Jennifer Lopez has been ordered to submit to a deposition next month
regarding a copyright lawsuit brought last year over the short-lived
television series "South Beach," which J.Lo executive produced for UPN and
CBS Television.
In writer Jack Bunick's lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan,
J.Lo's "South Beach" that debuted in January 2006 was too similar to a plot
he described in 1999 for a pilot episode of a show that would have been
called "South Beach Miami."
In February, Lopez's lawyer Orin Snyder argued in court papers that J.Lo was
barely involved in the creation and development of "South Beach" – and that
she was brought in at a later stage only to "lend celebrity to the show."
The matter has set off a series of back and forth accusations between the
two legal parties. Snyder told Pitman he believed Bunick sued Lopez and
sought a deposition "for tactical reasons, in an apparent attempt to obtain
some perceived leverage by targeting and harassing a celebrity in a case
where she has no meaningful testimony to give and no legitimate reason for
being named as a defendant in the first place."
Sheldon Farber, a lawyer for Bunick, sent back with a letter to the court
stating Lopez was justified as a defendant. "Her celebrity is not a shield
for her to use to avoid direct testimony in a case in which she has not been
named frivolously," Farber wrote. "I am unaware that one of the perks of
fame is protection from legal process. She may be inconvenienced by an
appearance at a deposition. I can assure the court that I will not ask for
her autograph."
The lawsuit in Manhattan sought unspecified monetary damages and an
injunction barring further broadcasting of "South Beach," which has been
canceled. U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman has ordered Lopez to submit to
a deposition by June 11.