Hugo award-winning sci fi author and dude you don’t want angry at you Harlan Ellison once sued James Cameron (and won) over similarities between The Terminator and two Outer Limits episodes Ellison wrote. Now he’s suing Regency, director Andrew Niccol, and various John Does over In Time, that movie where Olivia Wilde is the ultimate MILF. Oh, and I guess it has something to do with sci fi:

Ellison says the new film is based on his multiple prize-winning 1965 work, “Repent, Harlequin! Said The Ticktockman” which the complaint calls one of the most famous and widely published science fiction short stories of all time.
Both works are said to take place in a “dystopian corporate future in which everyone is allotted a specific amount of time to live.” In both works, government authorities known as a “Timekeeper” track the precise amount of time each citizen has left.
The complaint goes on to list similarities in the features of the universe as well as the plot surfaces — the manipulation of time an individual can live, the type of death experienced by those whose time runs out, rebellion by story protagonists, and so forth.
Ellison restricts his charges to basic descriptions here, eschewing a comparison of dialogue, for example. It’s hard to get a read whether he’s seen the new film, but since copyright law protects expression and not ideas, he could face a hurdle in proving illegal misappropriation unless the complaint is further amended. [THR]

Ellison is currently shopping around a screenplay adaptation of his “Repent, Harlequin!”, so it’s definitely in his best interest to fight Fox on this. Also, we’re talking about a guy who “won’t take a p*ss unless I’m being paid for it.” You guys better pay the man:

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The Man of Steel represents truth, justice, and the American way. Which means, of course, that the lawsuits over the character are about as hostile and nasty as it can get. And it just got nastier!

Some background: Warner Brothers and the families of Superman’s creators, Siegel and Shuster, who got epically screwed, have been fighting over Superman’s copyright since 1999. It’s long and it’s messy, but the short of it is that this lawsuit was delayed over a lawsuit over THAT lawsuit.

You see, Warners is suing the lawyer for the Siegel and Shuster estates, Marc Toberoff, for convincing the family to back out of deals that the estates and Warner Brothers had already reached, so they could seek more money. The judge hearing the actual suit delayed it because of the lawsuit over the lawsuit. Confused yet?

Anyway, the order has been lifted and Warner Brothers is going full steam ahead with deposing the Siegel and Shuster families to continue the main lawsuit. No word on the lawsuit about the lawsuit.

[ The Hollywood Reporter heard you liked lawsuits, so they put a lawsuit in your lawsuit ]

Mark Zuckerberg has made billions off of basically demanding you tell the world about your crotch itching, and has been busted repeatedly for crapping all over user privacy. In fact, Facebook is one of the most unethical social networks out there, and people mostly only stay on it because A) their friends are all on it and B) it’s still way better than either Friendster or MySpace.

Now Zuckerberg, while dealing with an overdramatic movie that makes him look like a huge douche, is complaining that one of the multiple frivolous lawsuits that he’s got to deal with (you don’t make a few billion without somebody deciding they can get a piece with the right lawyer) is violating his privacy.

At root is a suit by one Paul Ceglia. Ceglia is claiming he’s got a contract with Zuckerberg that gives him 84% of Facebook. How, precisely, a guy who runs a wood-pellet business five hours away from where Zuckerberg lived would be involved, let alone why Zuckerberg would sign a contract giving him 84% of Facebook, is something Ceglia hasn’t bothered to explain in public yet, but we’re betting it’s got something to do with Ceglia being full of crap. This feeling is only intensified by Ceglia’s legal moves, which are basically designed to inconvenience and embarrass Zuckerberg. He’s trying to keep the trial in New York state courts while Zuckerberg is trying to relocate it to federal court (i.e. they’re fighting over who has to get on a lot of airplanes), and Ceglia is trying to force Zuckerberg to turn over personal details. Zuckerberg, of course, has suddenly become a profound advocate of personal privacy.

On the other hand, screw him, he’s worth $4 billion and he’ll win this, so let’s all point and laugh at the rich hypocrite played by Jesse Eisenberg. You know, the guy they get when Michael Cera turns you down.

[ via Slate ]

In 1976, Andrew Ainsworth, an industrial designer, was hired to make fifty Stormtrooper helmets (£20 each) for Star Wars.  He also made equipment for other characters in the series, earning around £30,000 in total.  George Lucas, meanwhile, has made over $10 billion off Star Wars merch according to some estimates (we write numbers on the ground then release a cow, and whichever number she craps on is the estimate).

Five years ago, Ainsworth pulled his mould out of storage and started selling replica Stormtrooper helmets.  Lucas has sued, of course.  California has awarded Lucas $20 million in damages, even though only 19 of the helmets were ever sold in the United States.  Over $1 million per helmet?  Lucas must have the same lawyers as the RIAA.  Meanwhile, the courts in Britain haven’t been as generous:

Mr Justice Mann ruled that the models were not sculptures and so did not have copyright protection, which would extend 70 years beyond the death of their creator. Instead he ruled that the models were industrial designs, which could be protected for only 15 years.  Yesterday Lord Justices Rix, Jacob and Patten agreed, dismissing Lucasfilm’s appeal. They said that the helmet and armour had a “utilitarian” rather than artistic purpose. They also ruled that Lucasfilm could not enforce its US copyright in Britain, but agreed that Mr Ainsworth did not own the copyright. [timesonline]

On the one hand, voiding the copyright on something from a film after only 15 years on the grounds that it’s industrial seems like an insult to the cinema.  On the other hand, every time George Lucas loses out on another million dollars, I scratch a notch in my bedpost and scream “Excelsior!”  So it’s a toss up.