Fresh Filings

Sirius XM Satellite Radio is facing a false advertising class action in New Jersey District Federal Court over the pricing of its music plans. The suit, brought by DeNittis Osefchen Prince and Hattis & Lukacs, contends that Sirius fails to include the amount of its invented “U.S. music royalty fee” in its advertised pricing, thus increasing the true plan price by 21.4%. The case is Posternock v. Sirius XM Radio Inc., 3:23-cv-02680. … Apple, doing business as Apple Books, was sued for copyright infringement in California Northern District Federal Court. The suit, filed by Doniger/Burroughs and Reeder McCreary, alleges that the young adult supernatural romance novel Crave by Tracy Wolff copies elements from the novel Masqued by Lynne Freeman, who was represented by the same literary agent as Wolff. The case is Freeman v. Apple Inc., 3:23-cv-02426. … The Nielsen Company, known for its television viewership rating system and other media analytics, sued HyphaMetrics for patent infringement in Delaware District Federal Court. The suit, brought by Potter Anderson & Corroon and Kelley Drye & Warren, alleges that the defendant’s cross-platform measurement tool “coreMeter” infringes the plaintiff’s patent. The case is Nielsen Co. (US) LLC v. HyphaMetrics Inc., 1:23-cv-00532. … Ten professional models including Carmen Electra, Lucy Pinder and Jaime Edmondson Longoria filed an insurance coverage lawsuit against First Mercury Insurance in New Jersey District Federal Court. The suit, filed on behalf of the plaintiffs by Sacchetta & Baldino, arises from three underlying actions accusing adult-oriented clubs of using the plaintiffs’ images and likenesses to promote the clubs without permission. The plaintiffs now seek to recover costs and attorneys’ fees incurred in the underlying lawsuits, two of which resulted in judgments amounting collectively to over $900,000. The case is Pinder v. First Mercury Insurance Co., 2:23-cv-02646. … Valve, operator of the video-game distribution platform Steam, was hit with a patent infringement lawsuit in Washington Western District Federal Court. The lawsuit was brought by Folio Law Group on behalf of Immersion Corp. The case is Immersion Corp. v. Valve Corp., 2:23-cv-00712. … The Walt Disney Co. and certain executives were hit with a securities class action in California Central District Federal Court. The lawsuit, filed by Robbins, Geller, Rudman, & Dowd and Pitta LLP, accuses the defendants of misrepresenting the true performance of Disney+ and other streaming platforms that had attracted subscribers at faster rates during the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown. According to the complaint, the defendants have been unable to produce results to reflect equal projections for 2024. The case is Local 272 Labor-Management Pension Fund v. The Walt Disney Co., 2:23-cv-03661. … Penguin Random House was sued for copyright infringement in New York Southern District Federal Court. The suit, brought by Garbarini Fitzgerald on behalf of Charming Beats LLC, accuses the defendant of misappropriating the plaintiff’s song “Signaling Through the Flames” in an advertisement for the novel The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. The case is Charming Beats LLC v. Penguin Random House LLC, 1:23-cv-03946. … Sega filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in Illinois Northern District Federal Court. The suit, brought by TME Law, accuses e-commerce operators of selling counterfeit Sonic the Hedgehog toys, apparel and other merchandise. The case is Sega Corp. v. The Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations Identified on Schedule A, 1:23-cv-02942. … Fox Corp., Tubi Inc. and other defendants were slapped with an employment lawsuit in California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. The court action, brought by King & Siegel on behalf of a former international content acquisitions manager for Tubi, accuses the defendants of systemic gender discrimination. The plaintiff contends that she did not receive equal pay, opportunities and support as her male colleagues. The case is Zimmern v. Fox Corp., is 23STCV10366. … News Corp. subsidiary HarperCollins Publishers was hit with a digital privacy class action in California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. The suit, brought by Tauler Smith LLP, accuses the defendant of unlawfully capturing, storing and transmitting the content of web-chat conversations in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act. The case is