Lindsay Lohan Suing E-Trade Over Super Bowl Ad

I guess if nobody will pay you to work, you might as well try to make money the old fashioned way: Take 'em to court. Lindsay Lohan has filed an outrageous suit in the amount of $100 million against E-Trade for using her likeness without permission in its Super Bowl ad.

You remember the ad, right? The one where the new E-Trade baby is online chatting with his "girlfriend," who wonders why he didn't call the previous night. He explains that he was trading and she doesn't believe him, asking at one point if "that milkaholic Lindsay" had come over to his place. That - a reference to a milk addict named Lindsay - is somehow worth $100 million in Lohan's gin-soaked mind. Here's the breakdown: $50 million in exemplary damages, $50 million in compensatory damages, a demand that E-Trade stop running the offending ad, all because the company improperly invoked Lohan's "likeness, name, characterization, and personality," thus violating her right of privacy.

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Lawmaker Fighting "Nontraditional" Family Films

A Florida state representative has injected a controversial adendum to a pending measure that would otherwise mean a $75 million incentive package to persuade movie producers to shoot in the Sunshine State. These kinds of deals and tax breaks are all over the US now, but this one's different in one critical way.

Sounds great, right? Good deal for Florida, good deal for filmmakers. Here's the other shoe: The representative, Stephen Precourt, wants it mandated that the films taking the money can't promote "nontraditional family values." "Think of it as like Mayberry," Precourt told The Palm Beach Post. "That's when I grew up — the '60s. That's what life was like. I want Florida to be known for making those kinds of movies: Disney movies for kids and all that stuff. Like it used to be, you know?"

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'MacGyver' Creator May Sue Over 'MacGruber' Movie

I really don't think there's anything you can litigate here, but it's America, so you know someone will try. That someone is Lee Zlotoff, who created MacGyver, and he's considering a lawsuit to keep MacGruber out of theaters, according to Latino Review.

Two problems, as I see it. First, parody has long been upheld by the Supreme Court, even in instances that are clearly for profit. That's called Fair Use, and though it's not infallible, in this instance there's plenty of precedent. Secondly, if Zlotoff was really angry, he should have sued before now because the MacGruber character has been featured on Saturday Night Live for three years, even incorporating the original MacGyver, Richard Dean Anderson, at one point.

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Pixar Still Loves Lamp: Luxo, Jr. Lawsuit Dropped

A rare bit of bad press for Pixar emerged in September, when the company was sued by Norwegian lamp manufacturer Luxa AS for trademark infringement. Of course, the Pixar brand has used one of those desk lamps in its logo for about 20 years. John Lasseter's short film that inspired the familiar logo is called Luxo, Jr. So, really, Luxa AS had a claim then and probably should have said something before now. But the straw that broke the camel's back was when Pixar tried to package Luxo, Jr. lamps with limited edition Blu-ray editions of Up. Luxa claimed that giving the lamps away would cause"devastating damage to Luxo and dilute the goodwill which Luxo has built up." The Hollywood Reporter says that the two sides came to an amicable agreement, kind of a no harm-no foul situation. The lawsuit has been withdrawn, Luxa won't press the issue any further, and Pixar won't sell lamps anymore.

Lawsuit Against Chris Rock's 'Good Hair' Hits Setback

A couple weeks ago, we shared with you a story about Regina Kimbell, a documentary filmmaker who claimed that Chris Rock had infriged on her copyright when making his current documentary, Good Hair. Kimbell says in a lawsuit that she showed Rock footage from her similar non-fiction film, Nappy Roots: A Journey Through Black Hair-itage in 2007, but acknowledged that she knew Rock was already working on Good Hair at that time.

On Tuesday, Federal District Court Judge Dale Fischer denied Kimbell's injunction seeking to postpone or somehow block the further release of Rock's documentary, which did not surprise her attorney, Reginal Brown. The Hollywood Reporter quotes Brown as saying, "These motions are rarely granted. We still feel optimistic on our copyright claim and we're on track to proceed."

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