Celebrity Law

PIRATES NOT LIABLE FOR VIOLATING PUBLICITY RIGHTS

Posted on August 25, 2010
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal recently removed a weapon from the arsenal available to artists fighting video pirates. In Jules Jordan v. 144942 Canada et al., the court reversed a multi-million dollar jury verdict in favor of adult film star Jules Jordan on claims that a distributor selling bootleg copies of Jules Jordan videos violated [...

TIKI IS THE BARBER OF CIVIL [LAWSUIT], FIGARO!

Posted on July 27, 2010
Although once idolized for his feats on the football field and later respected as an affable, Cheshire-grinned news and sports correspondent, these days Tiki Barber is making a lot of folks very unhappy. The short list presumably includes: 1. Ginny, Tiki’s wife of 11 years whom he allegedly left for a twenty-something year old intern while [...

ELECTRONIC ARTS IN HOT WATER AGAIN OVER PUBLICITY RIGHTS

Posted on July 21, 2010
There has long been a debate regarding whether or not student athletes at the college level should receive financial compensation beyond their scholarships. Major universities make tens of millions of dollars from their athletic programs, but the athletes who generate all of that revenue get none of it...

RACHAEL RAY LASERS DELAYED INDEFINITELY: AN UPDATE ON THE STATE OF CYBERSQUATTING

Posted on July 13, 2010
It looks like we’re all going to have to wait a little while longer to purchase our Rachael Ray lasers. At the very least, we’re not going to be able to order them online any time soon. Cybersquatting is a practice as old as the Internet. It generally involves one party, the squatter, using the trademark [...

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WORLD CUP SPONSORSHIP SCANDALS SURE TO TAKE ATTORNEYS INTO EXTRA TIME

Posted on July 11, 2010
For weeks now, soccer fans have been captivated by the World Cup, tuning in at odd hours to cheer for their respective teams. But given the ridiculous amounts of money involved in professional sports, stories of athletic prowess and come-back victories have been sharing the headlines with stories of the legal and business aspects of [...

A GUIDE TO THE LAWS OF SELLING CELEBRITY SEX TAPES: WHY KENDRA MUST HAVE CONSENTED

Posted on June 02, 2010
Let’s imagine that you and your eighteen-year-old girlfriend get bored one day and decide to make a sex tape. Let’s further imagine that your ex-girlfriend eventually breaks up with you but (thankfully) forgets to demand that you destroy the tape...

CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED INK?

Posted on May 30, 2010
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard arguments in a case brought by a tattoo artist against the City of Hermosa Beach (a Los Angeles beach community) claiming that the City’s ban on tattoo parlors violated his free speech rights under the First Amendment...

TROUBLE FOR BREAKING THE MOTHER OF ALL LAWS?

Posted on May 13, 2010
In the wake of Mother’s Day this past weekend, some may be comforted to know that they probably can’t be held liable ? at least not in a Court of law ? for insulting their mother-in-law no matter how offensive their insults. As was reported in the news, in March of 2009, comedian Sunda Croonquist [...

GIZMODO FACES LIKELY CRIMINAL AND CIVIL CHARGES OVER IPHONE EPISODE

Posted on May 11, 2010
By now everyone knows what occurred last month regarding Gizmodo’s decision to purchase an Apple prototype iPhone: Gizmodo posted several offers to access unreleased Apple products so it could post the information on its tech gossip website. Shortly thereafter an Apple employee carelessly left a next generation iPhone prototype at a bar where he was [...

EXTORTING CELEBRITIES 101: A HOW TO

Posted on May 11, 2010
Okay, this is not actually an instructional guide on extorting celebrities. I just found the title catchy. But as I was reading the recent story of “David Boreanaz and the Case of the Mysterious Mistress,” it struck me that some are either still ignorant of the nature and dangers of extortion claims, even in the [...

THE (99) PROBLEMS WITH JAY-Z?S TRADEMARK LAWSUIT AGAINST DAVID ORTIZ

Posted on April 22, 2010
Rapper and entertainment mogul Jay-Z sued Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz in federal court in New York on Thursday for naming his Dominican Republic nightclub “Forty Forty.” The rapper claims that Ortiz intended to trade on the fame of Jay-Z’s “40/40″ clubs in cities including New York, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City, and that [...

