thanks B
NL- Smash & Stuart are still not commenting.
from http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/11/29/52663.htm
Fifty Shades’ Publisher Sues Porn Dealers
By MATT REYNOLDS
LOS ANGELES (CN) – The owner of the "Fifty Shades" copyrights sued three California pornography companies, claiming they are making unauthorized films and sex toys based on the blockbuster trilogy.
Fifty Shades Ltd. and Universal City Studios, which owns movie rights to the books, sued Smash Pictures, two other alleged porno filmmakers, and three men who own or work for them.
Named as defendants are Smash Pictures, of Chatsworth; its owner Daniel Quinn, of Colchester, Conn.; Luv Moves; Right Ascension Inc. dba Adult DVD Empire; Stuart Wall, of Sherman Oaks, vice president of Smash; and James Lane aka Jim Powers, of Northridge, the alleged "writer and director of the XXX adaptations."
The plaintiffs claim the defendants, "in a willful attempt to capitalize on the reputation of the book," have released a porn flick, "Fifty Shades of Grey: a XXX Adaptation" with two more productions in the works.
British author E.L. James’s "Fifty Shades of Grey" novels detail a steamy relationship between heroine Anastasia Steele, a college graduate, and Christian Grey, a wealthy businessman with a penchant for kinky sex. "’Fifty Shades of Grey’ was published as e-books through an Australian virtual publisher before James snagged a deal with Vintage Books. A cultural phenomenon, the worldwide bestseller even spawned a new genre known as ‘Mommy Porn,’" according to the complaint.
James owns Fifty Shades Ltd. but is not individually a party to the lawsuit. Fifty Shades Ltd. claims Smash Pictures boss Stuart Wall, made no bones about the source material for his porn film, telling L.A. Weekly that it is "’very true to the book.’" "By lifting exact dialogue, characters, events, story, and style from the Fifty Shades trilogy, Smash Pictures ensured that the first XXX adaptation was, in fact, as close as possible to the original works," the 31-page complaint states. "Beginning with the first XXX Adaptation’s opening scene and continuing throughout the next 2½ hours of the film, Smash Pictures copies without reservation from the unique expressive elements of the Fifty Shades trilogy, progressing through the events of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and into the second book, ‘Fifty Shades Darker.’ The first XXX adaptation is not a parody, and it does not comment on, criticize, or ridicule the originals. It is a rip-off, plain and simple."
Through its company Luv Moves, Smash released a DVD of the first porn movie along with sex toys in package called "Fifty Shades of Pleasure: Play Kit & Movie," and uses Fifty Shade’s trademarks to market its products, according to the complaint. Fifty Shades and Universal seek an injunction, actual damages and punitive damages for copyright infringement, false designation of origin, false advertising, trademark dilution, business law violations and unfair competition. The plaintiffs are represented in Federal Court by Andrew Thomas with Jenner & Block. Smash Pictures declined to comment.
I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before now.
I think in this case Smash got themselves in a little bit of trouble. This isn’t a PARODY it’s a XXX adaptation. That’s a huge problem.
The problem is, I think in the end it will open up the flood gates so to speak and screw a lot of others.
“The first XXX adaptation is not a parody, and it does not comment on, criticize, or ridicule the originals. It is a rip-off, plain and simple.”
adaptation = parody = ripoff, regardless… unless the parody at least changes the names a bit, i think… ‘splatman and rubbin’ verses ‘batman and robin’, ‘american-i-dull’ versus ‘not american idol xxx’, etc.
if only sasha grey was still doing porn, she could’ve starred in it, no problems
Adaptation doesn’t = parody. There is a major legal difference … which I suspect Smash Pictures is about to find out.
Did these guys vet the title with a lawyer? Of course Powers employed Thrust for a long time, so who knows.
The real question is whether the Studio was smart enough to purchase insurance coverage for intellectual property violations.
Yeah, but is something really a parody, using the same exact names, but just adding “not” and “xxx” to it? According to Aristotle the orginal meaning of parody means a slight re-wording of the original to make it look ridiculous.
It doesn’t matter whether they are in the right or not. Just defending a lawsuit could take out any porn studio. And if they lose, where are these schmoes going to come up wth $250M. Afterall, why go see the studio production when a porn studio has already done it.
I didn’t know you read Aristotle, Jeremy. What do you think of him? His guide for ethical reasoning really stands the test of time.
Aristotle was well known among medieval Muslim intellectuals and revered as المعلم الأول – “The First Teacher”.
Aristotle also once said “a friend to all is a friend to none” which applies to anyone with a huge number of facebook friends.
Aristotle advocated aristocracy, which used to mean rule by the best, not determined by wealth or lineage as it is today. There are some fundamental differences between him and his teacher, Plato (who spoke of Atlantis) who’s teacher was Socrates. Aristole’s student was Alexander the Great (who founded the great Library of Alexandria, it’s great wealth of occult/hidden history later destroyed), executed his cousin and killed nearby Princes.
