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27.04.2006 Calvin Ayre, the CEO of Bodog may have dismissed the Blue Moon Entertainment litigation with contempt and threats, but the TV doccie company showed this week that it meant business by adding Fox Sports to the list of defendants in its plagiarism action against the gambling group (see earlier InfoPowa reports) In an amended statement filed this week in a Los Angeles County courthouse, Babette Pepaj, a documentary-maker doing business as BlueMoon Entertainment, clarified and increased by one count of action her complaint against Bodog Entertainment Group, Calvin Ayre, Fox Sports Net, Inc. and other entities.
The case arises from claims by Blue Moon that Ayre's new TV reality show Wild Card Poker is a rip-off of an earlier "Poker Showdown" concept that Blue Moon came up with - allegedly at Bodog's request.
Last week Bodog boss-man Calvin Ayre claimed the case had been thrown out, and said that Bodog.com was not through fighting it just yet. "We are actually not through with them (BlueMoon) yet," Ayre insisted. "I am going to make an example of these people to show what happens when you frivolously sue me."
Ayre explained that Bodog.com asked BlueMoon to submit a proposal for a television reality show just over a year ago, requesting the parameters involve poker and have Calvin Ayre appear in it. "Those are the only two similarities," Ayre insists.
The first episode of Bodog's show, which is hosted by Ayre himself appeared on Fox Sports TV last week. Attempts by BlueMoon to stop the show airing failed when a judge turned down an application for an injunction suspending the screening.
"Wild Card Poker" is a six-episode reality series about a $500 000 poker tournament, intercut with Costa Rican lifestyle elements and the activities of Bodog's billionaire founder and top man, Calvin Ayre.
Media reports on the latest developments suggest that [Blue Moon] Pepaj's lawyers have cleverly worked a comparative table into the amended version of the complaint. This allows the media to report specifically on the nature of the complaint and the similarities in concept.
Clearly the case has not "gone away" and more fireworks can be expected as lawyers on both sides carry the battle to the media as well as the courtroom.
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