MISSOURI RADIO STATION GIVES NEW MEANING TO THE PHRASE ?IT?S MILLER TIME!?

Posted on April 14, 2010
Although I now reside in La-La Land and have fully embraced many of its eccentricities like jeans as an acceptable form of cocktail attire, Good Day LA and gourmet food trucks, I am not ashamed and, indeed, am proud of the fact that I hail from Missouri…mostly...

TO DEFAME OR NOT TO DEFAME

Posted on February 04, 2010
With the explosion of blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and the like, it is easier than ever for people to vent their frustrations and anger about each other and companies. And those messages can spread through the Internet at a remarkable pace, reaching thousands in a matter of seconds...

NEVER STOP SUING: THE CASE OF THE NORTH FACE V. LITTLE JIMMY WINKELMANN

Posted on January 20, 2010
Early last month, outdoor apparel manufacturer the North Face sued college freshman Jimmy Winkelmann and his company, the South Butt, for selling a line of clothing that parodies that of the North Face. Winkelmann sells t-shirts, fleeces, and hats — many of which closely resemble the t-shirts, fleeces, and hats sold by the North Face [...

THE NEW CHEWBACCA DEFENSE: CAN TIGER WOODS RESCUE AN ACCUSED EXTORTIONIST FROM THE DARK SIDE?

Posted on January 12, 2010
Back in college, my friends and I (like many other students with too much time on their hands) developed a love for the crudely-animated and oftentimes just plain crude, TV show South Park. Although this relationship of love should now more aptly be described as “friends with bennies” (i...

SERIAL LITIGANT STANDS SLIM CHANCE AGAINST VIDEO GAME TITANS

Posted on January 05, 2010
In a society where parents fabricate the disappearance of their small child in the hopes of getting a reality television show, it should be no surprise that Erik Estavillo is seeking his fifteen minutes of fame as a serial litigant. However, given the limited and overburdened resources of our federal and state courts, let’s sincerely [...

IS THERE A METHOD TO THIS MADNESS?

Posted on January 05, 2010
For years I’ve been itching to write an article, a blog, an email blast, a Facebook post — just something — to rant about the idiosyncrasies of patent law. I’m not talking about a scholarly, academic work; if you want to learn patent law in a nutshell, go read Patent Law In A Nutshell...

SHAWNE MERRIMAN V. TILA TEQUILA: THE BEST DEFENSE IS A GOOD OFFENSE?

Posted on January 05, 2010
Last week, San Diego Charger Shawne Merriman filed a lawsuit against reality television personality Tila Tequila. The filing was the latest move in an ongoing battle between the two which started in September of this year. The battle began with Tequila accusing Merriman of choking her after an alleged dispute between the two at Merriman’s [...

CINEMA LAW: SCREENWRITER RIGHTS

Posted on December 27, 2009
Q: When a writer sells the rights to his script to a production company, I understand that the writer no longer has the right to option his script to other production companies, even if he receives a better offer. That being said, does the writer lose all creative control once he signs his name on [...

HEY RECORD COMPANIES! WANNA KNOW HOW TO SELL RECORDS?

Posted on December 09, 2009
Britain’s Got Talent contestant-turned-singing sensation Susan Boyle sold just over 700,000 copies of her debut album, “I Dreamed a Dream,” during its first week of release, debuting at No. 1. According to her record label, Columbia Records, not only did Boyle have the best first week sales of 2009, but also the best-selling album debut [...

IS TIGER WOODS AT RISK OF LOSING HIS ENDORSEMENT CONTRACTS?

Posted on December 09, 2009
Tiger Woods earned an estimated $105 million from sponsorships last year. Could his future earnings from endorsements be at risk? Not at present. Even with Tiger’s recent admission of marital infidelity, Tiger’s endorsees, Nike, Gatorade, Pepsi and Gillette, have all decided to stand with him (http://money...

AN EPIC INTERNET COPYRIGHT BATTLE ON THE HORIZON? MICROSOFT AND NEWS CORP. VS. GOOGLE, MAYBE

Posted on November 30, 2009
The internet is just beginning to buzz today regarding news that Microsoft has reportedly approached Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to discuss a deal whereby News Corp. would “delist” its websites from Google (and, most likely, other search engines that are not using Microsoft’s Bing search engine) in exchange for cash from Microsoft...

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