Big Screen

Get the latest news on the motion picture industry—from big screen actors to the business of making movies.

Prominent Hollywood Producer Guilty of Sexual Harassment
Aug 30, 2011

A jury recently found Hollywood producer Jon Peters guilty of sexual harassment, and ordered him to pay $3 million to his former assistant, 44-year-old Shelly Morita.

Morita sued the 66-year-old Peters five years ago, alleging the producer of such hits as Rain Man, Batman and Superman Returns harassed her repeatedly during the year she worked for him.

Jarecki Wins Copyright Dispute Over Gere, Sarandon Film Arbitrage
Aug 30, 2011

A Los Angeles District Court judge recently ruled in favor of writer and director Nicholas Jarecki in a copyright lawsuit related to the upcoming film "Arbitrage," starring Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon.

Jarecki, who directed the 2005 documentary "The Outsider," filed the suit last March, after Michael Ohoven of Infinity Media said he co-owned the Arbitrage screenplay because he had hired a script consultant, Kevin Turan.

At the time he hired Turen, Ohoven was slated to play a role in the film.

Stan Lee Media Sues for Conan Revenue
Aug 26, 2011

Stan Lee Media, Inc., has filed an intellectual property lawsuit in U.S. District Court, alleging it is the rightful owner of the Conan the Barbarian character, and as such, is entitled to 100 percent of the proceeds from the recently released Conan feature film.

Named for its co-founder, Stan Lee, who created iconic comic book heroes such as Spiderman and the Fantastic Four, the media company acquired the rights to Conan in 2000, shortly before entering bankruptcy.

Lohan Takes Pitbull to Court Over Song Lyrics
Aug 22, 2011

Lindsay Lohan has filed a civil rights lawsuit against Cuban-born rapper Pitbull, alleging the lyrics of his current hit single "Give Me Everything" defame her and exploit her reputation to make money.

The lyrics in question read, "Hustlers move aside, so I'm tiptoein', to keep flowin', I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan." Earlier this year, Lohan was sentenced to 120 days in jail for violating probation. Her probation was related to the theft of a $2,500 necklace from a Venice, California, jeweler.

Tinseltown Photographer Sues Los Angeles Times for Copyright Infringement
Aug 22, 2011

Noted celebrity photographer David Strick recently sued the Los Angeles Times for copyright infringement, alleging the paper illegally published at least 174 of his photos.

The suit states the Times hired Strick in 2007 to provide photographs for a print and web column called "David Strick's Hollywood Backlot," and Strick alleges the Times published photos taken by him, including shots from the movies "Easy A," "Cedar Rapids" and "Battle: Los Angeles," after his con