Michael Lucas has prevailed in the first stage of a lawsuit brought against his Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita, a gay XXX movie, by International Media Films, which claims copyright ownership of the 1960 Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita.
The lawsuit, claiming trademark infringement, tarnishment, and copyright infringement, was filed in February 2007, only weeks before Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita swept the GAYVN Awards winning 14 trophies.
A request by IMF for a preliminary injunction halting sales and distribution of Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita was filed on March 15. IMF claimed that Lucas' movie caused irreparable harm to its product.
In a hearing held on Friday, April 27, Judge John G. Koeltl denied IMF's request, citing the five month lag time between IMF's learning about the Lucas movie (October 2006) and its requesting the preliminary injunction. Judge Koeltl said, in part, "The Court concludes that the plaintiff's delay seeking preliminary injunctive relief rebuts any presumption of irreparable harm to which the plaintiff is otherwise entitled."
Judge Koeltl's decision does not end the original lawsuit, which is now scheduled for the fall.
In an email blast on Friday, May 4, Michael Lucas announced this first victory in the case and said, "What many failed to recognize was that this was nothing more than a homophobic, porn-hating move from the plaintiff. How could anyone possibly confuse the two films with each other? And how could my movie tarnish the reputation of an old, black-and-white movie from the '60s that has a name most Americans can't even pronounce correctly?
"The judge denied the injunction, so, yes, we will continue distributing, selling, and promoting the film."
