Entertainment & Sports Law

Naked Cowboy Sues Female Competitor, Says She Stole His Shtick

A New York man who has made a business out of playing a guitar in Times Square while seemingly wearing very little except a cowboy hat and his shoes has filed a federal lawsuit against a female competitor. Best known as the Naked Cowboy, Robert John Burck contends that comedian…

Jul 21, 2010 7:46 PM CDT

Ex-Microsoft GC Said to Be Ready for Another Legal Fight, This One Involving MLB

Former Microsoft general counsel Bill Neukom spent 15 years in an antitrust battle with the federal government, fending off an effort to break up the company. Now Neukom, 68, has a new career as managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants, but that doesn’t mean he’s finished with legal…

Jul 19, 2010 5:22 PM CDT

ESPN Sportscaster Erin Andrews Sues Hotel Chains Over Stalker’s Secret In-Room Taping

In a lawsuit likely to resonate with other women who travel alone on business, a well-known sportscaster for ESPN sued several hotel chains today in Illinois state court over video footage widely circulated on the Internet in which she is seen in a state of undress while in her room.…

Jul 15, 2010 11:12 PM CDT

Onetime Law Student Sues, Claims Beer Pong Prowess Wasn’t Meant for Prime Time

A Southwestern University law graduate says a beer ad featuring his beer pong trick shots was intended to be broadcast only on Danish TV, where it would remain in relative obscurity. But Scott Tipton says in a lawsuit that the ad for Carlsberg beer he made as a law student…

Jul 15, 2010 6:46 PM CDT

RIAA Reportedly Spent More than $17M in Legal Fees in 2008

The Recording Industry Association of America has long pursued aggressive litigation seeking damages for illegal downloading, but just how successful has it been? In monetary terms, the effort was a bust, according to the blogs Recording Industry vs The People and ITProPortal, relying on information unearthed by p2pnet.net. The blogs…

Jul 15, 2010 3:53 PM CDT

‘Dream Team’ Lawyer Robert Shapiro Takes Lindsay Lohan’s Case

Updated: Lindsay Lohan has found another lawyer in the nick of time—she’s scheduled to turn herself in Tuesday—to appeal her 90-day sentence for probation violation. TMZ reports that Lohan has hired Robert Shapiro, best known for being a part of O.J. Simpson’s criminal defense “dream team.” TMZ notes that Shapiro’s…

Jul 15, 2010 3:37 PM CDT

Naked Biker Was Wearing a Helmet, But Agrees to Say Otherwise and Pay a $50 Fine

Bike-riding in the nude has been found to be a form of constitutionally protected speech in Portland, Ore. But across the river in Vancouver, Wash., the courts apparently take a more minimalist view of the First Amendment. After a Clark County District Court jury deadlocked earlier this year on whether…

Jul 14, 2010 6:38 PM CDT

Gloria Allred: No How, No Way Would I Represent Mel Gibson

Under fire after his ex-girlfriend publicly released audio recordings in which Mel Gibson is accused of threatening her and uttering a number of racial slurs, the famous actor was also targeted by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred today. Participating in a Q-and-A session in the Washington Post about the fallout for…

Jul 14, 2010 12:53 AM CDT

Record Labels Sue Porn Company, Want Their ‘Sexyback’

Several record labels claim in a lawsuit that an adult entertainment company is violating their copyrights by using their songs in porn videos. News writers are enjoying the spectacle. “Labels Try to Catch Porn Industry with Pants Down,” Reuters declares in its headline. “The struggling music industry may be aroused…

Jul 13, 2010 4:33 PM CDT

Judge Tosses Model’s $10M Suit Over Comedy’s ‘Lascivious Use’ of Her Photo

A Manhattan judge has dismissed a $10 million lawsuit filed by a model who objected to the “lascivious use of her photo” in the comedy movie Couples Retreat. The judge noted that model Irina Krupnik signed a contract waiving her rights to control the photo, report the Associated Press and…

Jul 12, 2010 1:06 PM CDT

Australian Band Ordered to Pay 5% of Royalties for Copying ‘Kookaburra’ in 1980s Hit

An Australian judge has ordered the band Men at Work to pay royalties to a music publisher for copying ”Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree” in a hit song from the 1980s. Larrikin Music had sought 60 percent of the royalties from the song “Down Under,” but was awarded…

Jul 6, 2010 11:38 AM CDT

Bingham Partner Saves Dodgers Fan, Readies for Team Owner’s Divorce Battle

Bingham McCutchen partner Marshall Grossman saved the life of a Dodgers fan over the weekend, and now he will try a rescue of a different sort as he readies for a divorce battle between team owner Frank McCourt and his wife, Jamie. The outcome of the case, set for trial…

Jul 1, 2010 11:55 AM CDT

Scottie Pippen Scores $2M Verdict in Law Firm Malpractice Case

He was seeking $8 million. But a jury awarded former Chicago Bulls star Scottie Pippen $2 million this week in his legal malpractice claim against a Windy City law firm, reports the National Law Journal in an article reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.). “It was not all that…

Jun 30, 2010 7:28 PM CDT

‘Ungainly’ Phillie Phanatic Bumps into Lawsuits

The Phillie Phanatic’s Supreme Court connections haven’t spared the lovable baseball icon from becoming perhaps the most sued mascot in the majors. The Philadelphia Daily News calls the Phanatic a “big green litigation machine” and details the latest lawsuit, filed by a woman who claims the mascot injured her knees…

Jun 30, 2010 3:34 PM CDT

Ex-Wife of Michael Douglas Seeks Half of His Earnings from ‘Wall Street 2’

Is a sequel the same thing as a spinoff? That appears to be a central question in a looming legal battle by the ex-wife of actor Michael Douglas for half of the money he will make for his work on a sequel to the Wall Street movie directed by Oliver…

Jun 29, 2010 8:15 PM CDT