Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
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“[A]pparently determined to control his image even from his Paris prison cell, he has brought suit against a French production company shooting a documentary film on his life and legend, demanding a say on the final cut.” [Edward Cody, Washington Post].
While we’re at it: “Mirandizing the Christmas Day Bomber — Why?” [Paul Cassell, Volokh on this Bill Otis post, versus many critical commenters]
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An already odd binge of litigation has gotten yet odder: the California man who has sued Sony for kicking him off its PlayStation online network, and has sued Nintendo and Microsoft on other grounds, is now suing Activision Blizzard, publisher of the immensely popular online game World of Warcraft, which he accuses of maintaining a “harmful virtual environment” with “sneaky and deceitful practices.” He alleges that use of the game tends to bring on mental health problems, and — the best bit — says he intends to subpoena lyricist Martin Gore of the band Depeche Mode and Hollywood actress Winona Ryder as third party experts on alienation. [GameSpot via Ambrogi/Legal Blog Watch; earlier] Update: Estavillo is subpoenaing Bill Gates too [Seattle PI Microsoft blog]
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An Ohio town discontinues its municipal WiFi network after MPAA lawyers rattle swords about a copyrighted movie that moved through the system. Andrew Moshirnia at Citizen Media Law explains. And (h/t reader CTrees) note that the town turned the system back on at Sony’s request, following a national outcry over the incident.
And at least somewhat relatedly: “Viacom’s top lawyer: suing P2P users ‘felt like terrorism’” [ArsTechnica]
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Boston software maker Jenzabar has already sued the makers of a Tienanmen Square documentary on defamation theories, which a court dismissed. But it’s kept the litigation going on trademark infringement theories. [Paul Levy, Consumer Law & Policy; Ron Coleman, Likelihood of Confusion; Boston Globe June report linked earlier]
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California Lawyer covers the Nicaraguan pesticide litigation fraud (via California Civil Justice). And Dole has dropped its never-should-have-been-filed lawsuit against a Swedish filmmaker that had promoted the plaintiffs’ case [AP, earlier] More: ShopFloor.
Following the filing of a defamation action in the Indian courts, Bollywood* producers agreed to apologize and remove scenes from a Tamil-language movie that the lawyer-plaintiffs had decried as “opprobrious visual artistic work designed against lawyers and the legal profession” [Times of India and IndiaGlitz via Stephanie West Allen, Idealawg and Robert Ambrogi, LegalBlog Watch; "Sivakasi"]
* Or in this case more accurately “Kollywood” — see comments.
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“…for her role in the apple scare. She told me so.” [Elizabeth Whelan, National Post]
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Consider these trademark/copyright perils first [Citizen Media Law]
A lawprof wants to apply federal labor law to discourage reality-TV programming involving kids.
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American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression:
There is a disturbing new trend in censorship legislation. Bills have been introduced in Utah and Louisiana this year that give private citizens the right to sue booksellers and other retailers for committing an “unfair” trade practice by selling “offensive” material to a minor. The defendants in these lawsuits would have to hire a lawyer to defend them and could be forced to pay thousands of dollars if they lost.
Earlier, the governor of Utah vetoed a similar measure aimed at video and game retailers.
The Rev. Jeremiah Cummings, who sued the makers of the film “Religulous” for allegedly portraying him as money-hungry and a charlatan (clip), has himself been sued by two former followers who claim Cummings prevailed on them through a “scheme of deception and lies” to hand over several hundred thousand dollars in donations and investments which he then turned to personal use. [OnPoint News, Courthouse News with PDF link to complaint]
Beyond Borat, bringing barristers bounteous business. [WSJ Law Blog]
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Point of Law