LOS ANGELES (AP) — CBS is suing rival network ABC and the producers of an upcoming reality series that CBS says violates copyrights and secrets from its long-running series “Big Brother.”
Attorneys for CBS filed the lawsuit in a Los Angeles federal court Thursday.
The suit alleges ABC is trying to sabotage and copy “Big Brother” with its upcoming reality competition show “The Glass House.” The suit names key “Glass House” producers who previously worked on the CBS show, saying they violated non-disclosure agreements.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction blocking “Glass House” from airing later this year.
It also seeks more than $500,000 from each former “Big Brother” staffer who violated a non-disclosure agreement. CBS estimates at least 19 former “Big Brother” staffers are working on “Glass House.”
ABC declined to comment on the case.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — CBS is warning rival network ABC that an upcoming reality series copies “Big Brother” too closely and violates copyrights and other agreements with former staffers.
Attorneys for CBS sent a letter warning of consequences if ABC continues to develop “The Glass House.” The show focuses on contestants who are constantly filmed and eliminated from a home they share.
The letter notes the format is substantially similar to “Big Brother,” which has aired on CBS since 2000.
The letter obtained by The Associated Press and other news outlets states that 18 former “Big Brother” staffers and executives are now working on “Glass House.” CBS says that may violate nondisclosure agreements they signed.
ABC had no comment on CBS’ allegations.
CBS’ warning to ABC was first reported Friday by The Hollywood Reporter.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lindsay Lohan won’t face prosecution over a nightclub manager’s claims that the actress struck him with her sportscar due to lack of evidence and doubts about his credibility, prosecutors decided Friday.
Police had asked the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office to review whether Lohan should be charged with leaving the scene of an accident, but the office determined there was insufficient evidence to pursue a case. Police interviewed the manager, reviewed surveillance footage and looked at Lohan’s Porsche and found no evidence that an accident had occurred.
Thaer Kamal, manager of the Hookah Lounge in Hollywood, accused Lohan of striking him with her Porsche early on March 14, just two weeks before the actress’ supervised probation ended. A charge evaluation worksheet noted that although Kamal called 911, he refused medical treatment at the scene and told police he had been grazed by Lohan’s car along his right leg.
He refused to cooperate on follow-up interviews until roughly two weeks later, when he gave detectives a photo of a bruised left knee and appeared for the interview with his left knee bandaged, according to the prosecutor’s summary.
“There is no direct evidence to show Lindsay Lohan or anyone else struck victim Kamal,” Deputy District Attorney John Gilligan wrote. Victim Kamal’s changed story and lack of cooperation with law enforcement make him a non-credible witness.”
Kamal has been represented by attorney Mark Geragos, who did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
Lohan’s spokesman Steve Honig declined comment on the decision.
Lohan, 25, remains on informal probation for taking a necklace without permission last year and is attempting to revive her career. She will play Elizabeth Taylor in a television movie about the actress’ love affair with co-star Richard Burton.
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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kim Kardashian’s attorney told a judge Friday that the reality star wants her divorce from Kris Humphries to move forward but that the case has been slowed by the NBA player’s hurt feelings and his desire for an annulment.
Humphries’ attorneys said they needed more time to gather information to decide whether to pursue allegations that the couple’s 72-day marriage was a fraud. Proving the allegations would likely require a trial, which Kardashian’s attorney Laura Wasser said could prove costly to her estranged husband.
The couple was married last summer in a lavish, star-studded and televised ceremony, but Kardashian filed for divorce on Oct. 31. Humphries responded a month later asking for an annulment, claiming the couple’s nuptials were based on a fraud, but not laying out specific evidence.
“I feel that (Humphries’) personal feelings and maybe some media drive is keeping this case alive,” Wasser said. She said the couple is eligible for a divorce since it has been more than six months since Kardashian filed her petition.
“Certainly, they’ve been separated longer than they’ve been married,” Wasser said.
She said if the case goes to trial and Kardashian wins, she will ask that Humphries pay her hefty legal fees. Currently, Kardashian wants each side to pay their own fees.
The comments came during a routine hearing Friday in which a judge allowed Humphries’ Minnesota attorney, Lee Hutton, to take part in the case.
Humphries’ Los Angeles-based attorney Marshall Waller said they had to wait for the motion to be approved but that he expects to seek key information and the depositions of essential witnesses in the next few weeks.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Moloney told both sides to return to court on Aug. 15 for a status hearing.
Neither Kardashian nor Humphries attended Friday’s proceedings.
Kardashian is the star of the E! Entertainment Television series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” which was E! Entertainment Television’s top-rated show, averaging more than three million viewers in its sixth season.
Humphries, a power forward who has played with the New Jersey Nets, is an unrestricted free agent.
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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Attorneys for Zsa Zsa Gabor’s daughter and husband are scheduled to appear for the first time before a judge who is considering whether the ailing actress needs independent oversight of her finances and medical care.
