TMZ is being sued for broadcasting allegedly stolen and confidential footage of an interview with Debbie Rowe soon after her ex-husband, Michael Jackson, died last June.
The details of the lawsuit filed Monday in California District Court by F. Marc Schaffel Productions raise interesting questions about TMZ's news operation, copyright issues, and the boundaries between an entertainment clip and a fair-use news product.
In the complaint, the plaintiff claims to be the owner of a 2003 filmed interview with Debbie Rowe. Some portions of the interview were aired in 2003, but others were held back as private and confidential, subject to a joint consent agreement between the interviewer and interviewee.
But last July, TMZ broadcast those confidential outtakes that included a conversation where Rowe talks about giving sedatives to Jackson.
Read more in the Hollywood Reporter.
