-KidzVid Entertainment is an animation production and distribution company working with family films and direct-to-video children's products. Its newest releases include the “Delaura's Tales” collection, voiced by Dr. Laura Schlessinger and “The New Mother Goose” with Kathie Lee Gifford.

-Peer Oppenheimer (producer of “Blue Car” which was a sensation at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival where it was picked up by Miramax). Peer is working on a number of feature film projects with production slated to start in early 2004.

-Kaye & Mills has recently formed a relationship with Gung-Ho Films, the only Western-run production services company in China. Michael McDermott, who manages the studio, has 17 years of experience in the entertainment business, first in Los Angeles, then New York and finally in China. Gung-Ho has worked on numerous co-productions with crews and companies from America, Australia, New Zealand, Korea and Japan. Among their projects are “China: The Panda Adventure” for IMAX, one of the most complex Western film productions ever made in China; the first US-China feature film co-production entitled “Restless” and Zhang Yimou's “Not One Less,” which won the Gold Lion Award at the 1999 Venice International Film Festival. If Gung-Ho Films can be of assistance to your project, contact Kevin Mills.

-Greg Hatanaka completed principal photography on the feature film “Until the Night” starring Norman Reedus, Kathleen Robertson, Missy Crider and Sean Young. The film is written and directed by Greg Hatanaka and produced by Taka Arai. Kaye & Mills is production counsel.

-Ted Smith was hired by Mark Burnett Productions as a producer of the new reality series for the NBC network “The Apprentice,” which features legendary business tycoon Donald Trump as master of a competitive search for new executive talent.

-Kaye & Mills secured a licensing agreement for ten titles for Peggy Webber and the California Artists Radio Theatre with Oasis Audio, a division of Domain Communications.

-The Rafu Shimpo, the leading newspaper serving the Japanese community in Los Angeles is celebrating its 100 year anniversary and has planned a year long series of events to mark the occasion. The Rafu Shimpo publishes its daily newspaper in both English and Japanese.

-Jessica Kaye (a partner in Kaye & Mills) is creator of and co-editing a short story anthology to be published by Bloomsbury USA. All of the stories in the book are inspired by the Bruce Springsteen song “Meeting Across the River” from the Born to Run album. Authors include: Eric Garcia, Gregg Hurwitz, Paul Charles and Aimee Liu, plus more.

Having a lawyer involved in the early stages of every project can prevent enormous problems later. Take the example of Taco Bell and their advertising campaign featuring a talking Chihuahua dog. A federal court has just awarded nearly $42 million to two Michigan men who accused Taco Bell of stealing their idea for that campaign.

Thomas Rinks and Joseph Shields established a marketing company, Wrench, LLC, in 1995. Early on, Wrench created a cartoon character called "Psycho Chihuahua" to put on T-shirts. They soon licensed the character to other companies, for use on products such as calendars and school notebooks.

Taco Bell approached Wrench at a licensing show in 1996 and indicated they were looking for a mascot to anchor a new advertising campaign. Rinks and Shields were invited to meet with Taco Bell to discuss and refine the concept and sketch out storyboards. The restaurant chain then broke off the talks and went on to use the Chihuahua character without paying Wrench and without licensing the right to use the little canine character. The campaign became wildly popular and Taco Bell took advantage by licensing toys, T-shirts and other products featuring the poached pup.

Taco Bell said it decided to use a talking dog in commercials only after contracting with the advertising firm of Chiat-Day, which proposed it independently. Taco Bell has indicated that it plans to appeal the judgment.

Obtaining rights to the underlying intellectual property is especially important in the entertainment industry. But it is important in many other business applications as well. Kaye & Mills has the knowledge and experience to help guide companies through the entire development, production and distribution process and to prevent the types of problems that Taco Bell now faces.

This discussion is provided on the condition that it cannot be referred to or quoted in any legal proceeding; if this condition is unacceptable to you, immediately delete or destroy this communication and do not keep a copy of it in any form. The reader or recipient is strongly urged to consult with a lawyer for legal advice on these matters. Any reliance on the discussion information by one who has not entered into a written retainer agreement with the lawyer providing the discussion information is at the reader's or recipient's own risk.