Wednesday’s hearing is the first time attorneys for the two sides will argue their case before Superior Court Judge Reva Goetz, who is being asked by Gabor’s daughter to impose a conservatorship.
Constance Francesca Hilton petitioned to be named her mother’s conservator in March, but Gabor’s husband Frederic von Anhalt wants the request denied. An independent attorney has already logged at least 89 hours evaluating the case to provide Goetz with information for her ruling.
Hilton claims von Anhalt is keeping her mother heavily sedated and may be mismanaging her money, accusations that Gabor’s husband of 25 years vehemently denies. In a court filing, he claims that Hilton has created financial problems for Gabor in the past and that he is providing the best possible care.
Gabor, who is confined to her bed and has been in poor health for months, will not attend the hearing.
A doctor who has evaluated her wrote in a court filing that Gabor’s well-being is closely tied to her remaining in a familiar environment.
“Continued access to familiar persons and environment are crucial to her comfort and maintenance of her continued health,” Dr. Debra Judelson wrote in a report submitted last month.
“She is aware of her own bedroom and is calm and well cared for by husband with assistance of two aides,” Judelson wrote.
Hilton, who is seeking access to medical and financial information that von Anhalt has refused to give her, is open to having a third-party act as her conservator, her attorney Kenneth Kossoff has said. Von Anhalt has stated in court filings that he should be appointed conservator if Goetz rules one is necessary.
Gabor, a Hungarian-born sexpot of the 1950s and 1960s, has been in declining health and didn’t make an appearance at a February birthday party hosted at her mansion.
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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge ruled Monday that producers of the Golden Globe Awards acted properly when they negotiated a deal keeping the glitzy gala on NBC through 2018.
U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz’s 89-page ruling states that the production company, dick clark productions, has a right to negotiate the deal and work on the show as long as it airs on NBC. That right was a key part of a long-running dispute between the company, known as dcp, and the Globes’ organizers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The association sued over the broadcast deal in November 2010, but the two sides have worked together on the past two awards shows. The production company has claimed it has a perpetual right to work on the show as long as it airs on NBC, but the association argued that it never agreed to those terms and it was facing the loss of its creation.
The Globes have become big business, with Hollywood A-listers appearing each year. The journalists’ group and producer split the multimillion-dollar annual profits evenly.
Matz’s ruling states the dcp only has a right to work with NBC, but that it does not need to receive approval for its broadcast deal directly from the HFPA anymore because of a 1993 amendment to their working relationship.
The judge stated the unusual agreement came about largely because of HFPA’s own leadership problems. “HFPA suffered from the absence of sound, business-like practices,” Matz wrote.
He noted the group’s complicated internal politics and frequent elections, some of which “triggered bitter feelings.”
“HFPA members have always been dedicated to the success of the Golden Globes Award Show,” Matz wrote. “But often they succumbed to bouts of pronounced turmoil and personal feuds.”
The judge’s ruling came after he heard nine days of testimony earlier this year over the deal negotiated by dcp. Dick Clark sold the company in 2007, but the dispute focused heavily on events that took place while he still owned it in 1993.
The judge had to determine whether a 1993 agreement between the HFPA and dcp gave the production company the right to work on the show perpetually, provided it airs on NBC. The association contended it never agreed to the perpetuity clause, and that if it were upheld it would the HFPA control over its signature property, the Globes.
Attorneys for dcp argued that the clause was to ensure continuity and protect the production company, which had just negotiated a multi-year deal to return the Globes to broadcast airwaves for the first time since a scandal knocked them from CBS in the early 1980s.
Matz noted the contrast between the production company and the journalists’ group in his ruling.
“In contrast, dcp acted in a consistently business-like fashion, and for almost all of the 27 year relationship it had with HFPA before this suit was filed dcp was represented by one experienced executive who was adept at dealing fairly and effectively with the often amateurish conduct of HFPA,” he wrote.
The disputed deal is worth $150 million, but the association contends the broadcast rights are worth much more now. The show, while not a reliable predictor of Oscar night glory, attracts the top stars from both television and film and attracts millions of viewers each year. The booze-filled gala is more unpredictable and less staid than other major reality shows, which has only been amplified by host Ricky Gervais in recent years.
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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP .
FILE - In this Aug. 17, 2011 file photo, reality TV personality Kim Kardashian, right, and her fiance, NBA basketball player Kris Humphries, arrive at the Kardashian Kollection launch party in Los Angeles. Kardashian's divorce attorney told a judge Friday, May 4, 2012, that she believes Humphries' hurt feelings about the marriage are slowing down the case and that it could get very expensive for the NBA player if he continues to pursue his claims the couple's nuptials were a fraud. Humphries filed for an annulment of the couple's 72-day marriage on Thursday in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, file)(Credit: AP) 