Last Minute Hall of Fame Games Cancellation Result in $5M Suit

Fans acted swiftly after seeing their long awaited Hall of Fame Games at the Tom Benson Hall of Fame stadium cancelled. Ticketholders have filed a proposed class action suit in Ohio federal court claiming breach of contract and requesting reimbursement for travel, lodging, tickets, concessions, and other expenses totaling $5 million.

The annual popular preseason event hosted adjacent the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio is a weekend long happening that includes the induction of new hall of famers. This year the Indiana …

August 20, 2016 Litigation / MLB

Can a Baseball Fan Argue Fear is Sufficient Injury in Class Action?

On July 11, 2013, Gail Payne filed a class-action lawsuit against Major League Baseball (MLB) in the Federal District Court in Northern California. Payne claimed the MLB did not do enough to “protect fans from fast-moving balls and splintered bats.” Payne and the class members were seeking injunctive relief: to create better protections to MLB fans by adding more netting to stop foul balls and broken bats along the first and third-base lines.

The lawsuit referenced a study by Bloomberg News in 2014, which reported …

August 16, 2016 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / Litigation

Do Monkeys Have the Same Copyright Interests as Humans?

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is not backing down in its fight for copyrights for monkeys. This fight began about five years ago when a photographer, David Slater, was in Indonesia taking pictures of monkeys when Naruto, a now famous monkey, grabbed his camera to snap a selfie. Since then, Naruto’s renowned “Monkey Selfie” has appeared on websites and in a book.

PETA sued Slater arguing that Naruto has the same rights in his photograph as any human would have in their …

August 15, 2016 Litigation

“Buff” Bagwell Sues WWE for Royalties

Former professional wrestler Marcus “Buff” Bagwell sued World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) on Tuesday, August 9, alleging Bagwell and other wrestlers were denied royalties by WWE. Specifically, the proposed class action suit claims WWE sold pay-per-view content and matches through the WWE Network, a Netflix-type streaming service for fans, and breached contracts with the wrestlers by not paying royalties.

Bagwell claims his World Championship Wrestling (WCW) contract stated he would receive royalties for pay-per-view videos he appeared in through video cassettes, discs, and CD-ROMs, as …

August 13, 2016 Litigation

Sanders Requests Second Chance in School Lunch Lawsuit

Former professional football star Deion Sanders has asked a federal court in Texas to reject a default judgment against him in a lawsuit alleging the misuse of subsidized lunch funds at Prime Time Prep Academy, a charter school co-founded by Sanders and D.L. Wallace. The default judgment was entered because of the failure of Sanders’ attorney, John D. Nation, to respond in a timely fashion to an amended petition by plaintiff Lawrence Smith. Nation claims he received a copy of the amended petition in question, …

August 12, 2016 Litigation / NCAA

NCAA Significant Payout Marks a First in a Brain Injury Suit

In 2011, a Division III football player died from an injury he suffered during preseason practice. Almost five years later, the NCAA and Frostburg State settled his family’s wrongful death suit for a “landmark” $1.2 million. The family’s attorney stated, “This is a landmark settlement not just because it is the first brain-injury case that the NCAA has agreed to pay a significant amount of money to resolve, but also because the stakeholders of football are now on notice that they have an obligation to …

August 10, 2016 Litigation

Suit Claiming HBO Stole the Plot of “Ballers” Gets Dismissed

In 2007 and 2008, two Hollywood screen writers, Everette Silas and Sherri Littleton pitched an idea for a film titled “Off Season” to potential producers. The film was supposed to portray stories about famous and flashy football players and their involvement with illegal activities. After a series of meetings about the film, the writers were told that Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) were interested in developing “Off Season.” However, when the contract for the project was released, it included a verbal agreement that …

August 10, 2016 Litigation / NCAA

NCAA Unhappy with O’Bannon Support in Antitrust Suit

Following the Ninth Circuit decision that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) violated antitrust laws by denying students compensation for the use of their likeness, the NCAA petitioned the Supreme Court to hear its appeal. In an unexpected turn of events in the O’Bannon v. NCAA lawsuit, the NCAA is arguing that O’Bannon is secretly in favor of the NCAA bid.

In the Ninth Circuit ruling, the court in essence maintained that student-athletes should be compensated for the use of their name and likeness. However, …

August 9, 2016 Litigation

New York Federal Judge Removes Some Damages from Tattoo Company’s Copyright Suit Against NBA 2K Video Games

On August 1, 2016 a New York federal court dismissed all statutory damages and attorney’s fees claims against Solid Oak, a tattoo company, in their copyright infringement suit against Take-Two Interactive. Previously, Solid Oak had sued the makers of the NBA 2K video game over the use of their tattoos on NBA players in the video game. In the video game, Ink on players including LeBron James, Kenyon Martin, and Eric Bledsoe are realistically depicted, even though Solid Oak are technically the copyright holders …

August 9, 2016 Litigation

Will Baylor Succeed in Dismissal of Title IX Claim?

Baylor University, the world’s largest Baptist college, faces further upheaval and complications with regards to a Title IX claim filed in March 2016. Jasmin Hernandez had enrolled at Baylor when a former football player, Tevin Elliott, raped her at an off-campus party in 2012. In 2014, the court convicted Elliott of two counts of sexual assault and sentenced him to twenty years in prison.

In March 2016, Hernandez filed her Title IX lawsuit against Baylor, the former athletic director, Ian McCaw, and head football coach, …