THR, Esq.

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A coalition of Hollywood studios has scored a victory against a company that has been marketing and distributing films stripped of objectionable content.

A New York federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against NBC Universal and Reveille that claimed the defendants stole the idea for the hit reality show, The Biggest Loser.

In a victory for television broadcasters, a federal judge in New York has ordered streaming outfit ivi, Inc., to stop airing the signals of TV networks over the Internet without consent.

Is France usurping Britain as the tourist destination of choice when it comes to suing for defamation?

George Clinton has been a pioneer in many ways, not only as a godfather of the funk genre but also on the litigation trail, getting a judge to acknowledge his ownership in the phrase, "Bow wow wow yippe yo yippie yay," winning a ruling that his record labels violated his rights by re-releasing four of his 1970s albums, and perhaps most infamously, pursuing an estimated 800 musicians and record labels for illegally sampling his hit songs.

All this aggressive legal action comes at a cost, and now his former law firm, Hendricks & Lewis, wants Clinton to pay the piper. The firm is now looking to garnish Clinton's wages to the tune of nearly $1.7 million.

It doesn't take a big-budget Hollywood marketing budget to get popular on torrent sites. Check out last week's ten most popular films there, according to TorrentFreak, which monitors P2P sites for activity. According to the list, the top spot was taken by a film called S.W.A.T.: Firefight, which was never released in theaters and we'll admit to never having heard of. The second biggest debut on the list belongs to The Sunset Limited, which stars Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson and debuted on HBO earlier this month. Also on the list are screeners for 127 Hours, The Green Hornet, King's Speech and The Mechanic.

Here's the 10 most pirated films last week:

1. S.W.A.T.: Firefight
2. Tangled
3. Unstoppable
4. The Sunset Limited
5. Gullivers Travels
6. 127 Hours
7. The Green Hornet
8. The King's Speech
9. The Mechanic
10. Burlesque

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Comcast, E! Entertainment, The Soup host Joel McHale and the Associated Press are on the verge of being sued for defamation by a dwarf couple who object to the way they were presented in print and on television.

Law buzz this morning:

An Ohio musician with ambitious plans to have his music heard by fans of The Twilight Saga is now suing the film's distributor, Summit Entertainment, for standing in his way.

A Texas author is at odds with the J.R.R. Tolkien estate over plans to publish a fictional book that features Tolkien as a character and includes a critical analysis of Tolkien's books.

A woman who claims credit for discovering Twilight as a potential feature film is demanding payment for her role in helping launch one of Hollywood's biggest movie franchises.

DreamWorks Animation might need to brush up on its martial arts skills to fight the litigation surrounding its Kung Fu Panda franchise. The studio is being sued again, this time by a man who claims to have created the inspiration behind its animated hit, which grossed $632 million worldwide.