Gawker pays to settle 'McSteamy' copyright suit

By Matthew Belloni

A legal battle on the cutting edge of celebrity media and copyright law has ended with gossip blog conglom Gawker Media agreeing to pay actors Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart and take down a homemade threesome video featuring the couple. In exchange, they have dropped their $1 million lawsuit.

Sources valued the settlement at low-six figures. Reps for Gawker and the couple declined comment on the number.

The case, filed in September after excerpts of the so-called “McSteamy” tape surfaced on Gawker’s Defamer blog and porn-culture sister site Fleshbot, became noteworthy because the couple sued for copyright infringement, a somewhat novel legal theory in cases involving sex tapes. 

'Sex 2' tops most-pirated movies list

Who knew online movie pirates were such "Sex and the City" junkies? The cocktails-and-shoe-shopping adventures of Carrie and the gang lead the most recent list of the most-pirated movies on BitTorrent. The full list below, as compiled by TorrentFreak: 

Hollywood Docket: Meet showbiz's conservative clique; Activision CEO vs. Patty Glaser; Spawn of 'Spawn'

• Ever heard of the Friends of Abe? Neither had we, until we read this THR story looking at an under-the-radar gathering of Republicans in Hollywood. (And it's Lincoln, not Vigoda.)  [THR] 

• The CEO of Activision Blizzard is learning the hard way that you do not screw around with Patty Glaser. A California appellate court has upheld a decision in favor of the hard-charging Hollywood litigator in a dispute over about $1 million in legal fees Glaser's firm charged Bobby Kotick and others in connection with the defense of a complex sexual harassment case. [LAT]  

• An industry-backed group in Australia has begun to appeal a February decision finding an Aussie ISP not guilty of infringing copyright laws based on third-party infringers. [BB]

• Charlie Sheen has pleaded guilty to assaulting his wife on Christmas day. He'll get rehab and probation, not jail. [AP] 

• A federal judge has ruled that author Neil Gaiman is owed royalties from three characters that appeared in Todd McFarlane's classic comic book "Spawn." That's on top of the three characters a jury has already ruled are derived from Gaiman's work. [AP]

• This one's weird, even for Michael Jackson: GoDaddy has been sued for $100 million by the man who says he owns photos of MJ featured on a gambling website called MichaelJacksonCasino.com that was registered by an anonymous person on GoDaddy. [TMZ]

Warner Bros. wins jury verdict in trial over Eastwood film

By Matthew Belloni

Studios have been coming up short in jury trials lately, so it's worth mentioning a Warner Bros. victory in a recent trial over injuries sustained by a diver on the set of Clint Eastwood's 2006 drama "Flags of Our Fathers."

Oscar crasher criminal charges dropped

By Matthew Belloni

EXCLUSIVE: Criminal charges have been dismissed against the actor detained outside the Academy Awards in March for trying to attend without a ticket.

Michael AvMen (aka Michael Avila), who filed a civil suit against the Academy in April for $50 million claiming false imprisonment after he and his wife were detained for hours outside the Kodak Theater, found himself the subject of a criminal trespass complaint earlier this month by the City Attorney of Los Angeles. 

Why does Hollywood need a special party-crasher law?

By Matthew Belloni

Good thing California doesn't have real problems. 

Forget crime or budget deficits or health care. What the state really needs is a new law targeting people who sneak into Hollywood awards shows. 

That's exactly what California lawmakers will begin debating when they return from summer vacation today. The SAG-backed measure, AB451, would expand the state's definition of trespassing to include "the intentional, unapproved entry into an event clearly advertised as off-limits to the general public." First-time offenders could face up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.

Second woman suing Casey Affleck over harassment on documentary

By Matthew Belloni

EXCLUSIVE: Another female worker on Casey Affleck's upcoming Joaquin Phoenix documentary is suing the filmmaker/actor, this time claiming Affleck climbed into bed with her and groped her as she slept. 

In a $2.25 million lawsuit being filed this afternoon in Los Angeles Superior Court (read the complaint here), cinematographer Magdalena Gorka says Affleck engaged in a pattern of harassing behavior and refused to pay or credit her when the abuse forced her to leave the project. The allegations mirror a separate lawsuit filed last Friday by Amanda White, a producer who says she left the movie after witnessing shocking behavior and after refusing to sleep in a hotel room with Affleck.

Jury sides with 'Girls Gone Wild' in suit by sexy dancer

By Eriq Gardner

"Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis finally has a reason to throw one of his outrageous parties.

This week, a St. Louis jury found in favor of Francis' Mantra Films in a $5 million lawsuit brought by a woman who claimed that "GGW" had "damaged her reputation" by distributing a video of her dancing provocatively in a local bar. The jury found that although she didn't sign a release, she had no expectation of privacy by playing to the camera.

"This is just one more example of someone trying to make a quick buck off Girls Gone Wild by making false accusations against our company," Francis boasted in a statement. "At the same time, this is also another great example of someone who got their ass kicked in a court room by a smart judge and a smart jury who saw the truth. Girls Gone Wild will always vigorously defend ourselves against anyone who makes such outrageous and defamatory allegations. Girls Gone Wild has NEVER lost a jury trial."

Maybe. But Francis' legal record is far from unblemished. There was that tax evasion case, of course. And just this week, Francis' own law firm sued Mantra in California.

Video game designer-turned-space traveler awarded $28 million by jury

By Eriq Gardner

Famed video game designer Richard Garriot has just taken one hell of a trip.

Two years ago, the man behind blockbuster role-playing games Ultima and Tabula Rasa spent $30 million of his own money to be a space tourist on a trip to the International Space Station.

He left video game publisher NCSoft and penned an open letter to the gaming community talking about his space dreams. Or so everyone thought. Garriot later claimed the letter was forged and that NCSoft forced him out of a job he had no intention of leaving.

Whether the dismissal was voluntary, as the company claimed, or non-voluntary, as Garriot claimed, became an issue for trial at a Texas federal court. Garriot said his firing meant he was forced to sell 400,000 shares of the company stock at a moment the company's market position was terrible.

A jury has just agreed with Garriot's assessment of what occurred, ordering NCSoft to pay him $28 million, just short of what it cost him to get into outer space. 

NCSoft says it will appeal.

Hollywood Docket: McPherson emails; MPAA puts Bob Kerrey in turnaround; why Shirley Sherrod shouldn't sue

• Former ABC Entertainment chief Stephen McPherson has hired Marty Singer to deal with the media fallout from his abrupt departure. Singer has already sent THR a letter objecting to talk of an investigation within Disney over sexual harassment allegations. However, sources tell THR that Disney is reviewing e-mails as part of its probe. [THR]

• The MPAA and former Senator Bob Kerrey have parted ways, days before he was expected to be announced as the new head of the Hollywood group. Apparently the studio heads weren't thrilled with Kerrey's appearance on the Don Imus radio show, which triggered concerns about his ability to be discreet. [THR]

• A Russian court is blocking YouTube in the country because the site hosted a video, "Russia for Russians," which the judge deemed extremist. [Mashable]

• Shirley Sherrod says she's going to sue blogger Andrew Breitbart for posting a video clip of one of her speeches that purported to show she was racist. We're not sure we see the point. Even if she can show she was defamed and/or portrayed in a false light, and even if she can show that Breitbart acted with actual malice (a tough hurdle), what can she possibly win in court? She was offered back her job at the USDA, which undercuts any damages claim. It'd be a PR victory, but she's already won that battle.