By reader acclaim: “The Yankee legend has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Turner Broadcasting Systems for using his name in a ‘hurtful’ advertisement for its ‘Sex and the City’ reruns.” (Dareh Gregorian, “Unberrable ‘Sex'”, New York Post, Feb. 2; “Yogi Berra sues for $10M over sex ad”, CNN/Money, Feb. 3; complaint at The Smoking Gun). At his Sports Law blog, Greg Skidmore, our guestblogger, thinks there may be something to Berra’s claim (if not its $10 million demand) under the current state of the law.
Posts Tagged ‘broadcasters’
Rats vs. ratings
A man upset by what he saw on NBC’s “Fear Factor” is suing the program. He says he threw up after he saw contestants eat (drink?) rats chopped up in a blender. Austin Aitken is a regular viewer of the program and was fine with shows in which contestants ate worms and bugs. He says he’s not concerned with actually winning, just sending a message to NBC. His suit asks for $2.5-million. Associated Press, “Rats don’t rate with viewer,” Jan. 7. From the story:
Aitken, a 49-year-old part-time paralegal, said he wants to send a message to NBC and other networks with the lawsuit. He said he isn’t concerned with winning a cash judgment in court.
On that note, Eugene Volokh points out the following from an earlier Reuters report: “In a brief telephone interview with Reuters, Aitken said, ‘I am not at liberty to discuss the complaint unless it is a paid-interview situation.'” Reuters, “NBC’s ‘Fear Factor’ Sued for Rat-Eating Episode,” Jan. 5. Update Mar. 15: judge tosses suit.
A machine built for complaining
Justifying government penalties for broadcasters, Federal Communications Commission head Michael Powell cited a surge in public complaints of on-air indecency — hundreds of thousands of complaints in all. “What Powell did not reveal — apparently because he was unaware — was the source of the complaints. According to a new FCC estimate obtained by Mediaweek, nearly all indecency complaints in 2003 — 99.8 percent — were filed by the Parents Television Council, an activist group.” (Todd Shields, “Activists Dominate Content Complaints”, MediaWeek, Dec. 6; Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine, Dec. 7).
“Lawyer sues ‘Law & Order’ over fictional attorney”
Well-known Brooklyn attorney Ravi Batra “sued the producers of the television show “Law & Order” for $15 million Friday, claiming they defamed him by portraying him as a crooked attorney in one “ripped from the headlines” episode.” (Samuel Maull, “Lawyer sues ‘Law & Order’ over fictional attorney”, AP/Houston Chronicle, Nov. 13). For some of the reasons why attorney Batra might be considered good copy, see “The judges’ friend and the $225,000 swivel chair”, Nov. 11, 2003. (& see Batra’s response: letter to the editor, Dec. 20, directing readers to this page (PDF)).
GOP lawyers move to shut up radio’s “John & Ken”
Only days after Democratic groups sicced lawyers on Sinclair Broadcasting for considering the airing of anti-Kerry footage, it’s the Republicans’ turn to assault unwanted speech, with the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law serving once again as a bludgeon:
In a complaint to the Federal Elections Commission, the National Republican Campaign Committee accused radio station KFI-AM (640) co-hosts John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou of “criminal behavior” for attacking Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, and endorsing his Democratic opponent, Cynthia Matthews.
By criticizing Dreier’s positions on immigration, promoting a “Fire Dreier” campaign and making on-air appeals for voters to elect Matthews, the NRCC said, the hosts gave Matthews an unlawful corporate, in-kind contribution of more than $25,000.
“This behavior is illegal and must be appropriately punished,” the NRCC charged, noting violation of the law carries a penalty of fines and jail time.
(Lisa Friedman, “Action filed vs. radio hosts over talk attacks”, L.A. Daily News, Oct. 29; see Calblog, Oct. 28, and Southern California Law Blog, Oct. 30)
“Fix the McCain-Feingold law”
“Now it is official: The United States of America has a federal bureaucracy in charge of deciding who can say what about politicians during campaign season. We can argue, and people do, about whether this state of affairs is good or bad, better or worse than some alternative. What is inarguable is that America now has what amounts to a federal speech code, enforced with jail terms of up to five years.” (Jonathan Rauch, National Journal/Reason, Oct. 7). More: Columnist/blogger Dan Kennedy is troubled by efforts to charge the management of the Sinclair Broadcast Group with campaign finance violations (and maybe even subject them to criminal prosecution) for airing a documentary highly critical of Democratic candidate John Kerry (“Media Log: A Small Matter of Free Speech”, Boston Phoenix, Oct. 12). More on Sinclair and the FCC: Ron Orol, “Sinclair Uproar Threatens Purchase of TV Stations”, The Deal, Oct. 22.
No, don’t sue CBS
Stephen Bainbridge and Eugene Volokh (keep scrolling) explain why. (See also Sept. 10.)
Honest mastheads, cont’d
If Fox News is going to have to hire lawyers to defend the accuracy of its “Fair and Balanced” against MoveOn.org’s silly and abusive complaint (see Jul. 20), how many other media outfits are going to need to worry about backing up their puffish slogans? David Giacalone, guest-posting at Legal Underground, has a funny post (Jul. 24) listing various newspaper slogans that publishers might wish to reconsider, from the Atlanta Journal’s “Covers Dixie Like the Dew” (substantiation, please) to the Toledo Blade’s “One of America’s Great Newspapers — In One of America’s Great Cities”.
Siccing the law on Fox News
Given its role in campaign speech suppression, we’ve long associated the goo-goo group Common Cause with scary assaults on free speech, so we can’t say we’re exactly surprised at this latest: in a petition to the Federal Trade Commission, it and the leftist MoveOn.org are alleging that the Fox News Network should be exposed to penalties for consumer fraud for using the slogan “Fair and Balanced” while repeatedly broadcasting views strenuously disapproved of by C.C. and MO.O. (Jake Coyle, “Fox News’ use of ‘Fair and Balanced’ challenged legally”, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, Jul. 19; Charles Geraci, “Activists Ask FTC to Take Action Against Fox News”, Editor and Publisher, Jul. 19). Fox “doesn’t have the right to market its network services to prospective viewers and advertisers by masquerading as a news network,” claims former FTC chairman Michael Pertschuk, who we’re very relieved held that position way back in the Carter era rather than more recently. (Albert Eisele and Jeff Dufour, “Under the dome: ‘Fair and balanced’ fight: Lefties hit Fox with FTC petition”, The Hill, Jul. 20). No word yet on whether equally inflamed right-wingers plan to haul the New York Times off to the authorities for using the slogan “All the News That’s Fit To Print”, which is no more believable than Fox’s (via Amy Ridenour). More: Jul. 26.
“Attorney loses lawsuit over Super Bowl show”
“Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during the Super Bowl halftime show may be a lot of things, but it’s apparently not worth $5,000. A judge rejected a Utah lawyer’s claim that CBS owner Viacom should pay him $5,000 for having to see Jackson’s bared breast during the Feb. 1 show. Eric Stephenson, contending false advertising, sued Viacom in small-claims court.” (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, May 27). On the earlier Boobgate lawsuit by Terri Carlin of Knoxville, Tenn., see Feb. 5, Feb. 8 and Feb. 14.