3 Count: Servant Returns

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1: Appeals Court Revives Copyright Lawsuit Over ‘Servant’

First off today, Winston Cho at The Hollywood Reporter Esquire reports that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a lawsuit against Apple over the AppleTV+ series Servant.

The lawsuit was filed by Francesca Gregorini, who targeted Apple as well as others involved in the production of the series. Gregorini claimed that the first three episodes of the series infringed her movie The Truth About Emanuel, which she wrote and directed. However, the case was tossed at the district court, with the judge ruling that there was no substantial similarity.

However, the Appeals Court has reversed that. Saying that the dismissal was premature, the Appeals Court is sending the case back to the lower court so that discovery can take place and additional evidence can be presented. The series, which was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, has been a major cornerstone of Apple’s AppleTV+ service.

2: TVAddons’ Adam Lackman Admits TV Show Piracy, Agrees to Pay US$14.5m

Next up today, Andy Maxwell at Torrentfreak writes that Adam Lackman, the founder of TVAddons, has been hit with a permanent injunction and a consent judgment that orders him to pay some $14.5 million in damages to Canadian rightsholders.

TVAddons was the largest repository of Kodi add-ons. Those add-ons were primarily tools to access pirated content via unlawful streaming services. The service disappeared from the internet in June 2017 as the result of a lawsuit and an injunction filed in Canada against Lackman. The site returned in 2019 but has been in steady decline since.

However, after some back and forth, the plaintiffs in the case, a group of Canadian media companies, have secured a permanent injunction against Lackman and a court judgment ordering him to pay some $14.5 million in damages.

3: Nykaa Settles Copyright Infringement Litigation With L’Oreal, Stocks Rally Post News

Finally today, Chetan Thathoo at Inc 42 reports that the French cosmetics company L’Oreal has reached a settlement with the Indian firm Nykaa over allegedly infringing packaging that the Nykaa was using.

The lawsuit was filed in a Delhi High Court in November 2019 and accused Nykaa of creating packaging that was similar to L’Oréal’s Maybeline line. This prompted claims of both copyright and trademark infringement.

However, the two sides have agreed to settle the dispute without damages changing hands. Instead, L’Oréal has approved a redesign of the packaging at issue and both sides are putting the case behind them.

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