Aristotle advocated that laws speak only in general terms, and cannot provide for circumstances; and that for any science to abide by written rules is absurd.
I had a HS English teacher who was hot for Aristotle. I kinda brushed her off at the time but as I have grown older I realize Aristotle is right about a lot of stuff. The Golden Mean is really a good aim to strive for. And although Spinoza helped save my life from deep depression I do believe he was wrong on his views of happiness. Sure, anyone could be “happy” if they change their state of mind (this helped me out of depression) but eudaimonia comes from virtue of character and achievement. Eudaimonia is real and cannot be dismissed because humans are social beings that seek and need the approval of others–as well as some justification for their existence.
Not to mention but like it or not Aristotelian ethics are a crucial part of Western society.
The Nicomachean Ethics is a really good read. The Ancients really knew their stuff. It’s amazing how the Bible and Classical texts carry over in significance to this day…
I think happiness is gained by virtue… helping others makes you happy, to give is to receive. I think that’s the point Aristotle makes, for an individual and a society.
Here, today , instead, as the documentary The Corporation demonstrates, corporations have “person” status and by their behavior, are sociopathic. Thus our society is rotten.
Speaking of the bible, I just got “The Companion Bible”, with lots of references and explanations of various interpretations.
One scientist claims the Old Testament is a testament of Atlantis, which again, is referred to by Aristotle’s teacher, Plato.
I agree. Aristotle would have criticized the economic perversion that is modern day capitalism–which is ironic because several militant capitalists claim to be Aristotelian.
Frankly, I believe economists have it backwards and, as Aristotle says, man is fundamentally a political animal and not necessarily a rational one.
Michael Sandel put out a great book this year “What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets”. I would like to read it because along with Charles Murray’s “Coming Apart” I think it describes the quintessential crisis in American society: the decline of the community. Something porn is partly responsible for, BTW…
Kelli, you are of course correct to state that there is a major legal difference between a parody and an adaptation: an adaptation not authorized by the copyright holder is a breach of copyright; a parody, however, may count as “fair use” under U.S. copyright law (or a “fair dealing” or some other exception to copyright under other another country’s copyright law). So yes, there is an important legal difference.
But Jeremy’s point would appear to be to question whether this is a *relevant* difference in the case of many (if not all) of the so-called porn “parodies”. Calling something a parody doesn’t make it so. Surely, the true test of a parody lies not in putting the word(s) “parody” or “not …” or “this ain’t …” etc in the title but in the nature of the work. If Smash had made exactly the same movie but called it “Fifty Shades of Grey: A XXX Parody” instead of “Fifty Shades of Grey: A XXX Adaptation” would that change anything? No. The question for a court is not whether the porn producer called it a parody as opposed to an adaptation but whether it *is* a parody as opposed to an adaptation (regardless of what the producer decided to call it). And just as it can be argued that Fifty Shades of Grey is an adaptation rather than a parody it can also be argued that many if not all of the so-called porn “parodies” are nothing of the sort but are simply unauthorized pornographic adaptations of copyrighted works — adaptations in respect of which the copyright holder hasn’t yet sued and may never sue (as is the copyright holder’s prerogative) for reasons best known to the copyright holder.
“50 shades of Sasha Grey” would’ve been ok… and paying her rate would’ve been cheaper then handling this lawsuit.
As Hershal Savage mention we’re the lowest paid celebrities in the world. The average porn scene = 15 minutes. Andy Warhol says everyone’s famous for 15 minutes and a porn star’s 15 minutes of fame pays a few hundred bucks. I think Aristotle would’ve definitely called it exploitation… and he thought more of the arts than Plato did, so maybe he would’ve called porn (some at least) art?
No, Aristotle was clear that promiscuity and prostitution were vices. He didn’t like women very much either so any avenue giving them professional status and a role outside of the home was anathema to him.
Not to mention that he would have disproved of the illusionary and self-indulgent nature of modern pornography. He also thought that sexual desire was a lower (more base) desire than intellectual curiosity ( as if the two are mutually exclusive).
Aristotle generally wouldn’t be thought of as an advanced thinker if he were teleported into modern times. He would be considered an extreme sexist, saying woman are “defective by nature”, that a woman’s role is in the home giving birth, that she is soulless without a penis and the semen (soul) it contains.
So, maybe if thrust into modern times he would view porn as art. Ancient greece had porn art all over the fucking place.
According to Plato, the soul is guided by two horses, a dark horse of passion and a white horse of reason. And Aristotle acknowledges passion and reason, as together, working together to determine what is a “good” object of desire.
Ultimately, Aristotle would maintain that the good life is the most pleasurable life, but the pleasure seeker’s life is not the good life because it is not balanced.
Aristotle and Jim Lane Powers in the same story and thread, something wrong about that.
