Her failure to identify herself in the complaint without first seeking the court’s permission violated court rules, they said, and although they believe they know who she is, they’re not entirely sure. Furthermore, they argued, when customers subscribe to IMDb Pro, they agree to a privacy policy which makes clear that the database can keep and use certain personal information.

The company, along with its Internet Movie Database, asked a federal judge last week to dismiss the million-dollar complaint brought by the woman, who identified herself only as Jane Doe, a Texas resident of Asian descent.

She argued that she never consented to having the personal information she provided used for anything but the commercial transaction. IMDb refused to remove the reference to the woman’s age from her profile when asked, the lawsuit said.

“Plaintiff’s attempt to manipulate the federal court system so she can censor IMDb.com’s display of her birthdate and pretend to the world that she is not 40 years old is selfish, contrary to the public interest and a frivolous abuse of this court’s resources,” they wrote.

“Even if IMDb.com used plaintiff’s name, address or zip code from her credit card subscription to locate her birthdate, such use is consistent with the subscriber agreement and privacy policy,” they wrote.

The case prompted discussions about ageism in Hollywood as well as rampant online speculation about who the actress might be. But in its two motions to dismiss the case, Amazon and IMDb argued that it’s about something else: “the perpetration of fraud.”

The actress is seeking $1 million or more in punitive damages as well as $75,000 or more in compensatory damages. She accuses Amazon and IMDb of breach of contract, fraud and violation of privacy and consumer protection laws.

The woman claimed that soon after she signed up for a subscription service called IMDb Pro, her birthdate appeared on her profile on the database and her offers for roles dropped sharply. She alleged that Amazon and IMDb had used her credit card information to glean her birthdate, which she had always tried to keep a secret because she looks so much younger than she is.

IMDb agreed that it had refused to remove her birthdate and noted in asking the judge to dismiss the case that the actress had also requested that the company falsify her age on the website.

SEATTLE Frivolous and selfish is how lawyers for Amazon.com describe a lawsuit brought by an actress upset that her advanced age 40 was revealed on an Internet database.

The actress claimed that she had always been careful about keeping her given name and birthdate confidential. As an unknown, she used an Americanized stage name in 2003 when she first listed herself on imdb.com, a listing which she said brought her several jobs, and her real name was not publicly known, she said.

“If one is perceived to be `over-the-hill,’ i.e., approaching 40, it is nearly impossible for an up-and-coming actress, such as the plaintiff, to get work as she is thought to have less of an `upside,’” her claim said.

NEW YORK After seven years with a no-host format, the Grammys will have an emcee LL Cool J.

The Grammy-winning rapper and actor says the Feb. 12 broadcast is “gonna be a great night” and says his hosting duties are a dream come true.

The Recording Academy has already named some performers the Foo Fighters, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Jason Aldean.

While it will be LL Cool J’s first time hosting the Grammys. He has hosted the live Grammy nominations concert since it began in 2008.

The Grammys will be broadcast on CBS from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The rap legend is a star on the network’s “NCIS: Los Angeles.”

The Recording Academy seems to have a thing for rappers-turned-actors. The last host of the Grammys was Queen Latifah.

___

Online:

http://www.grammy.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) Stocks have strayed from their recent link to euro moves, and the start of U.S. corporate earnings next week could help shift investor focus back to U.S. fundamentals from Europe.

Stocks have traded in line with the euro over the autumn, with both experiencing sharp swings on headlines from the euro zone.

That trend may be changing, and it comes just as investors get their first glimpse at fourth-quarter U.S. earnings.

Aluminum company Alcoa (AA.N) is expected to report Monday after the closing bell, unofficially starting the reporting period for U.S. corporations. JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) is due to report on Friday, but the bulk of Standard & Poor’s 500 (.SPX) earnings will come in the weeks ahead.

“I think this month we’re probably going to break away and see the pattern of U.S. market trade on U.S. fundamentals rather than in reaction to the euro movement,” said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist, D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

“I think we’re in a time-out period for that (dollar) carry trade, and it will stay a time out for a while.”

The correlation between S&P 500 E-mini futures and the euro, which moved in near lockstep in the fall, has receded. A 22-day moving average of the correlation shows almost no relation between the movements of the two assets.

