Copyright

After 18 years of dueling lawsuits, courtroom clashes and allegations of impropriety, Walt Disney Co. finally can close the storybook on its battle with the family that holds lucrative rights to Winnie the Pooh. On Friday, a federal judge ruled in favor of Disney by granting the company's motion to dismiss a copyright and trademark infringement claim brought by the family of Stephen Slesinger, who was a pioneer in the commercialization of cartoon characters. In 1930, Slesinger acquired the Pooh merchandising rights from British author A.A. Milne, who created the popular children's stories.

MGA Entertainment Inc.'s Bratz dolls, which were found to infringe Mattel Inc.'s copyrights, can be sold this year, a federal judge ruled, modifying a decision that could have resulted in an earlier ban. U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson in Riverside ruled Wednesday that retailers would be allowed to buy the spring and fall lines of the pouty, multiethnic dolls from MGA until Dec. 31, or from either Mattel or a court-appointed receiver if he awards them rights to the infringing Bratz products.

Almost 35 years have passed since a Ford Mustang named Eleanor tore up the streets of the South Bay in the cinematic crash-fest "Gone in 60 Seconds." The crudely crafted indie flick found a cult audience and inspired a 2000 big-budget sequel starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie and, of course, a vintage Mustang named Eleanor.

Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media company, must share control of the Superman copyright with the heirs of the comic hero's creator, Jerome Siegel, a federal judge has ruled. Siegel's widow, Joanne, and their daughter, Laura Larson, won back his half of the copyright to Superman material, under the order this week by U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson in Riverside.

Shortly before Christmas 2002, Ray Charles called a meeting of his 12 children at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport. Ten of them, ranging in age from 16 to 50 -- with 10 mothers among them -- listened as their father told them he was mortally ill and outlined what they could expect from his fortune. Most of Charles' assets would be left to his charitable foundation.

Bratz creator Carter Bryant testified Thursday that he drew up some plans for the dolls while he was working at Mattel Inc. as a designer of fashions, hairstyles and makeup for its Barbie line -- and that he used some Ken boots to put together a Bratz mock-up. The testimony at a copyright infringement trial in Riverside could bolster Mattel's claim that it owns a stake in Bratz, which are phenomenally popular with young girls. Bryant left Mattel for MGA Entertainment Inc.

Barbie vs. the Bratz sounds like a Saturday-morning cartoon show, but the bitter copyright infringement trial in federal court plays more like an episode of "CSI," complete with body parts. Doll body parts. As the trial over who owns the wildly successful Bratz powered through its third week in U.S.

The tiny, fake fur was flying as the Barbie-Bratz court battle wrapped up Thursday, with toy industry giant Mattel Inc. and upstart MGA Entertainment Inc. both claiming ownership of the hugely successful Bratz line of dolls. MGA, which seven years ago debuted the saucy Bratz doll, has maintained from the May 27 start of the trial that Mattel was trying to unfairly stomp out competition to its faltering Barbie empire.

Hasbro Inc. to Scrabulous: N-I-X-E-D, for a minimum of 13 points. The toy company scored big Tuesday in its legal match against the popular but unauthorized version of Scrabble that's played online by millions of Facebook members. The India-based creators of Scrabulous shut down the game to players in the U.S. and Canada, where Hasbro owns the rights to Scrabble, a week after Hasbro sued them, alleging copyright infringement.

NEW YORK -- A former presidential aide claims in a lawsuit filed this week that plot and marketing elements of the Kevin Costner and Kelsey Grammer movie "Swing Vote" were stolen from him. Political commentator Bradley Blakeman, a former deputy assistant to President Bush for appointments and scheduling, said in the lawsuit that he gave a copyrighted screenplay titled "Go November" to Grammer in 2006.