I like it. Its sweet and totally speaks to the part of me that grew up on Schoolhouse Rock. Music is a very effective tool for communicating a message to the masses. And not only is this video political, adorable and catchy, but it is also true. Why else would the state be in such a hurry to keep Perry vs. Schwarzenegger (the landmark civil rights/marriage equality case against Proposition 8 currently underway) from being forever immortalized on YouTube? They don’t want the world AND history to see California as ignorant. But its too late in the information age to keep that sort of thing from happening.
Good news for you Watchmen fans who were worried that all the anticipation would be for naught. The movie will be released as scheduled. According to CBR and the Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox presened a settlement to Judge Gary Feess at 9:30am this morning and requested that the case be dismissed.
Although the terms of the agreement are not to be officially disclosed, details began to leak even before their court appearance this morning.
The New York Times’ Carpetbagger blog reports Fox will get a cut of gross receipts of Watchmen or any sequels or spinoffs — as much as 8.5 percent — which could end up amounting to tens of millions of dollars. The studio also will recoup its development costs and legal fees, which amounts to millions of dollars more.
The lawsuit, filed in February of 2008 claimed that Fox has held the film rights to the DC Comics 1986 12 issue Maxi Series since the late 80’s when they were acquired for producer Lawrence Gordon.
Gordon is not a party to the case, but Warners is said to be after the producer and his attorneys to reimburse the studio for costs of the settlement. During the litigation, Gordon’s then-attorney admitted that he negotiated the producer’s 1994 separation from Fox without knowing about a 1991 agreement on which Fox based its lawsuit.
The project was not produced at the time, and was considered by a variety of studios over the ensuing 20 years until finding a home at Warner Brothers. The main point of the suit was that Warner Bros never obtained the necessary rights from Fox.
Judge Feess ruled in Fox’s favor. His Dec. 24 ruling stated that “Fox owns a copyright interest consisting of, at the very least, the right to distribute the Watchmen motion picture.”
Within days and ahead of a decision expected Jan. 20 from Feess on whether Fox could block the movie release, attorneys for the two studios began settlement talks because Warners faced the possibility of Fox actually stopping the scheduled March 6 release of the $130 million comic book adaptation.
The news of the day and final word is that both studios released the following joint statement…
Warner Bros. and Fox, like all Watchmen fans, look forward with great anticipation to this film’s March 6 release in theaters.
Who watches the Watchmen? Noone, if 20th Century Fox has anything to say about it. They want a piece of the pie or they may shut down the planned March 6th release of the epic comic book movie based on the most popular graphic novel in comic book history. Fox alleges alleges that they retained distribution rights to the graphic novel through a 1991 claim. The judge has refused a motion to dismiss and a trial date has been set for January 6th.
A federal court in Los Angeles on Monday refused to dismiss the Fox lawsuit — meaning Fox can proceed with an attempt to shut down Snyder’s movie in court. The ruling offered no comment on the quality of Fox’s case or its potential for success, but clearly the judge found enough merit in the rights claim to let Fox’s lawyers take it up a notch.
Most of the buzz suggests that Fox will most likely keep up the pressure until a settlement is made that allows Warner Brothers to distribute The Watchmen and rewards Fox with some of the profits.
Self-styled porn mogul Michal Lucas may find himself in someone’s legal crosshairs yet again. Lucas may have escaped the wrath of the Fellini family but now he has Spunk on his ass.
He may be up to his ebayable undies in yet another porn-related lawsuit if Spunk Video’s announced claim that “Michael Lucas produced a bareback movie and then refused to pay for it” end up having any merit. Allegedly, e-mail record suggest Lucas initially passed on releasing the movie, but later decided to release it even though Spunk has purchased the rights.
In question is Galaxia Entertainment’s “Raw Twinks in Czech”
or is it Spunk Video’s “Nasty Piss Boys?
Spunk’s claims seem to hinge on two things. First that “Raw Twinks in Czech” is the same movie as Spunk Video’s own “Nasty Piss Boys.” And they seem to have a point. Check out this comparison. The boys fucking on the lower right of the front cover of “Raw Twinks in Czech” aren’t just the same 2 from the same scene, it is the SAME PHOTO as the cover of Nasty Piss Boys.”
Spunk Producer Mike Brady’s comments stating “We are the owners and copyright holders of this material and the true Custodian of Records. It is our duty to prevent the distribution of this material with improper labeling” may mean serious trouble for whoever owns Galaxia Entertainment.
It comes down to the question… Is Michael Lucas responsible for Galaxia Entertainment? His publicity Director Patrick Collins indirectly says no…
LUCAS ENTERTAINMENT RESPONDS TO CLAIMS BY SPUNK VIDEO
Lucas Entertainment never had and does not have any intentions to produce bareback videos. Our company is also not concerned about Spunk Video’s motives to issue such a baseless press release.
When informed of the press release, CEO and President Michael Lucas, who at this moment is in South America, said via phone, “I’m not even remotely interested in reading Spunk Video’s press release, and Spunk Video is welcome to take any letter they have to any court they choose.”
Furthermore, Michael Lucas and Lucas Entertainment are not interested in continuing this conversation. We feel this issue was closed before ever being opened.
Sincerely,
Patrick Collins
Publicity Director
LUCAS ENTERTAINMENT
If Lucas is indeed involved in bareback production it would be a definite departure from his stated position that he will not hire anyone who has done bareback work.
Posted in Gay News on 05/01/2008 11:53 am by fanboi
3 Islanders from the Greek Isle of Lesbos are suing a gay rights organization named the “Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece” for use of the term lesbian because it “insults the identity” of the people of Lesbos, who are have also historically known as Lesbians.
I’m not REALLY sure that even if they win (which I doubt) suing this one small group in Greece will make homosexual women stop calling themselves lesbians. It doesn’t strike me as a realistic expectation and I don’t understand what they hope to gain aside from free publicity. Maybe Lesbos is just bucking for more tourism?
Plaintiff Dimitris Lambrou said they targeted the group because it is the only officially registered gay group in Greece to use the word lesbian in its name. The case will be heard in an Athens court on June 10.
