Childhood bully loses appeal against Eminem

“A man who bullied Eminem at school has been told he cannot sue the superstar over lyrics in which the rapper claimed he was almost killed by his schoolmate. A Michigan appeals court dismissed DeAngelo Bailey’s legal action because most fans would not take Eminem’s story of a vicious attack seriously.” (“Eminem safe from bully’s lawsuit”, BBC, Apr. 16; Ben Schmitt, “Eminem’s bully loses court appeal”, Detroit Free Press, Apr. 16). More: opinion (PDF) courtesy ALP.

Update: copyrightable yoga sequences

A federal judge ruled last month that the current state of intellectual property law does not necessarily preclude Bikram Choudhury’s claim to copyright over a particular sequence of yoga postures; litigation continues in the case (see Feb. 9, 2004). (“Yoga Is Focus in Groundbreaking Copyright Case”, PrimeZone/Linux Insider, Apr. 9). The Seattle Times (“Download”, Apr. 4) notes that Choudhury’s adversaries, a group of yoga instructors calling themselves Open Source Yoga Unity (OSYU), say they have banded together to fight the “litigious position of Bikram Choudhury”: “Hmmm, you have to wonder what that position might look like in the studio.”

“Skate park told comply or close”

A group of volunteer parents and teens built the Uncle Bud Skate Park in downtown Marshfield, Massachusetts over the last five years, but the state Office on Disability is threatening to order the park closed to the public because the park does not meet accessibility requirements. (The park does contain an ampitheater, so it’s not just an issue of accommodating disabled roller-bladers.) So far Public Works Superintendent R. Jeb DeLoach has responded in Harrison Bergeron fashion, by removing a bench and a portable toilet that was not handicapped accessible. (Needless to say, this does not make the park any friendlier to the handicapped, but rather makes it equally unfriendly to the non-disabled.) There’s still an issue because only one of the three entrances to the park is accessible; compliance costs for this and other violations will raise the cost of the park 25%. (Shamus McGillicuddy, Patriot-Ledger, Apr. 12) (via Newman, who asks, “[I]f you hated the handicapped and wanted to hatch a plot that would cause children and their families to resent them, could you really do better than this?”). For the tale of the wheelchair ramp in the mountains, see Jul. 9, 2003.

Update: Illinois Senate defeats gun-suit bills

On Apr. 7 I wrote (prematurely as it turned out) that the Illinois legislature had killed two bills which would have encouraged lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers, the bills having been defeated in the Judiciary committee of the Illinois Senate. Sought by Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, the bills were aimed in part at reviving his litigation against gun dealers and manufacturers, which had been thrown out by the state Supreme Court. However, Daley’s allies in the legislature hastily got a different committee in the state’s upper house, the Executive Committee, which is more heavily dominated by members from Chicago, to give its narrow approval to the measures in order to bring them to the floor (Brian Mackey, “Gun-control measures approved”, Copley/Peoria Journal-Star, Apr. 14). To no avail: the full Senate defeated both measures Thursday night by 24-31 votes. (John O’Connor, “Gun bills fail to pass Senate”, AP/Bloomington Pantagraph, Apr. 15).

Rosa Parks update

92-year-old Rosa Parks “has dementia and is only faintly aware of what is happening around her,” but that didn’t stop lawyers from filing a $5 billion lawsuit on her behalf against the music companies that permitted the music group OutKast to release a song with the title “Rosa Parks.” (Jan. 17). The case has settled with the promise of a CD and a television tribute to her, featuring her guardian, Dennis Archer, as host. No conflicts of interest there. I couldn’t find any press coverage indicating how much Parks’s current lawyer, Willie Gary (Oct. 14, Aug. 13, 2003, earlier links), was paid in the process; Archer refused to discuss financial terms. (Peter Slevin, “Settlement Commits Music Producers to Honor Rosa Parks”, Washington Post, Apr. 15). The Sixth Circuit held that the rappers did not have a first amendment right to name their song “Rosa Parks” because they could have called it “Back of the Bus” rather than use an allusive title. One looks forward to more federal court diktats over song titles. (Parks v. LaFace Records (6th Cir. 2003) (argued by the late Johnnie Cochran)). (And welcome Slate readers: check out the main page.)

“Hand you their severed heads”

Now here’s a post I wish I’d written: John Steele of the excellent new Legal Ethics Forum blog contrasts the attitude toward lawyers’ advertising of the highly dignified Henry S. Drinker of Philadelphia, author of the 1950s standard textbook Legal Ethics, with that of Jim “The Hammer” Shapiro, who starred in many manic TV ads to promote his ethically troubled and now-defunct Rochester personal injury practice (see Jun. 17-18, 2002, Dec. 5, 2003, and May 24, 2004). One big difference: Drinker would probably never have promised TV viewers to “rip out the hearts of [the defendants]” and “hand you their severed heads.” (Feb. 22, linking to this page on Rochester TV ads).

How lawyers almost killed “The Onion”

Continuing juvenile humor litigation day at Overlawyered: “We were very nearly sued out of existence by Janet Jackson,” said former Onion editor-in-chief Robert Siegel, thanks to a story headlined “Dying 13-Year-Old Gets His Wish, Will Pork Janet Jackson.” (Samara Kalk Derby, “Jackson almost killed Onion, editor reveals”, The Capital Times, Apr. 12) (via Romenesko).

Update: Judge in Batra swivel-chair case censured

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct has censured Acting Supreme Court Justice Diane A. Lebedeff “for presiding over a case in which she had a ‘significant social and professional relationship’ with the plaintiff, attorney Ravi Batra”. The case in question was none other than the one described in our Nov. 11, 2003 entry, in which Batra, a noted judicial kingmaker in city politics, was demanding $80 million in damages for a fall off a swivel chair in his office, eventually settling with the furniture store for $225,000. Reports the New York Law Journal:

One of the aggravating factors the commission’s unanimous decision pointed to was that during the five years Lebedeff handled Batra’s case, she excused the defense lawyers on approximately five occasions, saying she wanted to “engage in ‘gossip’ or other social conversation not related to the case, with Mr. Batra.”

…Batra said, “The fact that the judge and I were friendly is a stipulated fact in the determination and was contemporaneously known to defense counsel, who never objected.”

An attorney with Gair, Gair, Conason, Steigman & Mackauf, representing the judge, “said that Lebedeff accepts the censure because she recognizes that there was an appearance of impropriety. He stressed, however, that there was no claim that any of her actions were improper.” (Daniel Wise, “Presiding Over Friend’s Trial Results in Censure”, New York Law Journal, Apr. 11). Norm Pattis (Apr. 12) finds defense mistakes in part to blame.

Hit by bird at garden center

In far-famed Madison County, Ill., 40-year-old Rhonda Nichols is suing the Lowe’s Home Center in Alton, saying she was seriously injured when a bird flew into her head at the outside gardening area. She wants more than $50,000:

According to the suit, filed by the St. Louis firm of Anderson & Associates, the store “allowed wild birds to enter the Gardening area in which customers travel … (and) that said wild birds created a dangerous condition.”

Nichols claims the bird caused injuries to her head, brain, neck, muscles, bones, nerves, discs, ligaments, as well leading to the loss of neurological functions and cognitive skills.

…The suit said the incident occurred “on or about April 15, 2003.” Bobbi Rose, an assistant manager at Lowe’s, said the store had no record of any human-bird collisions on that date.

(Paul Hampel, “Woman sues store, claims she was attacked by bird”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Apr. 13). Update Feb. 12: federal judge throws out suit.