While the corporate results will be searched for evidence of the European crisis’ impact on overseas sales, they should also bring back more of a focus on what’s happening in the United States, where the economy has been northward bound.

Friday’s U.S. jobs reports was the latest data to suggest the recovery is gathering momentum, with non-farm payrolls rising in December and the jobless rate dropping to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent.

S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings are expected to have risen 7.8 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data. But that number is down from a July 1 forecast for growth of 17.6 percent in the quarter.

“We’re going to need good, strong positive news on earnings to lift all three of the market averages out of their trading ranges,” Dickson said. “They’re bumping into some overhead resistance, and it’s going to take fundamental news to do it.”

The S&P 500 ended virtually unchanged for 2011, even though most strategists had expected gains for the year.

The index has been unable to pierce through 1,285, the closing high set in late October.

Stocks ended with gains for the first trading week of the year, as the mostly upbeat U.S. economic data offset lingering worries about the euro zone. The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 1.2 percent for the week, the Standard & Poor’s 500 (.SPX) was up 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq (.IXIC) was up 2.7 percent.

Next week’s economic calendar includes data on U.S. retail sales and consumer sentiment.

Even with a focus on earnings, investors will be watching Italian and Spanish government bond sales next week.

Both are seen as the year’s first big funding tests for struggling euro zone countries. Italy is to pay out 100 billion euros in bond coupons and redemptions in the first four months of 2012.

“Ultimately, the market is still progressing towards a test of the (European Central Bank’s) reluctance to be a lender of last resort. I don’t know that the test will get that far, but I think it will,” said David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Boston,wholesale Ed hardy underwear, where he helps oversee $571 billion in assets under management.

On the earnings front, while all 10 S&P 500 sectors have seen profit estimates cut since July, materials and financials have been the hardest hit. Based on a July forecast, the financial sector was expected to show year-over-year growth of 36.6 percent in the fourth quarter, but the latest forecast is for growth of just 10.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Natalie Trunow, chief investment officer of equities at Calvert Investment Management in Bethesda, Maryland, which manages about $13 billion, said she has been overweight U.S. equities since the autumn and is considering shifting money into some smaller and midcap names.

“Additional positive momentum in the U.S. can offset additional negative momentum in Europe in terms of earnings impact on U.S. companies,” she said.

“Net net it might spell somewhat better relative performance for U.S. small and midcaps versus the large caps,” she said. “Large caps may give up some of their leadership this year as the U.S. economy continues to gain momentum and small caps start to benefit from that acceleration.”

(Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

NEW YORK (Reuters) Stocks have strayed from their recent link to euro moves, and the start of U.S. corporate earnings next week could help shift investor focus back to U.S. fundamentals from Europe.

Stocks have traded in line with the euro over the autumn, with both experiencing sharp swings on headlines from the euro zone.

That trend may be changing, and it comes just as investors get their first glimpse at fourth-quarter U.S. earnings.

Aluminum company Alcoa (AA.N) is expected to report Monday after the closing bell, unofficially starting the reporting period for U.S. corporations. JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) is due to report on Friday, but the bulk of Standard & Poor’s 500 (.SPX) earnings will come in the weeks ahead.

“I think this month we’re probably going to break away and see the pattern of U.S. market trade on U.S. fundamentals rather than in reaction to the euro movement,” said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist, D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

“I think we’re in a time-out period for that (dollar) carry trade, and it will stay a time out for a while.”

The correlation between S&P 500 E-mini futures and the euro, which moved in near lockstep in the fall, has receded. A 22-day moving average of the correlation shows almost no relation between the movements of the two assets.

While the corporate results will be searched for evidence of the European crisis’ impact on overseas sales, they should also bring back more of a focus on what’s happening in the United States, where the economy has been northward bound.

Friday’s U.S. jobs reports was the latest data to suggest the recovery is gathering momentum, with non-farm payrolls rising in December and the jobless rate dropping to a near three-year low of 8.5 percent.

S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings are expected to have risen 7.8 percent from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data. But that number is down from a July 1 forecast for growth of 17.6 percent in the quarter.

“We’re going to need good,Cheap Juicy Couture, strong positive news on earnings to lift all three of the market averages out of their trading ranges,” Dickson said. “They’re bumping into some overhead resistance, and it’s going to take fundamental news to do it.”

