Entertainment & Sports Law

1129 ABA Journal Entertainment & Sports Law articles.

Fan May Face IP Claim Over Dr. Who Knitting Patterns

A 26-year-old British fan of the BBC’s classic Doctor Who television show is facing a potential intellectual property claim over the knitting patterns she invented and distributed over the Internet for free, so fellow fans could create their own homemade versions of the show’s characters. Technically, it seems that the…

May 14, 2008 5:14 PM CDT

Dreier Forms Sports Marketing Affiliate

Dreier is launching a sports marketing and consulting affiliate, in conjunction with the law firm’s sports practice. Dreier Sports Opportunities Group will be headed by attorney Don Gibson, a former major league baseball executive, the firm reports in a press release. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based affiliate “will assist athletes and…

May 14, 2008 3:30 PM CDT

Celebrity Foreclosure Case: Jose Canseco

The national mortgage meltdown is reportedly affecting even major league baseball stars. Jose Canseco, 43, who retired from MLB in 2001, told Inside Edition he has lost his Encino, Calif., home after the TV show reported that it had foreclosure documents showing he owed $2.5 million on it, reports Reuters.…

May 1, 2008 9:48 PM CDT

What’s Unfair Today May Be Fair Tomorrow, and Vice-Versa

As claims of unauthorized steroids use in professional baseball and a number of other sports threaten the careers and records of world-class athletes—and have created at least potential criminal and civil liability for some for allegedly lying about the issue—other artificial treatments that arguably offer a comparable advantage are entirely…

Apr 30, 2008 4:00 PM CDT

Imagine: Yoko Ono in 2 Lawsuits Over John Lennon Rights

In two separate lawsuits, the widow of John Lennon is seeking to protect her late husband’s memory from commercial exploitation. Yoko Ono reportedly wants to force the removal of an excerpt from Lennon’s song “Imagine” from a documentary about Darwinian evolution and regain possession of a 1970 home video that…

Apr 24, 2008 11:19 PM CDT

‘No Deal’ For Ga. Couple in NBC Illegal Gambling Suit

In a victory for NBC Universal, the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a couple cannot recover the cost of text messages they sent in order to play along on the game show Deal or No Deal. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the ruling is a godsend to NBC,…

Apr 22, 2008 10:33 AM CDT

Law Firm Strikes Out as Yankees ‘Sponsor’

An athletic shoe company, a tire manufacturer, and even China’s largest dairy are sponsors of the New York Yankees. But a law firm? That’s what nine-attorney Manhattan personal injury firm Belluck & Fox was claiming earlier this week on the website HomeRunLegal.com. The site featured a photo of Yankee Stadium,…

Apr 16, 2008 11:47 AM CDT

How Entertainment Law Star Got Her Start—and Kept On Running

When Lisa Bonner graduated from law school at New York University in 1997, she knew she didn’t want to practice at a BigLaw firm. So, actively avoiding the opportunities to do so that await an NYU grad, she focused on becoming an entertainment lawyer instead, reports the New York Law…

Apr 14, 2008 9:46 PM CDT

J.D./Journalist Slapped With Restraining Order for Posting Pellicano Audio

Lawyer/journalist Allison Hope Weiner may have thought she was getting a scoop when she exited a Los Angeles courtroom during a break in the racketeering trial of P.I. for the stars Anthony Pellicano. Indeed, it was a hot story. But it was about her. Weiner was handed a restraining order…

Apr 3, 2008 9:06 PM CDT

Judge Dismisses ‘Borat’ Suit, Says Movie Is Vulgar But of Social Value

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a man who was chased down a New York City street by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in a scene in his move, Borat. The frightened man, Jeffrey Lemerond, contended in his lawsuit that the movie used his image without his consent…

Apr 3, 2008 2:24 PM CDT

DOJ Perjury Probe of Roger Clemens Sought by Congressional Committee

A Congressional committee has asked for a Department of Justice investigation of possible perjured testimony by Roger Clemens concerning his alleged use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter today to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey requesting the probe of…

Feb 27, 2008 6:56 PM CST

High Court Allows Expanded Arguments in Exxon Punitives Case

The U.S. Supreme Court is giving lawyers for both sides an extra 15 minutes to argue over the propriety of a $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The court will consider whether the verdict is excessive under maritime law in oral arguments scheduled for Feb.…

Feb 15, 2008 6:36 PM CST

Latest Roger Clemens Twist: McNamee’s Lawyer Says Bush Could Pardon Pitcher

Following a Congressional hearing earlier this week in which some observers felt committee members took sides along party lines with famed pitcher Roger Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee, the baseball steroids-use spat has taken a new twist. Even though no one has charged Clemens with lying over his…

Feb 15, 2008 4:41 PM CST

Writers Used YouTube To Drum Up Support

Writer’s Guild members used their strike time creatively—to drum up public sympathy, their chief negotiator says. Writers Guild of America-West President Patric Verrone, chief negotiator for 10,500 TV and film writers during the three-month strike, is an Emmy-winning producer-writer for the animated series Futurama. He’s also a member of the…

Feb 15, 2008 12:16 AM CST

Observers Doubt Clemens Testimony; Experts Predict Perjury Investigation

Someone had to be lying, as a former trainer testified before a congressional committee yesterday that famed major league baseball pitcher Roger Clemens had repeatedly used steroids, and Clemens insisted he didn’t. But who? The answer, some are saying today, is … Clemens. “His story doesn’t ring true,” contends Richard…

Feb 14, 2008 5:30 PM CST

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