Major Hollywood studios and streamers are targeting yet another suspected content pirate. This time they are pursuing a service called Altered Carbon and the man they claim runs it, whom they describe as a “repeat mass infringer”.

“The plaintiffs tried to obtain [Jason] Tusa to arrest without court intervention by confronting him with irrefutable evidence of his illegal conduct and obtaining his consent, including through a written settlement, in which Tusa promised never to operate a streaming service again. similar illegal, ”writes lawyer Rose Leda. Ehler in the complaint. “Sadly, Tusa has shown that a binding contractual commitment will not deter his brazen breach.”

The lawsuit claims that Altered Carbon is at least the fourth counterfeit service Tusa has launched after Area 51, Singularity Media and Digital UniCorn Media, the latest coming after signing a deal in October that “it would never relaunch a service. unauthorized similar “.

Warner Bros., Universal, Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Paramount, Sony and others are suing for copyright infringement and breach of contract. They say the driving follows a pattern, and whenever they found out about Tusa’s unauthorized services, he “pretended to cooperate”, shut down and then renamed and relaunched. This time, they say he’s trying to hide his connection to the service.

“Tusa thinks he’s both under the radar and above the law. He’s neither,” Ehler writes.

What is not mentioned in the lawsuit is that “Altered Carbon” is the name of a Netflix sci-fi series (an adaptation of a 2002 novel of the same title) and that the Police of the ‘app appears to be a direct branded copy of this show.

Studios and streamers have also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asking a California federal judge to ban future infringements and to freeze Altered Carbon websites so that they cannot be viewed or transferred.

A hearing is currently set for August 9.

In other entertainment legal news:

– Longtime entertainment and advertising lawyer Felix H. Kent died July 15 at his home in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He was 97 years old. Kent began his early television career in the legal departments of CBS and then ABC before moving into private practice where he represented a long list of advertising agencies and radio and television personalities. , according to an announcement from his family. The Harvard law graduate served in the Military Intelligence Service and the US Army Counter-Intelligence Corps during World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart Medal after sustaining combat injuries in France. The services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family asked for contributions from the American Cancer Society.

– UTA’s lawsuit against Vigilant and federal insurance companies for denying pandemic-related claims was dismissed with prejudice. The agency said the COVID-19 closures cost it more than $ 150 million, but the court found the losses are not covered by its policy. On June 23, a Los Angeles judge followed the lead of other courts in concluding that the “physical loss or damage” provision of coverage had not been triggered, in part because “COVID-19 hurts people , not the goods ”.

– Howard Stern Show“Stuttering John” Melendez’s intention to appeal the dismissal of his advertising right against SiriusXM Radio. Melendez in August 2020 sued Sirius by claiming that he was using his archived interviews without compensation or consent. On June 24, a New York federal judge sided with the satellite radio giant, saying Melendez’s claim for advertising rights was preempted by copyright law because the basis of his claims “is not the use of his identity but the use of the work protected by copyright. himself. Melendez filed a notice of appeal on Wednesday. (Read the review here.)

–FabFitFun has settled a lawsuit against a company it paid for social media endorsements, but never received, from Cara Delevingne, Sarah Hyland and Ashley Benson. In July 2020, the mailbox company sued JFF Entertainment for breach of contract and made it clear that its issues were with JFF, not the stars – two of whom were unaware of the alleged deals prior to the lawsuit. The complaint was dismissed without prejudice on July 9 and the court will retain jurisdiction should it need to enforce the terms of the settlement.

– Jon Bon Jovi, Don Henley, Ryan Tedder and Shane McAnally must file for up to four hours in an ongoing antitrust fight between Radio Music License Committee, a collective of 10,000 radio stations across the country, and Global Music Rights d ‘Irving Azoff. U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter June 24 ruled that because all four have stakes in GMR (regardless of whether they are non-voting shares), RMLC should be allowed to inquire about their relationship with the company. Meanwhile, Pharrell Williams manager Ron Laffitte cannot be removed as Hatter discovered that RMLC had not alleged he had conspired with GMR or had an interest in it.

– Activision defeated a lawsuit against former WWE wrestler Booker T. Huffman who alleged that the gaming giant used his character and comic book character GI Bro to Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The gaming giant convinced a Texas jury that it had not infringed Huffman’s copyright to the character and argued that GI Bro was “a neck-to-neck non-original copy of The Rock” and that the former wrestler does not have “the idea of ​​a man with a scowl. A motion for a new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict, if there is one, is currently expected on August 2.

News from DC:

–President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that Jonathan Kantner was his choice to head the Justice Department’s antitrust division. The seasoned attorney runs a Washington-based antitrust boutique and previously served as an attorney for the FTC’s Competition Bureau. The White House announcement described him as “a leading lawyer and expert in efforts to promote strong and meaningful antitrust and competition policies.” Kantner has been a vocal critic of big tech and has represented clients like Yelp and Microsoft in battles against Google, which has sparked discussions over whether he should recuse himself from DOJ’s ongoing litigation against the tech giant. .

– The US House on Tuesday adopted the 2021 MEDIA Diversity Act (HR 1754). The bill, which would amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require the FCC to “examine market entry barriers for socially disadvantaged persons in the communications market,” is now before the Senate Commerce Committee, science and transport.

In the recruitment news:

– Ryan Lapine joined Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz as a partner in their litigation group, specializing in commercial and entertainment litigation. Lapine, whose former clients include Barry Manilow and Stiletto Entertainment, also has experience dealing with cannabis and cryptocurrency issues.

– LaPolt Law has appointed Sarah Scott as Managing Partner. The firm, hired by Music Power Lawyer Dina LaPolt, represents clients including Cardi B, Offset, deadmau5 and 21 Savage. Scott joined Universal Music Group Canada in 2017.

– Chris Perez has become a renowned partner of all-new Donaldson Callif Perez, a leader in independent film and television representation. In addition to advocacy work like the DMCA reform, Perez has recently advised clients on projects including Tiger King: murder, madness and chaos; Bomb; The farewell; The last dance; and Knock down the house.