Jake Paul’s gambling app Betr has fired back at HBO after the cabler sent a cease-and-desist letter over an ad reuniting “Entourage” stars Jeremy Piven and Adrian Grenier.
\n\nIn the letter, HBO threatened legal action if the commercial was not taken down, arguing that the three-minute spot infringes on its intellectual property and was made without its consent. “Everything about the Infringing Advertisement, from its setting, to the actors’ clothing, dialogue, and manner of speech, is evocative, if not duplicative, of ‘Entourage,'” read the letter, which claims Betr intended to “evoke ‘Entourage’ and to exploit the show’s popularity” for its own commercial purposes.
\n\nIn response to the cease and desist, Betr issued a statement to Variety that cites previous copyright-infringement lawsuits filed against HBO in relation to “Ballers” and “Six Feet Under,” both of which HBO won.
\n\n“HBO owns ‘Entourage.’ It does not own Jeremy Piven and Adrian Grenier. When HBO was sued over ‘Ballers’ and ‘Six Feet Under,’ it told the courts that Miami parties, celebrity lifestyles, and fast-talking characters belong to everyone. It won that argument. Now that it is the one complaining, those same elements have become HBO’s sole and exclusive property. HBO cannot have it both…
Original source: https://variety.com/v/tv/