The S&P 500 ended virtually unchanged for 2011, even though most strategists had expected gains for the year.

The index has been unable to pierce through 1,285, the closing high set in late October.

Stocks ended with gains for the first trading week of the year, as the mostly upbeat U.S. economic data offset lingering worries about the euro zone. The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 1.2 percent for the week, the Standard & Poor’s 500 (.SPX) was up 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq (.IXIC) was up 2.7 percent.

Next week’s economic calendar includes data on U.S. retail sales and consumer sentiment.

Even with a focus on earnings, investors will be watching Italian and Spanish government bond sales next week.

Both are seen as the year’s first big funding tests for struggling euro zone countries. Italy is to pay out 100 billion euros in bond coupons and redemptions in the first four months of 2012.

“Ultimately, the market is still progressing towards a test of the (European Central Bank’s) reluctance to be a lender of last resort. I don’t know that the test will get that far, but I think it will,” said David Joy, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial in Boston, where he helps oversee $571 billion in assets under management.

On the earnings front, while all 10 S&P 500 sectors have seen profit estimates cut since July, materials and financials have been the hardest hit. Based on a July forecast, the financial sector was expected to show year-over-year growth of 36.6 percent in the fourth quarter, but the latest forecast is for growth of just 10.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Natalie Trunow, chief investment officer of equities at Calvert Investment Management in Bethesda, Maryland, which manages about $13 billion, said she has been overweight U.S. equities since the autumn and is considering shifting money into some smaller and midcap names.

“Additional positive momentum in the U.S. can offset additional negative momentum in Europe in terms of earnings impact on U.S. companies,” she said.

“Net net it might spell somewhat better relative performance for U.S. small and midcaps versus the large caps,” she said. “Large caps may give up some of their leadership this year as the U.S. economy continues to gain momentum and small caps start to benefit from that acceleration.”

(Reporting By Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

NEW YORK Stieg Larsson’s enigmatic anti-heroine Lisbeth Salander, from the best-selling books and upcoming U.S. film remake “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” is an unlikely trendsetter.

From her multiple facial piercings and choppy, jet black hair to her ripped tees and work boots held together with duct tape, Lisbeth’s look is not only unconventional, some might find it off-putting.

“We always wanted her clothes to sort of repel people and be a means of keeping people away,” said actress Rooney Mara at the film’s New York premiere Wednesday, a day before nabbing a Golden Globe nod for the role.

Yet huge Swedish retailer H&M saw an opportunity in sprucing up Lisbeth’s style and making it safer for the masses.

The Dragon Tattoo Collection, created by costume designer Trish Summerville,Cheap Ed hardy t-shirts, features faux-leather coats, biker pants, shredded tees and dark denim miniskirts.

“There’s different key pieces that I took out of her wardrobe that she wears in the film and we kind of changed the silhouette a little bit, changed the fabrication, cleaned the pieces up,” explained Summerville in a recent interview.

The collection ranges from $3.95 for swirly, spiked earrings to $199 for a fitted black leather coat. There also are studded belts, slouchy canvas bags and black boots distressed just enough to reveal a grey under layer.

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig, hits theaters Dec. 21

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Online:

http://www.hm.com/us/dragon-tattoo

http://www.dragontattoo.com

—-

Nicole Evatt covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NicoleEvatt

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. A lawsuit brought by the parents of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant in Massachusetts who committed suicide after relentless bullying, was settled for $225,000, according to documents made public Tuesday.

The settlement with the town of South Hadley and its school department was reached more than a year ago, but the details were kept under wraps until a journalist won a court order for the release of the information.

The documents show that Prince’s parents settled claims against the town and its school department for $225,000. In return, the parents promised to release the plaintiffs from any further claims.

The documents were released by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, which represented Slate reporter Emily Bazelon in her bid to for the disclosure of the settlement.

“This is a victory for the public’s right to know and for transparency in government,” said Bill Newman, an attorney with the ACLU’s legal office in western Massachusetts.

Prince hanged herself in January 2010 after classmates taunted her after she dated a popular boy. She had recently moved from Ireland to South Hadley, a rural town about 100 miles west of Boston.

Five students later accepted plea deals in criminal cases connected with bullying that preceded her death. None involved prison time.