Heiting v. Harpercollins Publishers LLC, 23STCV10382. … Activision Blizzard, the publisher of video games such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, and its subsidiary King.com Ltd. were slapped with a consumer class action in Virginia Eastern District Federal Court over the company’s Candy Crush All Stars 2023 gaming contest. The complaint, brought by Roth Jackson Gibbons Condlin and Jaszczuk PC, contends that Activision failed to inform players properly of certain advantages and disadvantages of entering the contest, thus allowing for an unfair competition atmosphere. The case is Montoya v. King.com Ltd., 3:23-cv-00314. … Riot Games, a video game developer and esports tournament organizer, sued video-game peripherals provider T2M Sports and T2M Inc. in California Central District Federal Court over trademark infringement claims. The court case, brought by Fox Rothschild, accuses the defendants of selling and marketing video game controllers using the “Rotor Riot” and “RiotPWR” marks. The case is Riot Games Inc. v. T2M Inc., 2:23-cv-03504. … Book wholesaler Readerlink Distribution Services sued Publix Super Markets for breach of contract in Florida Middle District Federal Court. The suit arises from an agreement that any unsold or slow-moving books could be returned to Readerlink in exchange for credit against future purchases. According to the suit, while Publix claimed $13 million in credits, it only returned $8 million in inventory to Readerlink. The suit was filed by Berger Singerman and Neal Gerber & Eisenberg. The case is Readerlink Distribution Services LLC v. Publix Super Markets Inc., 8:23-cv-01012. … Digital talent agency Slash Management Inc. sued two former employees for breach of contract in California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. The suit, brought by Fox Rothschild, contends that the defendants, Zachary Cole and Lucia Ayson, are bound by revenue-sharing provisions in their employment contracts to split fees with Slash for two years. The case is Slash Management Inc. v. Cole, 23STCV10096. … Pryor Cashman filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit in New York Supreme Court, New York County, targeting Bark Out Loud Dogs Media and other defendants. The suit was brought on behalf of media broker John W. Saunders, who contends that he has not received his full fee, plus expenses, in connection with a $3.9 million acquisition of a radio station. The case is Saunders v. Foschi, 652163/2023. … Polsinelli and Hicks, Mims, Kaplan & Burns filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Massachusetts District Federal Court on behalf of concert merchandise seller Merch Traffic LLC in relation to merchandise of rock band Dead & Company. The suit targets bootleg distributors for unlawfully selling merchandise in the vicinity of the band’s concerts before, during and after performances. The case is Merch Traffic LLC v. Does 1-100, 1:23-cv-11016. … Polsinelli and Mims, Kaplan, Burns & Garretson filed a trademark infringement lawsuit in Massachusetts District Federal Court on behalf of concert merchandise seller Ceremony of Roses Acquisition in relation to merchandise of country singer Zach Bryan. The suit targets bootleg distributors for unlawfully selling Zach Bryan merchandise in the vicinity of his concerts before, during and after performances. The case is Ceremony of Roses Acquisition LLC v. Does 1-100, 1:23-cv-11015. … Netflix and other defendants were hit with a lawsuit claiming false endorsement in California Central District Federal Court. The lawsuit was filed by Blaise & Nitschke on behalf of drag performer Vicky Vox, who contends that her name and image has been used without permission to market the animated series Q-Force. The case is Hara v. Netflix Inc., 2:23-cv-03456. … Blank Rome filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, targeting popular singer and songwriter Jason Derulo. The suit was brought on behalf of Derulo’s former manager Frank Harris, who claims he is owed approximately $1 million in unpaid commission. The case is Harris v. Desrouleaux, 23SMCV01886. … HBO and Cooler Waters Productions were slapped with an employment class action in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County. The court case was brought by Kim Legal and Helen Kim Law on behalf of non-union background talent, a/k/a extras, accusing the defendants of failing to factor in certain forms of non-discretionary remuneration when calculating pay. The case is Tehrani v. Home Box Office Inc., 23STCV09609.