Comedian Sues Internet Start-Up

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Comedian Jamie Kennedy claims Yoostar Entertainment Group owes him $250,000 and stock rights for his work promoting Yoostar as the "next wave in social entertainment." Kennedy sued through his loan-out company, Harvardiana, in Superior Court.

Yoostar "purports to allow a user to 'star in' 'your favorite movies,'" by "'allow[ing] you to film yourself right into famous scenes, where you can perform with, or replace, the original actors,'" and post the clips on social networking sites, according to the complaint. (Brackets in complaint.)

Kennedy claims that "Yoostar understood and wanted to use to its advantage the celebrity and popularity of Kennedy, a well-known actor and comic, to promote its Yoostar System. ... Yoostar wanted Kennedy to participate in promotional activities for Yoostar, including helping to discover talent nationwide by lending his celebrity to bring attention to the Yoostar System, performing in a specified number of 'movie clips' in which Kennedy would appear in videos form existing films in the Yoostar library by utilizing the Yoostar system," according to the complaint.

Yoostar started selling its system in August 2009, according to the complaint.

Kennedy claims he and Yoostar entered an agreement on Aug. 7, 2009, under which he "agreed to make three personal appearances during each of the first two years of the term," while Yoostar agreed to pay Harvardania $500,000.

Kennedy says he also "agreed to appear in a minimum of twenty-five 'Original Clips' each year of the term," in exchange for which, "Yoostar agreed to pay $5,000 to HC for each Original Clip, plus 20 percent of the 'Wholesale Net Receipts.'"

Yoostar also gave him the right to purchase 404,040 shares of its stock "at a price set in the agreement," Kennedy says.

Kennedy claims Yoostar owes him at least $250,000, and the right to purchase 202,020 shares. He is represented by Gregory Bodell with Kozberg & Bodell.

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