![]() ![]() We’ve reached out to Gertz and will provide any response he gives. NEW YORK Lionsgate is the latest film studio to join Apple Inc.’s iTunes service, the two companies said Monday. ![]() He’s represented by Greg Latham, an attorney in New Orleans. He’s also seeking damages for tortious interference, fraud and violation of the Consumer Protection Act. He says that in February, the general counsel of Zorro Productions sent a letter threatening further action should the performance at a German festival proceed.Ĭabell now seeks a declaration of non-infringement, permanent injunctive relief and cancellation of trademarks. In a 2001 decision, in a footnote, a federal judge said, “It is undisputed that Zorro appears in works whose copyrights have already expired, such as McCulley’s story The Curse of Capistrano and Fairbanks’s movie, The Mark of Zorro.”Ĭabell says that despite the ruling, Gertz and his company have fraudulently obtained multiple trademark registrations on Zorro and after allegedly duping the Trademark Office, have been using the registrations to prevent others like him from exploiting expired Zorro intellectual property. He was a very nice guy, said store owner. Sony made the 1998 film starring Banderas and is also reportedly working on a reboot. Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer admitted to slaying 17 young men and boys. In support of the claim, Cabell points to past litigation, including a lawsuit that was filed by Sony Pictures more than a decade ago against Paramount and others over the short-lived TV series, Queen of Swords. Defendants also fraudulently assert that copyrights for later-published material provide defendants with exclusive rights in the elements of the 1919 story and the 1920 film.” “Specifically,” says the lawsuit, “Defendants have fraudulently obtained federal trademark registrations for various Zorro marks and falsely assert those registrations to impermissibly extend intellectual property protection over material for which all copyrights have expired. Except this one goes even further by alleging fraud on Gertz’ part. The threats allegedly come from John Gertz, who owns Zorro Productions Inc.Īs a result of the reported threats, Cabell has gone to court with a complaint that’s similar to the one that was recently filed in an attempt to declare “Sherlock Holmes” in the public domain. Apple has unveiled its iTunes Radio service at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The lawsuit, filed in Washington federal court, comes from Robert Cabell, who says that in 1996, he published a musical entitled “Z - The Musical of Zorro,” that’s based upon author Johnston McCulley‘s first Zorro story published in 1919 and the Fairbanks film that was released the following year.Ĭabell now says that he has been threatened with litigation after licensing his musical so that it can be performed in Germany this summer. According to complaint, “Defendants have built a licensing empire out of smoke and mirrors.” ![]()
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