important one...
- 6/15/2013
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
Did you know that Warner Bros. currently owns the rights to the song "Happy Birthday to You"? What about the fact that it costs $1,500 to feature the song just once in a film? Documentarian Jennifer Nelson, who is currently making a documentary about the history of "Happy Birthday to You," didn't realize either of those facts when she started making her film, and has now filed a $50 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. over the song rights.
"Before I began my filmmaking career, I never thought the song was owned by anyone. I thought it belonged to everyone," Nelson tells The New York Times. Her goal is to have the song be declared public domain.
Back in 1988, Warner Bros. paid $25 million to purchase the rights to "Happy Birthday" from Birchtree Ltd. It's estimated that the company makes $2 million per year in licensing fees from the song. Nelson's lawsuit notes that "Happy...
"Before I began my filmmaking career, I never thought the song was owned by anyone. I thought it belonged to everyone," Nelson tells The New York Times. Her goal is to have the song be declared public domain.
Back in 1988, Warner Bros. paid $25 million to purchase the rights to "Happy Birthday" from Birchtree Ltd. It's estimated that the company makes $2 million per year in licensing fees from the song. Nelson's lawsuit notes that "Happy...
- 6/14/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Us film-maker takes Warner Music to court to make world's most recognised song freely available to everyone
No song is better recognised than Happy Birthday to You, but for copyright reasons, anyone wanting to perform it on TV or in a film has to pay a licence fee. Now a film-maker in New York intends to bring a class-action lawsuit to make it freely available to everyone.
Jennifer Nelson was producing a documentary movie about the song when she was told she would have to pay $1,500 (£955) to the licence holders in order to include the song in the film. The rights are held by Warner/Chappell Music, the publishing arm of the Warner Music Group.
"Before I began my film-making career, I never thought the song was owned by anyone," Nelson said in an email received by the New York Times. "I thought it belonged to everyone."
Nelson's company Good...
No song is better recognised than Happy Birthday to You, but for copyright reasons, anyone wanting to perform it on TV or in a film has to pay a licence fee. Now a film-maker in New York intends to bring a class-action lawsuit to make it freely available to everyone.
Jennifer Nelson was producing a documentary movie about the song when she was told she would have to pay $1,500 (£955) to the licence holders in order to include the song in the film. The rights are held by Warner/Chappell Music, the publishing arm of the Warner Music Group.
"Before I began my film-making career, I never thought the song was owned by anyone," Nelson said in an email received by the New York Times. "I thought it belonged to everyone."
Nelson's company Good...
- 6/14/2013
- by Sean Michaels
- The Guardian - Film News
It's a good day for funny people, especially if your name is Tina Fey or Seth MacFarlane.
Fey's series, 30 Rock, was handed 22 Emmy nominations this morning, which stands as a record for a comedy series. She and Alec Baldwin were also nominated for acting awards. Plus, for the first time some of the other actors on NBC's laffer were recognized. Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer and Tracy Morgan all picked up supporting nominations.
MacFarlane's Family Guy was also nominated for best comedy series, the first time an animated show has cracked that category since The Flintstones in 1961. Two years ago MacFarlane decided to pull his show from contention in the animated series category to have it considered for best comedy.
Mad Men, the drama about the advertising world in the sixties, picked up 16 nominations in the drama categories, including a best actor nod for Jon Hamm. Hamm is also nominated as...
Fey's series, 30 Rock, was handed 22 Emmy nominations this morning, which stands as a record for a comedy series. She and Alec Baldwin were also nominated for acting awards. Plus, for the first time some of the other actors on NBC's laffer were recognized. Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer and Tracy Morgan all picked up supporting nominations.
MacFarlane's Family Guy was also nominated for best comedy series, the first time an animated show has cracked that category since The Flintstones in 1961. Two years ago MacFarlane decided to pull his show from contention in the animated series category to have it considered for best comedy.
Mad Men, the drama about the advertising world in the sixties, picked up 16 nominations in the drama categories, including a best actor nod for Jon Hamm. Hamm is also nominated as...
- 7/16/2009
- CinemaSpy
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