Gawker vs Eric Dane and his naked tape: Gawker wins, for now

On Monday, a court ruled in favor of Gawker's motion to strike "Grey's Anatomy" actor Eric Dane and wife Rebecca Gayhart's claims to recover statutory damages and attorney's fees in their case against the Internet site for posting a tape of them engaging in some naked antics with former beauty queen Kari Anne Peniche.

Team McSteamy is suing Gawker for over $1 million in damages, claiming copyright infringement.
Gawker is mounting a "fair use" argument because the video was posted for people to critique and comment on, plus they argue that the video wasn't copyrighted at the time it was posted. The registered copyright was done after the fact, by Dane's lawyers.

A big part of copyright law is arguing that you've infringed on the copyright owner's right to make money off of or sell the piece of material in question. Were Dane and Gayhart planning on making a profit from their (totally boring) tape? 

Frankly, we're surprised "copyright infringement" is what they're going after, as opposed to "right to publicity" (how a celebrity's likeness is used) or "invasion of privacy." We think they would have a much higher chance at success with those claims.

A status conference for the case has been set for Jan. 11, 2010.

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More Eric Dane/Rebecca Gayhart dish

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The McBoring sex tape from Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayhart
Kari Anne Peniche back in the news over sex tape

Photo credit: The infamous tape