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The Hangover II is Under Lawsuits

Hang Over II The Hangover, what a great movie, certainly not a family movie as it has been criticized it for its vulgarity elements. The first part, released on June 5, 2009, had successful business of US$467 million worldwide and the second part, May 26, 2011, has made record business of US$580 million worldwide.

The film won Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture. It was produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. The Warner Bros company did not enjoyed the success as much they should, as the movie has been sued, more than twice, claiming for copyright violation.

Though the first part of the movie got through any legal trial successfully, but the second part seems to be unlucky, as both the legal claims are against second part. The first case was filed by a tattoo artist S.Victor Whitmill, who created Mike Tyson’s facial tattoo. He tried to halt the movie’s debut and cash a huge settlement payment by claiming that he has copyrights of Mick Tyson’s tattoo that Ed Helms advertised in the movie. The court decided to allow the release of the film and scheduled a trial alongside till final verdict.

Mike Tyson Tattoo Now, couple of months later, French luxury label Louis Vuitton also has filed a case against Warner Bros, in US District Court, in New York for using a fake Louis Vuitton’s bag in the movie. The fake bag was made by a company called Diophy which is also being sued for trademark infringement. This second stroke has come hard.

Warner bros are being sued by Louis Vuitton for using its trademark in the movie without permission, showing a fake bag with their name and misleading the public about the source of the Diophy’s bag, so undermining the labels efforts against counterfeit products. The Louis Vuitton is requesting recall of all copies of the film containing the marks / symbols, when Zach Galifianakis (stared as Alan Garner) said, “careful, that is a Louis Vuitton”.

There is third story of objection also going along. Recent reports suggest that The Hangover 2 illegally copied a script that aspiring screen writer Michael Alan Rubin wrote about his personal experiences in Asia, and now the writer is planning to sue Warner Bros company and the filmmakers. According to a report:

After the writer’s marriage to a Japanese woman fell apart during their honeymoon period in 2008, Michael Alan Rubin wrote a script and turned it into a screenplay titled Mickey and Kirin. Rubin is suing under the pretence of copyright infringement, defamation, fraud, and other charges.

The details of the suit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles are as follows; Rubin stated that The Hangover 2 is copied from the treatment, and also from the real life incident, because the protagonist in Hangover 2 travels from the United States to an Asian country to marry his Asian girlfriend.

In addition to this third claims against Warner Bros company and the team, the lawsuit also blames his ex-wife, Tamayo Otsuki, for providing the filmmakers his story. Michael Rubin felt that they are defaming him with the franchise’s portrayal of Ed Helms’ character who married a prostitute in Vegas while under the influence of drugs and had sex with a transsexual prostitute (depicted in first part of the movie).

Furthermore, Ed Helms’ stuntman, Scott McLean, has also filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. for brain injuries sustained during one of the film’s automobile crash scene. Unlike the previous lawsuit, this one is still pending.

Oh boy, so much troubles going on with this movie. According to US law it is legal to use anybody’s trade mark for general promotion, advertisement or make fun of it unless you are not making money out of it. This requires consent of the original copyright owner. Perhaps The Warner Bros Company needs to proof that, they are not using these brands / copyrights specifically for promotion of their film, or otherwise they will have to share a huge sum of their profits with these claimers.

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Category: Entertainment

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