I will never understand Jim Lane. In 1997, I was rush called with my psycho girlfriend Eden Rae around 8AM to do a b/g scene on a boat for him on a hot day up in Ventura County. Eden and I had barely gone to sleep following what was about a 7 hour non stop fuck fest. Before the scene I was in was a girl named Chandler and her b/f who’s last name was also Steele. He couldn’t get any wood whatsoever. Ok, my scene next, I’m up, my first scene for Jim ever (because I was misguided by others in the past to not work that cheap that when I asked for $400 over the phone after he called me once upon a time, he started stuttering). The boat is rocking a lot as we’re trying to fuck, it’s bright and hot as hell, my wood was up and down, no big deal, not my best scene but far from my worst and Jim starts yelling “Why can’t I have a real performer like Dave Hardman”. I’m thinking to myself “Hey, asshole. You fucking rush call me, no fucking sleep, last minute, non stop fuck fest, rocking boat, give me a break and a minute will ya?” And then he said I blocked the pop shot with my arm. Anyway, he literally would not stop talking about this ONE fucking scene for years… and years…. AND YEARS to every fucking person he ever met who brought up my name… who would all act strange with me after being nice at first… like I’m the worst performer ever… uh, did he forget there was a guy before us that had no wood whatsoever? I finally showed him an Adam World bio that called me the pillar the biz rests on, but I always hated working for him ever since. The next job was just dialogue, I was told it was 4 lines. It was actually 4 pages of fat dialogue only for Austin Prowler. I was not given the script till literally 4 minutes before the scene and Byron Long looking like Jimi Hendrix smoked me out and I was so high I couldn’t remember a fucking thing and they had to voice over my lines later, and of course Jim would talk about that and the boat scene for years and years and years and years and years and years. Then I finally got booked for a short guy tall girl video and I was so determined to fuck the shit out of that girl so he’d stop talking shit that after I did so, Jim’s eyes bugged out like he’s never seen any fucking like that before. So he says he’s gonna book me again in a couple of days. No call. I later find out Mr. Thrust told him I said to Thrust that I wasn’t available so Johnny could book himself in my place. I never said I wasn’t available and I just never liked working for him, but that doc I was in sure has a lot of funny shit in it, starring Mr. Powers. Too bad that inept, abusive asian asshole non producer can’t get it finished before the world ends!
Eden Rae? Wasn’t she the girl with quite a few tattoos? She did like 30-40 movies and disappeared.
I don’t think she did even that many. She had her husband’s last name tattooed up her inside forearm (half her arm) who at the time was locked up for attempted murder. She told me at the time she was single, which almost got me killed or worse when I was hanging out with her biker friends (and no, these weren’t people wearing “Sons of Anarchy” jackets… I mean a real MC). I heard she moved to Gary, Indiana, murder capital of the nation, go figure, and is still doing her psycho dominatrix work. Props out to the illustrious agent Regan Senter for introducing us.
and thx johstaat for your comment finally approved which I almost missed… which gets the point i made thats others missed
As far as what “parodies” are supposed to mean and are, here’s an excerpt from wikipedia (which btw, mention nothing of so-called ‘porn-parodies’)… notice how parodies are not just taking a name and adding “not” to it, but creating whole original titles and spoofs based on or inspired by the original:
Film parodies
Perhaps the earliest parody was the 1922 Mud and Sand, a Stan Laurel film that made fun of Rudolph Valentino’s film Blood and Sand. Laurel specialized in parodies in the mid-1920s, writing and acting in a number of them. Some were send-ups of popular films, such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—parodied in the comic Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1926). Others were spoofs of Broadway plays, such as No, No, Nanette (1925), parodied as Yes, Yes, Nanette (1925). In 1940 Charlie Chaplin created a satirical comedy about Adolf Hitler with the film The Great Dictator, following the first-ever Hollywood parody of the Nazis, the Three Stooges’ short subject You Nazty Spy!.
About 20 years later Mel Brooks started his career with a Hitler parody as well. After The Producers (1968), Brooks became one of the most famous film parodists and did spoofs on any kind of film genre. Blazing Saddles (1974) is a parody of western films and Spaceballs (1987) is a Star Wars spoof.
The British comedy group Monty Python is also famous for its parodies, for example, the King Arthur spoof Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974), and the Jesus satire Life of Brian (1979). In the 1980s there came another team of parodists including David Zucker, Jim Abrahams and Jerry Zucker. Their most popular films are the Airplane!, Hot Shots! and Naked Gun series. There is a 1989 film parody from Spain of the TV series The A-Team called El equipo Aahhgg directed by José Truchado.
More recently, parodies have taken on whole film genres at once. One of the first was the Scary Movie franchise. Other recent genre parodies include Not Another Teen Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, Disaster Movie, and Vampires Suck, all of which have been critically panned.
“Why can’t I have a real performer like Dave Hardman”. Now I liked Dave’s work and his haircuts, but you ever look close at the guy, he was fried in every damn scene, he looked like he needed a B12 shot and an Ice Bath. Thrust being Thrust, thanks Steele.
I should write a book. I’m sure it would sell better than Nick East’s “Orion Compass”.
Lol.. I now notice the banner here for 50 shades says “this is a parody”!