Three notable lawsuits have ended after the parties got together to hash things out.
Not every Hollywood lawsuit ends with a made-for-TV court ruling. Among the pieces of litigation that have been quietly put to bed in the past week are headline-making disputes over whether former Black Flag members could tour as “Flag,” Facebook’s use of Eminem music in an advertising campaign and a bitter credit fight over Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables.
Here’s a roundup of some recent settlements:
— Last August, Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn sued his former bandmates Keith Morris, Dez Cadena, Chuck Dukowski and Bill Stevenson for touring as “Flag,” which allegedly constituted a violation of trademarks to the name and logo. Henry Rollins was sued too, although he wasn’t part of the tour. In October, a judge refused an injunction because of the possibility that the marks had fallen into generic use. The issue won’t be tested, though, because on April 10, the parties informed the court of a settlement. “Flag gets to be Flag, and Black Flag as it is presently known continues to be Black Flag,” says attorney Evan Cohen, who represented the plaintiff.
— Last May, Eminem’s music publisher Eight Mile Style sued Facebook for allegedly using one of the rapper’s songs for the launch of an application called “Facebook Home.” The song was supposedly picked by Facebook’s co-defendant ad agency to curry favor to known Eminem fan, Mark Zuckerberg. When threatened with a copyright lawsuit, the ad agency is said to have attacked hip-hop producer (and sometime Eminem collaborator) Dr. Dre for being a flagrant thief who had stolen the song in question from Michael Jackson. Alas, on April 11, the parties stipulated to a voluntary dismissal.
— In October 2011, the estate of Rick Nelson sued Capitol Records for allegedly underreporting royalties. Among the allegations was the claim that the record label was in possession of up to $250 million in “unmatched income,” money that Capitol claimed it couldn’t link to any particular artist. The heirs of the author of songs including “Travelin’ Man” and “Poor Little Fool” have now reached a deal. Neville Johnson, the attorney for the plaintiff, said the issue was “amicably resolved.”
