Is that enough, without more, to subject you to the jurisdiction of a Florida federal court in a resulting defamation lawsuit? [Ron Coleman, Likelihood of Confusion; Citizen Media Law]
Archive for April, 2009
Do not put any person in this washer
Fox News contributes original reporting on some of the familiar Wacky Warning Labels made famous by Bob Dorigo Jones of Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch in an annual contest and book. It helps track down information, for example, regarding the origin of the warnings not to use a hair dryer while sleeping, not to heat up a cellphone in the microwave oven, not to use a curling iron in the shower, and not to swallow a fishing hook (the latter seems to have more to do with the potential toxicity of the lead in the hook than the hook aspect itself). The warning against the temptation to obtain the light necessary to check a fuel tank by flicking on a cigarette lighter recalls the Burma-Shave jingle of decades ago:
He lit a match/
To check gas tank/
That’s why/
They call him/
Skinless Frank.
Also noted in the article: a warning against using “birthday candles as earplugs ‘or for any other function that involves insertion into a body cavity'”.
“Website ordered to pay $125,000 over ‘haunted’ mill claim”
Melissa Duer and her husband own a property that includes the state of Ohio’s only surviving grist mill, built by her ancestor, Eli or Elias Staley. Stories that the property is haunted have circulated for many years and were relayed in the book “Weird Ohio” and on the (apparently unrelated) website Forgotten Ohio. The Duers sued the authors of book and site on the grounds that by giving publicity to the stories they had helped attract many curiosity seekers to the site, forcing the couple “to spend thousands of dollars on security measures at the mill including $35,000 for an estate dog, Duer testified at a March hearing”. A judge ruled for the book defendants, “saying those responsible for [“Weird Ohio”] did not place the Duers in a false light, had no intent of emotional distress and had not trespassed or caused anyone else to trespass on the property.” However, Columbus resident Andrew Hamilton did not respond in defense of his website Forgotten Ohio (where it looks as if the disputed passage may still be standing, in the “Clark County” section, though other accounts place the property in Miami County) and the judge awarded a default judgment against him of $125,000. The Duers’ lawyer, Jeremy Tomb of Troy, says the couple intends to appeal the judge’s ruling in favor of the book, which has dropped the Staley story from its second printing.
The damages claimed included: $1,921 for an invisible fence; $1,710 for private security; $27,606 for diminished value to the property from rumors it is haunted; $57,217 in legal fees; $6,340 in litigation expenses; and $35,000 for the dog.
Duer testified extra money was spent on the dog specially trained to be under command.
“We didn’t want just any pet or regular dog that could possibly bite people,” she said in court.
Pictures said to be of the Staley Mill appear at MillPictures.com. [Nancy Bowman, Dayton Daily News]
“The things lawyers do to get disbarred”
Robert Ambrogi at Legal Blog Watch (channeling Legal Profession Blog) recounts instances of bank robbery and drunken drag racing.
CPSIA won’t let us build a legal bicycle
But we shouldn’t let the bike dealers get panicked or anything. Earlier here and here.
Update: “Would-Be Hooters Guy Settles Discrimination Suit”
In a confidential settlement after a mediation, Nikolai Grushevski has resolved his complaint that he was turned down for a waiter job at a Corpus Christi location of the “breastaurant” chain because he is not a she. [On Point News, earlier]
“Millionaire’s mistress battles his kin over estate”
Family disputes between a wife and the mistress over a will are probably one of the few times when the “not about the money” saying really is true. But after a two-week trial and two trips to the Georgia Supreme Court, it’s hard to imagine that attorneys aren’t going to get the majority of the $6 million at stake in the five-year battle over Harvey Strother’s will. A penalty clause calling for the disinheritance of anyone who challenged the will appears to have been successfully challenged by the wife’s family. (AP/Washington Post, Apr. 13; Talia Mollett, “Millionaire’s will trial begins today”, Marietta Daily Journal, Jul. 15; Tom Opdyke, “Life’s final chapter to play out in court”, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jul. 13; Melican v. Parker, 283 Ga. 253 (2008)).
Will your lunch violate intellectual property laws?
In Patent Application No. WO/2006/068863 (h/t The Browser), McDonald’s claims:
A method of making a sandwich composed of at least a bread component and sandwich garnish comprising: placing sandwich garnish material on a sandwich assembly tool, the sandwich assembly tool comprising a region for holding sandwich garnish material to be applied to a bread component of a sandwich, the member comprising at least one cavity; placing the bread component over and adjacent the cavity; and thereafter inverting the sandwich assembly tool and the bread component while the bread is adjacent and covering the cavity to cause the sandwich garnish to be deposited from the cavity to the bread component.
April 20 roundup
- Boy fatally shoots stepbrother at home, mom sues school district as well as shooter’s family [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]
- Problem gambler sues Ontario lottery for C$3.5 billion [Toronto Star]
- Cop declines training in which he’d be given Taser shock, and sues [Indianapolis Star]
- Ultra-litigious inmate Jonathan Lee Riches scrawls new complaint linking Bernard Madoff, Britney Spears [Kevin LaCroix]
- Just to read this update feels like an invasion of privacy: “Judge to Hear Challenge to $6M Herpes Case Award” [On Point News, earlier]
- “Best criminal strategy: join the Spokane police” [Coyote Blog] More: Greenfield, Brayton.
- Will mommy-bloggers be held liable for freebie product reviews? [Emily Friedman, ABC News, earlier]
- Update: “Fifth Circuit says no bail for Paul Minor” [Freeland]
CPSIA, books, and recycling
A tidbit from the Publisher’s Weekly coverage:
Several publishers said they test all of their titles, not just novelty books but also ink-on-paper formats. Most books came through the testing with flying colors, but there were a few incidences reported in which titles did not make the grade. With the increasing interest in all things “green,” it’s interesting to note that books made of recycled materials are more likely to contain some lead or phthalates and therefore less likely to make it through the testing process.