News: Michael Lucas Sued for “Dolce Vita” Title

BY VINCENT LAMBERT

New York City porn mogul Michael Lucas, CEO of Lucas Entertainment, has been sued in U.S. District Court by International Media Films, Inc., owners of the copyright to Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita, for the release of Lucas' latest big-budget epic, similarly titled Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita. The suit alleges trademark and copyright violations and seeks unspecified damages and to stop sales of the film, which was released in December with a splashy Manhattan premiere.

In an official statement released yesterday, Lucas said, "No one in their right mind could confuse my movie with the Fellini movie. My movie is clearly identified as Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita. Many movies share even identical titles and no one is confused. And the content of my film is very different—the plot, the theme, the artwork, the place, the time. It takes place in New York City in the year 2006. It has an all-gay cast, with the exception of Savanna Samson. My movie celebrates homosexuality. That's in contrast to Fellini's movie, where stereotypically feminine and vulgar gay characters appear for just a few seconds. Now how many times have we seen films, commercials and photographs that re-create the well-known fountain scene from Fellini's movie? It's what we call inspiration, and there’s nothing illegal about it.”

Michael Lucas' La Dolce Vita is nominated for 14 GAYVN Awards, which will be presented in San Francisco on February 24.