Ashley Gasper is an adult movie actor who performs under
the stage name Jules Jordan, and is the president and sole shareholder of Jules Jordan Video (“JJV”), the creator of the
videos in which Gasper appears. He and his company sued
defendants 144942 Canada, Inc., d/b/a Kaytel Video Distribution
(“Kaytel”), Leisure Time Video Canada, Inc. (“Leisure
Time”), Alain Elmaleh, the principal shareholder of each of
the corporate defendants (collectively the “Kaytel defendants”),
Jacky’s One Stop and the other defendants named in
this consolidated appeal. Gasper alleged that the Kaytel
defendants had copied and sold thirteen copyrighted adult
DVDs owned by JJV or Gasper and featuring Gasper’s performances
(the “JJV action”). The complaint alleged claims
for copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement,
violation of unfair business practice, unfair competition
under California law, false and misleading advertising, and
violation of Gasper’s right of publicity. The claims for unfair
business practices and false advertising were dismissed prior
to trial, leaving only the claims for copyright infringement
based on the replication and distribution of the thirteen DVDs,
and the claim for violation of Gasper’s right of publicity
under California law.
After a lengthy and contentious trial, the jury returned a
verdict for plaintiffs on both issues. After the verdict the
court granted the Kaytel defendants’ motion for judgment as
a matter of law (“JMOL”) in part, concluding that neither
Gasper nor JJV had standing to assert the copyright claims,
and denied plaintiffs’ motion for JMOL. The court rejected
the Kaytel defendants’ claim that Gasper’s right of publicity
claim was preempted by copyright law. Both parties have
appealed. We disagree with the district court on both issues,
concluding that Gasper’s right of publicity claim is preempted
by the Copyright Act, but that Gasper and JJV had standing
to assert the copyright claims in question.
Download Jules Jordan Video, Inc. v. 144942 Canada Inc.