3 Count: Disney’s Exit

Marvel at Disney's departure...

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1: Disney to Offer Two Streaming Services and End its Movie Distribution Agreement with Netflix

First off today, Daniel Miller and Meg James at the L.A. Times reports that Disney has announced it will be launching two streaming services and, in the meantime, will be ending its distribution deal with Netflix, pulling its films from there in 2018.

Looking at the two streaming services. One will be an ESPN-based sports-focused one that will include some 10,000 sporting events annually including Major League Baseball games. The other will be a Disney-branded film and TV offering that will launch in 2019 and feature both old and new content by the company.

However, for many the big news was that Disney was terminating its recently-enacted deal to stream many of its films on Netflix, pulling its films from there in 2018. There had been talks that Disney was interested in buying Netflix but analysts now say that Disney has chosen to compete with rather than purchase the company.

2: Tupac Biopic Copyright Lawsuit Should Be Tossed, Demands Lionsgate

Next up today, Dominic Patten at Deadline Hollywood reports that Lonsgate is asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit over the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me because, according to them, the plaintiff in the lawsuit has failed to obtain a copyright registration.

The lawsuit was filed by journalist Kevin Powell, who alleged that the film was based heavily on interviews he did with Shakur in the 1990s. The lawsuit initially sought an injunction against the film but now wants a share of the profits.

However, according to Lionsgate, Powell failed to register his work with the U.S. Copyright Office and, under U.S. law, that means the court can not hear the case. According to their attorneys, Powell has not referenced a registration in his filings and no registration could be found in the U.S. Copyright Office catalogue.

3: Shaving Ad Allegedly Ripped Off ‘Mission: Impossible’ Theme

Finally today, finally today Gene Maddaus at Variety reports that the owners of composition to the Mission: Impossible theme has filed a lawsuit against the makers of the Sonic Groom shaver saying that the company used the song in their commercials without permission.

The lawsuit was filed by Famous Music LLC, a company owned by Sony/ATV Music Publishing. It alleges that a commercial for the Sonic Groom razor, which featured a “secret mission” to use the razor, used the theme without a license.

According to the lawsuit, when the rightsholders contacted the IdeaVillage, the sellers of the razor, they agreed to stop using the song. But, though the promise was made in 2016, they claim IdeaVillage continued to air the commercial. IdeaVillage had no comment on the lawsuit.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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