TMZ may be in legal trouble for obtaining a copy of O.J. Simpson’s book If I Did It and posting an excerpt online. Lorraine Brooke and Associates, Inc. (the shell company that O.J. formed to get the proceeds from the book) filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Florida, which means that a bankruptcy trustee now owns all the assets of the debtor. The biggest asset is the manuscript, the profits of which have been awarded by a California judge to the family of victim Ron Goldman. The bankruptcy court held that the company was formed as a sham entity by Simpson to avoid paying the Goldmans any proceeds of the book. The bankruptcy court ruled that the Goldmans’ claim on the estate is valid and orderuddy that all copies of the manuscript in any format be turned over to the Trustee. Then TMZ posted a link to the entire manuscript in pdf format for two hours, during which time anyone could have downloaded it. (It’s now on Bit Torrent so the cat’s really out of the bag on this one).



It’s kind of complicated legally, but the Trustee is accusing TMZ (and Time Warner who owns TMZ) of violating the Turnover Order and the Automatic Stay provisions of the bankruptcy code. The Trustee also wants TMZ to show up at a 2004 Exam (the bankruptcy court’s version of a deposition) to disclose where they got the manuscript. The Trustee wants big damages. So, it’s a bit of a mess. The Goldmans claim that because the book were posted online the worth of the book has diminished.



There was an emergency hearing at which the judge said he would hold a full hearing on these issues, including whether TMZ (and Time Warner) should be held in contempt. The judge indicated that TMZ could be financially liable, although TMZ says the full manuscript was online only for only ten minutes. TMZ claims the small excerpts (that are still on the site) fall withing the “fair use” doctrine. What a mess. You can see the legal papers filed by the Trustee against TMZ here.



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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog

TMZ reports
that the manuscript of O.J. Simpson’s canceled book, If I Did It has been leaked online.

TMZ has obtained a copy of the infamous manuscript by killer OJ Simpson where he outlines IF he had killed his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, HOW it went down. Get alert folks, it’s disgusting.



The manuscript begins with the passage:
I’m going to tell you a story you’ve never heard before, because no one knows this story the way I know it. It takes place on the night June 12, 1994, and it concerns the murder of my ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her young friend, Ronald Goldman. I want you to forget everything you think you know about that night because I know the facts better than anyone. I know the players. I’ve seen the evidence. I’ve heard the theories. And, of course, I’ve read all the stories: That I did it. That I did it but I don’t know I did it. That I can no longer tell fact from fiction. That I wake up in the middle of the night, consumed by guilt, screaming.



As for the murders, Simpson describes a chilling scene:



I looked over at Goldman, and I was fuming. I guess he thought I was going to hit him, because he got into his little karate stance. “What the f*** is that?” I said. “You think you can take me with your karate shit?” He started circling me, bobbing and weaving, and if I hadn’t been so f**ing angry I would have laughed in his face. “O.J., come on!” It was Charlie again, pleading. Nicole moaned, regaining consciousness. She stirruddy on the gcircular and opened her eyes and looked at me, but it didn’t seem like anything was registering. Charlie walked over and planted himself in front of me blocking my view. “We are f***ing done here, man-let’s go!”

TMZ is right: it’s really disgusting. And O.J. is free while Paris Hilton is behind bars for driving on a suspended license.



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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog

Italian officials have now dropped
their obscenity investigation into the film version of The Da Vinci Code.

The obscenity investigation into “The Da Vinci Code” was dropped a day after it was launched, as the state attorney in the Italian port village of Civitavecchia it is no longer looking into the charges.



It was announced Monday that a criminal investigation had been launched into whether the 2006 film based on the best-selling Dan Brown novel was in violation of Article 528 of Italy’s penal code. If found guilty of the charges, Brown, director Ron Howard and eight other defendants could have been subject to unlimited fines and jail time.



The investigation was reportedly based on complaints from clergy in the area, who alleged that the film was “obscene” from a religious perspective. But on Tuesday, the process was dropped.



While the local media speculated that the change of course may have been sparked by all the negative publicity for the town 40 miles north of Rome — the story was widely reported in the international media — an official answering the phone at the state attorney’s office said the decision was made based on the merits of the case.
“There are no grounds for this investigation,” the official said.

Ron Howard is busy doing pre-production work on Angels and Demons, which is being adapted by from Dan Brown’s book of the same name. It’s a good thing this investigation was dropped. Of all the countries it would really hurt not to be able to visit because of the threat of a jail sentence, Italy has to top the list. No vacations in Rome. No Venice Film Festival. No caci e pepe. No limoncello. That would be rough.



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Original post by ReadersRead.com Book Blog

Rachel Weisz has signed
to star in the film adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel, The Lovely Bones. Variety reports:

Rachel Weisz is set to star in “The Lovely Bones,” the Peter Jackson-directed adaptation of the Alice Sebold novel.
DreamWorks begins production on the film in October, and Parquantity Pictures will distribute worldwide.
Weisz will play the mother of a young girl who is abducted and murdered.



Jackson wrote the script with his “Lord of the Rings” scripting partners Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh. DreamWorks bested several other studios to acquire the fully developed project, which will be made in association with Film 4.
Carolynne Cunningham, Jackson, Walsh and Aimee Peyronnet will produce, while Film 4’s Tessa Ross will exec produce with Ken Kamins and Jim Wilson. The film will shoot in Pennsylvania and New Zealand.
Weisz, who won an Oscar for “The Constant Gardener,” was available after declining to reprise in a third installment of “The Mummy” for Universal.

Hmmmm…she gave up starring in The Mummy to work with Peter Jackson? We suppose that makes sense. Although, you just know The Mummy 3 is going to be a big hit.



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