Prince’s death drew international attention and was among several high-profile teen suicides that prompted new laws aimed at cracking down on bullying in schools. All school districts in Massachusetts are now required to develop bullying prevention plans.

After unsuccessful attempts to gain access to details of the settlement,wholesale Ed hardy jeans, which was reached with the town and its insurer in November 2010, Bazelon sought a court order to release the information under the state’s public records law.

In an order dated Dec. 23, Superior Court Judge Mary Lou-Rup ruled in favor of Bazelon, saying the town had not shown what harm would be caused by disclosure of the settlement. The judge noted that the Prince family had not registered an objection to releasing the details.

Edward Ryan, lawyer for the town, did not immediately return an after-hours call Tuesday seeking comment.

Ryan had argued in court that the settlement was not a public document and that all parties involved had agreed to keep it confidential.

NEW YORK Nick Cannon is spending the first week of the new year in the hospital, with wife Mariah Carey by his side.

Carey tweeted that Cannon is suffering from “mild kidney failure.” His representative confirmed Cannon’s hospitalization. He is in Aspen, Colo., where he and Carey were vacationing.

Carey posted a picture on her website of a miserable-looking Cannon in a hospital bed as she lay beside him. She asked for prayers and said Cannon’s situation was “very painful.” She later called it a “serious moment that’s very tough on all of us.”

The pair became the parents of twins a boy and a girl last year.

Cannon is 31. His representative had no further information Wednesday about his condition,wholesale Ed hardy underwear, but said he is still hospitalized.

___

Online:

http://www.mariahcarey.com

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) How much money will be shelled out for the personal art studio belonging to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” co-creator Kevin Eastman?

The answer will be known Wednesday night, which marks the end of the 10-day eBay auction for the studio — drawing table, rare artwork, personal effects, toys and all.

“My wife was threatening to call that TV show ‘Hoarders,’ ” Eastman told TheWrap about his studio, which had been situated in his Los Angeles home. “Some of the stuff I’ve pulled out of storage, I haven’t seen in 15 years. There are old comics, doodles, scraps of paper, reference books, movies …”

Eastman will give 20 percent of the proceeds from the auction to The Hero Initiative, a nonprofit that financially supports comic book creators in need.

As for the rest of the money, “I’ll put it in the bank for my kids schools or buy some new supplies,Inflatable Jumpers,” Eastman said.

Twenty-nine bids have been received so far; the highest is $8,300.

The art studio has been on display at Los Angeles’ Meltdown Comics, where Eastman has been making regular visits. The exhibition — which includes some unpublished artwork — is part of “35 Days of Kevin Eastman,” which is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the “Heavy Metal” magazine he published.

On Wednesday night, Meltdown will celebrate the end of the auction with a party, during which live footage of the eBay auction page will be projected onto a big screen.

Regardless of the amount for which the studio sells, Eastman will certainly be surrounded by fans at the shindig — as he has been during his visits to Meltdown.

“I was in the gallery the other day and this guy came in from Italy,” Eastman said. “He grew up on the Turtles — and his name was Raphael. He was walking down Melrose and randomly discovered the exhibit. When he left the store with a signed copy of one of the comics, he had a grin so big.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. The Kentucky mother of an autistic boy who says he was stuffed in a duffel bag for misbehaving in class has pulled her son out of school.

Sandra Baker said that although classes resumed Tuesday in their central Kentucky school district,Replica Burberry kids, she will home-school her 9-year-old son, Christopher.

Baker says she won’t send Christopher back to Mercer County Intermediate School until the teacher responsible is fired and the staff is better trained to deal with children with developmental disabilities.

Baker says she saw her son in a bag Dec. 14. The case has spurred an online petition calling for the firing of school employees responsible.

The Mercer County schools interim superintendent did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

WASHINGTON Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:

ABC’s “This Week” 2012 GOP presidential candidates Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul; Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Iowa.

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NBC’s “Meet the Press” 2012 GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum; Matt Strawn, Iowa GOP chairman.

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CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

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CNN’s “State of the Union” Ron Paul; Branstad; Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

___

“Fox News Sunday” 2012 GOP presidential candidates Rick Perry,wholesale Ralph Lauren shoes, Ron Paul and Bachmann.