Entertainment & Sports Law

Larry Bird mural with tattoos of mating bunnies and spider web brings objection from his lawyer

A street artist who decided to add tattoos to her depiction of Larry Bird has agreed to remove all but one of them after Bird’s lawyer expressed concern about damage to the basketball player’s brand. The Indianapolis mural by artist Jules Muck showed Bird in an Indiana State uniform. It…

Aug 22, 2019 1:55 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Former judge pleads guilty to murder; parents sue over Sharpie haircut punishment

Former judge pleads guilty to murder of his ex-wife Former Ohio judge Lance Mason pleaded guilty Tuesday to fatally stabbing his ex-wife, Aisha Fraser, in November. Mason had resigned his judgeship in 2015 after a previous guilty plea for assaulting the same woman. A University of Michigan law grad, Mason…

Aug 20, 2019 4:06 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Rappers awarded $2.8M over Katy Perry song; lawyer killed outside courthouse by pickup truck

• Federal jurors in Los Angeles have awarded $2.78 million to Christian rap artists in a copyright suit against Katy Perry and others. The suit claimed that a repetitive musical rhythm in Perry’s song “Dark Horse” infringed the copyright for the Christian song “Joyful Noise.” Perry herself is responsible for…

Aug 2, 2019 4:07 PM CDT

Bob Dylan’s ‘Hurricane’ is one of the most famous tales of wrongful conviction

I hate being on the road too early in the morning; sometimes it’s just you and a long stretch of highway until the sun rises. I’ve found the best way to alleviate the loneliness is two-fold. Every once in a while, silence is golden. The lack of distractions can present…

Jul 11, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

Lawyers, songs and money: Music that changed the law

Some songs or albums move the law. A band or artist will be involved in a lawsuit so groundbreaking and important that it will set a precedent, either enshrined in law or otherwise binding future generations.

Jul 1, 2019 12:05 AM CDT

Supreme Court will decide standard for proving racial bias in discrimination suit against Comcast

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether a black-owned media company has to show but-for causation in its Section 1981 discrimination suit against Comcast for failing to carry its programming. The court agreed to decide the issue in the case of Entertainment Studios Networks. The company alleges that…

Jun 10, 2019 1:53 PM CDT

10 Questions: Magician-turned-lawyer helps make legal problems disappear

Jeffrey W. Cowan isn’t just a lawyer. He’s also a former professional magician. Today, his practice is built on business and employment trial law, but he also maintains a niche practice helping magicians and magic-related businesses make their legal problems disappear.

Jun 1, 2019 1:45 AM CDT

Former NFL players fail to move painkillers lawsuit forward

In the latest ruling regarding the NFL’s alleged “return-to-play” scheme, a federal judge held that retired players failed to prove that the league was responsible for handing out painkillers and pushing the players back onto the field. U.S. District Judge William Alsup of the Northern District of California said in…

Apr 22, 2019 4:09 PM CDT

Book chronicles how coach Pat Summitt supported teen’s Title IX quest to shoot baskets

In the 1970s, Tennessee was among about a half-dozen states that restricted the way high school girls could play basketball. Instead of playing “five-on-five” basketball, girls played on six-player teams in which the three players in the forward position stayed on half the court, and the three guards stayed on…

Mar 20, 2019 1:41 PM CDT

US women’s soccer team files gender bias suit claiming unequal pay

Twenty-eight members of the U.S. women’s soccer team have sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for alleged unequal pay and treatment.

Mar 11, 2019 9:10 AM CDT

In dueling suits, Kanye West alleges contract ‘servitude,’ while music publisher claims deal breach

Music publisher EMI has sued Kanye West for alleged breach of contract after the rapper filed his own suit referring to the expansive deal as “servitude” and asserting that it could bar his retirement.

Mar 11, 2019 7:30 AM CDT

At least 8 theaters drop ‘Mockingbird’ productions after producer of newer play threatens suit

Updated: At least eight theater companies throughout the United States have canceled productions of To Kill a Mockingbird because of litigation threats from the producer of a newer version of the play on Broadway. The New York Times report includes an interview with 11-year-old Olivia Mongelli, who was cast as…

Feb 28, 2019 2:35 PM CST

Former football players ran out of time to sue NFL, 9th Circuit says

Former NFL players who allege they were overmedicated and pressured to return to the field despite injuries that had not fully healed can’t sue the NFL for ending their careers early, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco ruled Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the court held…

Feb 8, 2019 11:25 AM CST

Prominent 1970s musicians sue music companies for copyright infringement

A group of well-known 1970s musicians filed a pair of proposed class action lawsuits Tuesday, accusing Sony Music Entertainment Inc. and UMG Recordings Inc. of violating a provision of copyright law that gives them a “second chance” to assert rights to their songs. The lawsuits, filed in the U.S. District…

Feb 6, 2019 11:22 AM CST

Saints fans can’t force a missed-call do-over with a writ of mandamus, judge rules

A federal judge ruled Thursday that New Orleans Saints fans can’t use a writ of mandamus to compel NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate a missed call that might have cost their team a trip to the Super Bowl. U.S. District Judge Susie Morgan of New Orleans ruled in a…

Feb 1, 2019 8:45 AM CST