Canadian Football League Concussion Suit Decision Reserved

As concussions continue to be a hot-button topic in the world of sports (as has been written on several times in Sports and Entertainment Insider), the Canadian Football League (“CFL”) awaits decision in the CFL’s iteration of this ongoing battle.

Arland Bruce, a former wide receiver and veteran of five different CFL teams filed suit in 2014 which is believed to be the first of its kind brought in the CFL.  The lawsuit maintained that in September 2012 he sustained a concussion but was inappropriately …

Continue Reading

Sandusky Scandal: NCAA Rebuts Claims Answer was Insufficient

The NCAA is currently playing defense in a lawsuit brought by the estate of the late Joe Paterno, former head coach of Penn State University’s football team. The lawsuit alleges that the NCAA failed to adequately deny defamation, along with other claims in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal.

The estate now argues that the NCAA’s answer failed to include sufficiently specific denials of the estate’s allegations, thus the estate should be granted final judgment. The NCAA responded, claiming that “[d]espite …

Continue Reading

Bottom of the 9th: San Jose Appeals Ruling in Favor of MLB

In 2013, San Jose, California filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball, claiming violations of anti-trust laws. Specifically, MLB has refused to allow the Oakland Athletics baseball team to move to San Jose, as it asserts that the city falls within the geographic territory of the San Francisco Giants. On Wednesday, MLB asked the United States Supreme Court to uphold decades-old precedent exempting baseball from antitrust laws.

The Ninth Circuit based its ruling on a ruling by the Supreme Court itself from 1922 which exempted …

Continue Reading

Privileged Communications: Lance Armstrong Opposes Requests for Williams & Connolly LLP Documents

In a False Claims Act lawsuit filed by former professional cyclist Floyd Landis, he recently made a motion requesting the production of communications between his former teammate Lance Armstrong, law firm Williams & Connolly LLP, and Capital Sports and Entertainment Holdings Inc. The lawsuit accuses Armstrong and others of violating a sponsorship agreement with the United States Postal Service by using performance-enhancing drugs. The agreement was worth $40 million.

Attorney-client privilege may be overcome by proof that the communications at issue were made in furtherance …

Continue Reading

Beastie Boys Lose the Fight for their Right…to Full Attorneys’ Fees

On Monday, a federal judge awarded the Beastie Boys far less in attorneys’ fees than they had hoped for. This follows a lawsuit filed by the Beastie Boys against energy drink company Monster Energy Co. for the company’s infringement on Beastie Boys’ songs in a promotional video.

The Beastie Boys had initially requested $2.4 million in attorneys’ fees after their $1.7 million victory over Monster Energy. Instead, the judge’s ruling gave the group $667,000. The judge’s reasoning behind this was that the Beastie Boys chose …

Continue Reading

Turnover on the Play: NFL Players Lose Rights to Jury Trial in Financial Lawsuit

A federal judge in Florida recently ruled that several NFL players in a $53 million lawsuit against Branch Banking & Trust Co. have forfeited their rights to a jury trial. Branch Banking & Trust Co. is the successor to BankAtlantic LLC, a company that plaintiffs allege wrongfully allowed Pro Sports Financial Inc., a financial management firm, to withdraw upwards of $53 million without their knowledge or consent.

The question of whether or not each player had waived rights to a jury trial came down to …

Continue Reading

The Competitive Edge: Feds Set Sights on Cardinals for Astros Data Breach

Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday that the federal government is investigating the St. Louis Cardinals after the Houston Astros’ internal database – which stores information about player personnel and evaluations – was hacked. If St. Louis is found to be the perpetrator, it will be the first time in history that a professional sports team has been caught hacking into one of its rival’s networks.

Cardinals chairman and CEO Bill Dewitt Jr. issued a statement on Wednesday stating: “These are serious allegations that don’t …

Continue Reading

The Price Of Poor Security: California Judge Refuses To Throw Out Sony Employee Negligence Claims

On December 24, 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment was hacked by a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace, believed to be associated with North Korea. During the hack, personal information about Sony employees was compromised. Not long after, an action was brought by Sony employees against the company itself. The case is Michael Corona, et al. v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc.

The lawsuit claims that Sony’s negligence caused a massive data breach, and that the plaintiffs suffered harm in the form of expenses …

Continue Reading

WWE Takes A Jab At Data Transfer Efficiency Claim

A patent infringement suit was filed in Texas federal court in February by Orostream LLC against several companies including Fox News Network LLC, NFL Enterprises LLC, Target Corp., and World Wrestling Entertainment. The suit alleges that defendant companies infringed upon Patent No. 5,828,837, titled “Computer Network System and Method for Efficient Information Transfer.”

WWE recently filed for the invalidation of the part of the patent that Orostream LLC is claiming sports and entertainment companies are infringing upon through the use of their mobile content …

Continue Reading

Stuffed: Photographer’s Claim Against Nike Dismissed

Oregon District Judge Michael W. Mosman issued a ruling on Tuesday dismissing a lawsuit alleging that Nike Inc.’s “Jumpman” logo was an improper reproduction of a picture taken of Michael Jordan by the plaintiff photographer in 1984.

The judge wrote:

“[a]lthough at first glance there are certainly similarities between the two expressions of the pose, a closer examination reveals several material differences … In the context of thin or very close to thin copyright protection, these differences lead me to find that the

Continue Reading