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Mashawn Lynch: A Man of Few but Lucrative Words
As a man of few words, Marshawn Lynch continues to collect and profit off of his unwillingness to engage with the media. On Super Bowl XLIX’s media day, the Seattle Seahawks running back repeatedly responded to reporters’ questions with “I’m just here so I don’t get fined.” The phrase went viral. Even Katy Perry, Super Bowl XLIX’s halftime performer, famously repeated it at her press conference prior to the big game. Shortly thereafter, Lynch filed an application to trademark the now iconic remark. Although it could take over a year for the trademark application to be processed, Lynch’s apparel brand, “Beast Mode,” […]
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Marley Heirs Win Lanham Act Case
According to Billboard, Bob Marley’s heirs succeeded in obtaining damages from merchandisers who utilized Marley’s image without the estate’s permission. To prevent unauthorized uses of Marley’s likeness, his children created Fifty-Six Hope Road Music, a company which regulates the licensing of his image. In this case, which began in 2008, Fifty-Six Hope sued A.V.E.L.A. and other manufacturers of various items bearing Marley’s image, which were sold at large national retailers such as Walmart and Target. The heirs claimed that A.V.E.L.A. violated the Lanham Act because consumers would confuse the origin of the Marley-image bearing goods–assuming that the Marley estate endorsed or approved the products. In 2011, […]
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Wrigley Rooftop Owners Denied Preliminary Injunction
According to the Chicago Tribune, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall denied a request for a preliminary injunction that would have halted construction of video boards and outfield advertising signs as part of the Chicago Cub’s $375 Million renovation plan for Wrigley Field. Rooftop operators beyond left field, who sell season tickets to watch the Cubs games from their rooftops, alleged that the Cubs have engaged in a price-fixing scheme in violation of the 20-year revenue sharing agreement between the Cubs and the rooftop businesses. Kendall heard arguments from both sides and found that the rooftop operators had failed to make a showing of irreparable […]
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Yelp Trademark Suit
According to the Consumerist, Yelp has a filed a lawsuit against three websites–Revpley, Revleap.me, and YelpDirector. Yelp’s suit asserts that the sites have engaged in trademark infringement, unfair competition, contract interference, false advertising, and cybersquatting. The defendant websites all propose to offer companies methods to increase their ratings on Yelp. In fact, YelpDirector sent emails to solicit business, in which it claimed it had developed a software that would allow prospective customers to generate four and five star reviews, which in turn would enable the company to remain on Yelp’s first page of results. The emails also stated that YelpDirector would filter through […]
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Freeplay Music: Infringement Victim or Copyright Troll?
According to Variety, Freeplay Music is suing four multichannel networks (MCNs) on YouTube. These include, AwesomenessTV, Big Frame (owned by AwesomenessTV), BroadbandTV, and Disney’s Maker Studios. Freeplay, a music licensing company, claims that these channels have infringed its copyrights in the the music it licenses to consumers. The Company also alleges that the defendants refused to negotiate with Freeplay for licenses, and yet continued to use the music without the Company’s permission. YouTube is no stranger to copyright litigation. Thus, it has developed the Content ID program, a system that allows copyright owners to assert rights to infringing material and subsequently request for the content to be […]
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Minor League Baseball Minimum Wage Suit Secures Small Victory
According to NBC Sports and the Courthouse News Service, U.S. District Judge Joseph Spero stated today that he is unlikely to transfer a class action against MLB alleging violations of fair labor practices with respect to minor league baseball players to the Middle District of Florida. Judge Spero argued that transfer was unnecessary, as alleged violations were nationwide and involved numerous parties in and outside of California. This is viewed as a slight reprieve for the plaintiffs as California, the current venue of the lawsuit, is viewed as a far more labor friendly state than Florida, allowing the plaintiffs to more easily bring state law claims to go […]
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Lance Armstrong Loses Arbitration Dispute With Promotion Company
According to USA Today, Lance Armstrong will be ordered to pay $10 million after losing an arbitration dispute against the sports insurance firm that paid his Tour de France bonuses. SCA Promotions, who sued Armstrong for fraud in securing his Tour de France titles, asked a Texas Court on Monday to turn the arbitral panel’s 2-1 decision into a final judgment. Armstrong’s dispute with SCA began in 2004 when the company refused to pay Armstrong his bonus after winning the Tour de France, believing his win was aided by the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs. After Armstrong denied using performance enhancing drugs […]
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Left Shark Dispute
“Left Shark” became an Internet phenomenon after Katy Perry’s Super Bowl half-time show earlier this month. In fact, Perry now is seeking to assert a copyright claim in the character (an out-of-sync back-up dancer), according to TechDirt. After the show, Fernando Sosa sought to sell 3D printed versions of Left Shark online. Shortly thereafter, Perry’s lawyers at Greenberg Taurig sent a cease and desist letter to Sosa. Rather than removing the product, as many C&D recipients have done, Sosa enlisted the help of NYU Law professor Chris Sprigman. Sprigman replied to the letter, stating that Perry held no copyright in Left […]
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Sony Requests Class Actions to be Dismissed
According to the Hollywood Reporter, on Monday Sony Pictures requested that eight class action lawsuits be dismissed. Sony also has submitted a motion to consolidate these actions. Ultimately, Sony claims that that the plaintiffs have not asserted an actual injury (i.e. identity theft or fraudulent charges). Instead, the lawsuits, that were filed on behalf of ex-employees whose personal information was leaked as a result of the Guardians of the Peace hack, claim that Sony is liable on theories of negligence as well as through violations of Unfair Competition Law and California state laws surrounding the protection of medical data. The plaintiffs, backed by security analysts, also […]
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Spanish Court Blocks Real Madrid Stadium Redevelopment Plan
According to ESPNFC, a Madrid Court has blocked a potential redevelopment plan for Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. This stadium project delay comes on the heels of a European Commission investigation into whether Real Madrid had illegally received state aid in connection to the project. The Madrid Court’s ruling negated a change to the Madrid General Development Plan which was necessary to allow the changes to the Stadium. The Court ruled that the change was outside of Madrid’s capital regulations and therefore void. Some speculate that this could push Real Madrid to build a stadium outside of Madrid, while the team insists that […]
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Federal Court to Hear Peterson Suspension Challenge
According to ESPN, U.S. District Court Judge David Doty will hear the NFL Player Association’s challenge to Adrian Peterson’s punishment stemming from his child abuse scandal. The NFLPA alleges that Commissioner Roger Goodell acted outside the scope of his authority when he chose to place Peterson on the Commissioner’s Exempt List and later indefinitely suspended him. They further claim that longtime league executive Harold Henderson was biased in favor of the league when he chose to uphold Peterson’s suspension in December. The NFL claims that Article 46 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement gives the Commissioner “sole discretion” when determining punishments for conduct […]
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Net Neutrality–A Boon for Netflix or a Detriment to Innovation?
Last week FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, announced that the Federal Communications Commission would impose strict rules to enforce net neutrality. According to Law360, Wheeler seeks to re-classify broadband providers as public utilities, such that they will be regulated like electric companies. This announcement has been developing over the past few months. Originally, Wheeler sought to permit “commercially reasonable deals” between content providers (i.e. Netflix) and broadband providers for faster service. Yet, in response to the negative reception of this suggestion, the FCC seeks to apply the net neutrality regime Obama has proposed. Those who support this move, praise the creation of an open […]