Issue No. 001
May 8, 2026
New York
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The IP Briefing · by ESCA Legal
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| Actor Q’orianka Kilcher filed a federal lawsuit in California against James Cameron and The Walt Disney Co., alleging Cameron used her facial features as the basis for Neytiri in the Avatar films without permission, credit, or compensation. The complaint says a photograph of Kilcher as a teenager was used as a design foundation for the character and later appeared across films, posters, and merchandise. |
| § | The complaint was filed Tuesday in California federal court. | | § | Kilcher alleges Cameron extracted facial features from a photograph of her portraying Pocahontas in The New World when she was 14. | | § | The lawsuit says the design process carried those features into production sketches, maquettes, digital models, film imagery, posters, and merchandise. | | § | Kilcher seeks compensatory and punitive damages, profits tied to the alleged likeness use, injunctive relief, and corrective public disclosure. |
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| Continue reading → |
| § ESCA Takeaway |
| Entertainment assets keep turning into IP flashpoints: a face, a horror mask, a student video, and a song can each carry commercial value well beyond the original creative moment. |
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| More IP Stories |
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| § Copyright · Closed |
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| Paramount Skydance and Spyglass Media Group resolved their California federal court dispute with special-effects studio Alterian over rights to the Ghostface mask from the Scream franchise. The parties told the court they had settled and would dismiss their competing lawsuits. |
| § | The settlement notice was filed Wednesday in the Central District of California. | | § | Paramount and Spyglass sued Alterian in February, arguing the studio waited too long to assert claims and that the mask had been properly licensed from Fun World. | | § | Alterian countersued Paramount, Spyglass, and Fun World for copyright infringement over continued use of the mask. | | § | The public filing did not disclose settlement terms. |
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Why it matters
Few horror assets are as instantly recognizable as the Ghostface mask. The settlement shows how a single prop design can become a long-lived licensing asset across sequels, merchandise, and studio dealmaking.
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| § Right of Publicity · Filed |
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| University of Tennessee student Kaelyn Lunglhofer sued the companies behind the Meete app, alleging they took a TikTok video from her account, repurposed it into a dating app advertisement, and geotargeted the ad to men near her campus and dormitory without her consent. |
| § | The complaint was filed April 28 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. | | § | Lunglhofer alleges the ad placed her video under graphics and voiceover suggesting she was promoting casual encounters through the app. | | § | The lawsuit brings Lanham Act, Tennessee ELVIS Act, defamation, and right-of-publicity claims. | | § | The defendants include Quantum Communications Development Unlimited, Starpool Data Limited, and Guangzhou Yuedong Interconnection Technology. |
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Why it matters
Creator identity is now ad inventory for platforms and apps. This case frames unauthorized use of a short social video as a brand, reputation, and publicity-rights problem, especially when geotargeting makes the ad local and personal.
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| § Copyright · Closed |
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| ABKCO Music & Records reached a settlement with Behr Paint in a copyright lawsuit over Behr’s use of The Rolling Stones song Paint It Black in a social media advertisement for paint products. A joint notice of settlement says the parties finalized a written agreement and plan to dismiss the case. |
| § | The copyright suit was filed in November and challenged the use of the 1966 song in an advertisement. | | § | ABKCO alleged Behr used the recording without paying a license fee. | | § | The joint notice of settlement was filed Monday in California court. | | § | Settlement terms were not disclosed. |
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Why it matters
Music in social ads can feel casual, but synchronization and master-use rights are still commercial licensing rights. A paint brand using Paint It Black is memorable marketing, and that is exactly why clearance matters.
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This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Published by ESCA Legal. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney advertising; prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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