Industry Liabilities- Intellectual Property

It seems that every other day in the entertainment industry that there is some sort of headline regarding an intellectual property lawsuit. It makes me realize how important it is to protect yourself and your business from potential legal threats. It could be something completely unintentional, yet you are still responsible for it! After going through some of these articles, there are many that I find legitimate, and others that I find ridiculous. Regardless, it definitely has made me realize how easy it is to at least file a lawsuit and put another company in jeopardy.

The first article I would like to bring up is an intellectual property lawsuit that may have been years overdue. Here is the article relating to the story. Apparently Disney and Sony Pictures are on the receiving end of this lawsuit in regards to the movies and current running stage musical of Sister Act. Delois Blakely is on the other end of the lawsuit claiming that these companies used material from her autobiography to create the films and stage pieces of work. She also claims that she originally submitted potential synopses to a producer at Tri Star Picures and that they sounded interested, but ran with it without her permission. My thoughts?
1. If you are going to file a lawsuit like the one mentioned above, why not do it immeditaley when you feel that you have been infringed upon? Why wait almost 20 years? Is there a time limit on when you can file these claims or is it fair game at any point?
2. Fair enough if Delois Blakey is saying that Disney and Sony Pictures stole material from her autobiography, but what would happen had she not written the autobiography? Would she have any recourse if this was something that they just based her life story after?
3. What about in situations like the Amanda Knox case where Lifetime made film about the trial? They not only used her life to create a story, but they also may have falsified actual events. This was a story about her life that was made without her permission, with possible falsified information, and portrayed her in a negative light. What kind of recourse does she have if any in that situation?

The second lawsuit that I would like to bring up is one regarding Spiderman the musical. Here is the article. Julie Taymor who originally co-wrote the book and directed the show ended up being fired in March of 2011. She is claiming that the production owes her money in royalty fees from April of 2011 up until currently. She is also upset at the fact that the producers continue to change and revise her original script, which according to her contracts, had to be approved by her in order to do so. The producers have continued to use her name on the Playbills and promotional material but have discontinued paying her royalties. The producers don’t feel they have to pay her royalties, because the book and production value has significantly changed since Taymor’s departure from the production. My thoughts:
1. I think it's an extremely difficult situation when it comes to taking someone’s work and revising it. I think this is something that only the previous contract with Taymor and her co-writer will be able to settle. It makes it more difficult because of the fact that one fourth of the current script is still verbatim from Julie Taymor's original version. The fact that the show isn’t using the entirety of her original work makes it seem like a grey area.
2. I feel that if the producer’s are failing to pay Julie Taymore her royalty fees after she got fired from the production because of the fact that the show had changed significantly, then I feel like they shouldn’t be continuing to use her name on advertisements and promotional material.

The third lawsuit that I would like to bring up is in relation to a trademark. I honestly can’t believe that this is going to court, but it definitely has opened my eyes. Here is a small article. Reality star of Storage Wars, Dave Hester is suing rapper Trey Songz over his trademark phrase “ YUUUP”. Apparently Trey Songz has been using the phrase for years, but hadn’t trademarked it, whereas Dave Hester decided to officially trademark it as his own earlier this year. My thoughts:

1) Is it actually possible that although Trey Songz may have been using the phrase longer, that because he didn’t register it he could actually have to pay for these allegations? What about the protection of Common Law?
2) How is it actually possible to trademark a one word phrase as in “YUUUP”? I’m just baffled at the thought that he has actually clamed something like this and how he is actually protecting others from using it.