La Dolce Vita copyright owners sue gay porn

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Precious Doll
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Post by Precious Doll »

Best title of an X rated feature based on a the title name of a mainstream film must be 'Driving Miss Daisy Crazy'.
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Akash
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Post by Akash »

Eric wrote:C'mon. What other gay porn stars are "performing" live sex shows for Israeli troops these days?
Israeli porn is hot.
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flipp525 wrote:Did a Bareback Mountain ever come out?
There was a "Bareback Mounting."
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Penelope wrote:Besides, whatever happened to the grand tradition of slightly altering titles for porn purposes, like From Hair to Eternity or Bitanic...?
Did a Bareback Mountain ever come out?
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Post by kaytodd »

I am inclined to side with the porn guys on this one. If the film title on the box is "Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita" I do not see how anyone can confuse it with Fellini's film. And can you really copyright a generic expression like "The Sweet Life" in any language?
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Eric
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Post by Eric »

C'mon. What other gay porn stars are "performing" live sex shows for Israeli troops these days?
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Post by Penelope »

Personally, I hope they take Michael Lucas to the cleaners; he's an arrogant prick and his porn flicks are unbelievably dull. Besides, whatever happened to the grand tradition of slightly altering titles for porn purposes, like From Hair to Eternity or Bitanic...?


NYC film company claims gay porn infringes on film classic 'La Dolce Vita'

The Associated Press
Thursday, February 15, 2007
NEW YORK
The good name and dignity of the classic 1960s film "La Dolce Vita," directed by Federico Fellini, is being sullied by two gay pornographic movies using the same name, a lawsuit claims.

International Media Films Inc. accused Manhattan filmmaker Andrei Treivas Bregman of trademark and copyright infringement for the porn films he made under his business name, Michael Lucas. The lawsuit filed Thursdsay seeks to stop sales of the porn movies, "Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita" Parts 1 and 2, and to collect unspecified damages.

Bregman, who moved to the United States from Moscow in 1997, called the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan a joke.

"This lawsuit is completely out of line," he said. "I think they're making fools of themselves. I don't think Fellini would like that."

The Manhattan-based International Media Films said it believed the pornographic films, released last month, will continue to "infringe, tarnish and dilute" its trademark rights to the highly decorated "La Dolce Vita," which won the Golden Palm at Cannes in 1961, and features the classic scene of Anita Ekberg frolicking in Rome's Trevi fountain .

International Media Films said it bought "La Dolce Vita" for its library of classic titles in 2001, treasuring a movie that introduced the term "paparazzi." The film follows the life of a tabloid journalist who covers the glitzy show business life of Rome while yearning to write about more serious subjects.

It said Bregman's use of the title of its movie was likely to cause confusion among consumers. Bregman contested the claim.

"Nobody can be confused and think they're buying Fellini's movie by buying mine," he said, noting the name Michael Lucas was part of his title and that the movie can be bought online and at stores that sell pornography.

"It's a sex flick," he said. "This movie's taking place in New York today and has absolutely nothing to do with Fellini's, produced in 1960 in Rome," he said.

Bregman dismissed the lawsuit's claims that he tried to copy scenes from the classic movie in his own, saying he hired for his films people who are "known for their ability to have sex in front of the camera."

"I'm not hiring them for their ability to act," he said, "that's for sure."
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