Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
From the monthly archives:
There’s plenty that can be said in criticism of the NYT’s campaign-season piece insinuating that the lobbyist was personally too close to Republican candidate John McCain. But did it really do her reputation $27 million in damage? (Blodget, AlleyInsider). Update Feb. 19: parties settle.
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Brutis the cat in Phoenix, Ariz. is safe now, but not until after a bit of hard feeling with the neighbor whose property he’d wandered on to:
[the Humane Society] suggested [owner] Michael leave food and water at the base of the tree, something Michael said he couldn’t do because his police officer neighbor would not let him back on the property.
Michael said the officer told him he was concerned that if someone got hurt while trying to get the cat on his property, he would be liable.
“He said no because of insurance,” explained Michael.
(ABC15.com).
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“The unauthorized placement of a pinball machine in a Mel Gibson movie might have technically violated the copyright laws but it is not actionable, a federal judge has ruled.” In the 2000 movie “What Women Want”, a Silver Slugger pinball machine is fleetingly visible in one scene, never for more than a few seconds at a time. Judge Denny Chin sensibly ruled that the pinball maker had no right to sue Paramount for royalties given that the machine is a mere element of the background: “It never appears by itself or in a close-up. It is never mentioned and plays no role in the plot.” (Mark Hamblett, NYLJ). Earlier here, here, etc.
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