Copyright claim on "Face The Ace" thrown out

03/10/2010

The legal action filed against the NBC by Vegas casino security officer Brandon McSmith, who claimed that his poker show concept was used in the television show "Face the Ace", has been dismissed by the Eighth District Court in Nevada.

Judge Michelle Leavitt dismissed the case on the basis that it didn't state a claim, and the possibility of an appeal is still open, according to the plaintiff.

If McSmith does launch an appeal, he may have an unlikely ally in the shape of US government enforcement officials, and their interest in the US activities of Full Tilt Poker, a major provider of online poker action which sponsored the NBC show "Face the Ace" and let its pro players take part.

McSmith claims he approached Arlo Devlin-Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York last week. The name Devlin-Brown jumped into the headlines last year (see previous InfoPowa reports) when he was involved in the seizure $30 million in online poker funds, an enforcement action that delayed payments to online players in the States whilst alternative arrangements were made by offshore companies to pay them.

McSmith revealed that he had sent a package to an FBI Special Agent containing hard copies of e-mails and other correspondence related to his claims to “Face the Ace.” The agent then apparently asked him why the copyright litigation had not been filed in a federal court to start with, a route that McSmith says he may now take.

"Face the Ace" squared off against some formidable television competition in its first season and delivered a mediocre performance in terms of viewership ratings. Its future is uncertain, as a second season has not been commissioned so far.