Onetime Law Student Sues, Claims Beer Pong Prowess Wasn’t Meant for Prime Time
A Southwestern University law graduate says a beer ad featuring his beer pong trick shots was intended to be broadcast only on Danish TV, where it would remain in relative obscurity.
But Scott Tipton says in a lawsuit that the ad for Carlsberg beer he made as a law student ended up in a U.S. broadcast of World’s Funniest Commercials on TBS, according to stories by Courthouse News Service and THR, Esq. It was also used in a promotional commercial for the show that aired more than 100 times, according to the complaint (PDF posted by THR, Esq.) filed in Los Angeles superior court.
According to the suit, Tipton relied on the promise of a Denmark-only release “on the theory that potential employer law firms, and his conservative grandparents, would be none the wiser.” A co-plaintiff, an actor, says he accepted a smaller paycheck because of his belief that the ad would not receive wide distribution.
Tipton explains his embarrassment in a footnote that lays out the rules of of beer pong. A player attempts to throw a ping-pong ball from a distance into an opponent’s half-empty beer cup, and if the player makes the shot, the opponent drinks the beer. “There is a measure of skill involved but, as with all drinking games, the objective is that everybody drink substantial quantities of beer, and quickly,” the footnote says. “And, as with any physical activity, feats of notable skill are plainly indicative of abundant practice at such skill,” suggesting that large amounts of beer were ingested during training.
The suit claims misappropriation of likeness, unjust enrichment, negligence, breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith, and unfair competition.
A lawyer named Scott Tipton has a profile on LinkedIn that identifies himself as a document reviewer for a legal outsourcing firm and former legal intern at MTV and Warner/Chappell Music. The profile also says he is a graduate of Southwestern University School of Law. Tipton’s lawyer, Perrin Disner, confirmed that Tipton is a Southwestern law grad but refused to comment on his present employment.
“He is not Scott Tipton the congressman,” Disner offered.
Disner called back minutes later with a statement. “Plaintiffs weren’t celebrities but, of course, in addition to an expectation of privacy, private individuals are entitled to the same right of publicity that celebrities enjoy,” he said. “Checking the release granted by a performer in an original work, and supplementing it if necessary, is so simple and obvious a step that it should be automatic for any producer putting together a derivative work like this.”
