By Sharmil McKee on February 19, 2010
Will and Jada Smith have responded aggressively to legal threats that they fraudulently induced someone to invest in their film project.
In 2007, Jada wrote a film, the “Human Contract”; Will produced it. They convinced David Grasso to invest in the film. He did with $5 million dollars. The film went straight to DVD. In January [...]
Posted in Litigation, Understanding Contracts | Tagged celebrity, Litigation
By Sharmil McKee on February 4, 2010
Jill Scott is facing a possible multi-million dollar judgment. Her record label, Hidden Beach, is suing her for breach of contract. They claim that she promised to produce 6 albums, but she has only produced 3 so far. They are seeking to recover the money they would have earned had she produced the final 3 albums. [...]
Posted in Litigation, Understanding Contracts | Tagged breach of contract, celebrity, Litigation
By Sharmil McKee on December 27, 2009
Nicholas Cage is being sued for fraud.
Red Curb Investments alleges that Nicholas Cage failed to repay a $5 million loan. A loan is a contract where Party A agrees to lend money to Party B. In exchange, Party B agrees to repay the money on a certain day. When Party B fails to repay [...]
Posted in Understanding Contracts | Tagged breach of contract, celebrity, Litigation
By Sharmil McKee on August 29, 2009
Is a contract written in blood enforceable in court? No.
It is hard to imagine that in 2009, people would ever resort to using blood to write contracts. However, in 2009, the courts address two different contracts written in blood. The first was a $170,000 loan between two friends. The loan agreement was written in blood [...]
Posted in Understanding Contracts | Tagged breach of contract, Litigation
By Paralegal on July 31, 2007
In a recent study by the American Justice Partnership, Pennsylvania ranked 48 out of 50 states as providing the worst legal climate for tort liability. The study states that PA is tort-friendly and change is NOT on the horizon. In short, the study argues that Pennsylvania’s current liability laws stifle business growth and job creation. [...]
Posted in Board of Directors | Tagged board of directors, Litigation
By Sharmil McKee on December 9, 2006
The answer depends. Is the layout design of a website protected by copyright laws? This is the question the judge in Sartor v. Walters, 2006 WL 3497856 (W.D. LA.) is facing.
A few years ago, a federal court ruled that the distinctive layout of a magazine cover is entitled to copyright protection as a graphic work. [...]
Posted in Asked and Answered, Intellectual Property | Tagged copyright, domain name, Litigation, website
