Oprah Free to Say “Own Your Power”

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty ruled that Oprah Winfrey may use the phrase “Own Your Power,” ending a trademark battle that started in 2011.  Ruling in favor of Oprah, the judge found that Oprah demonstrated that the phrase “lack[ed] the requisite distinctiveness” to warrant trademark protection.

The suit was brought by Simone Kelly-Brown, a motivational speaker and business coach, who runs Own Your Power Communications, Inc.  She argued that the phrase was registered in 2008.  Then in 2010, the Oprah …

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Settle with Cheerleaders for $825k

On Friday March 6, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reached a cash settlement with their cheerleader squad, ending an almost year-long wage dispute.

Last May, Manouchcar Pierre-Val, a Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleader during the 2012-2013 season, filed a lawsuit against the team claiming unfair wages and treatment.  According to the lawsuit, Pierre-Val and other cheerleaders were paid less than $2 per hour.  The cheerleaders received $100 per game, but were not compensated for practice time, charity events, clinics, and shooting their swimsuit calendar.  Though unpaid for …

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NFL’s Goodell Says Mea Culpa for Super Bowl Seating Problems

A taped deposition of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was played for jurors at the Super Bowl XLV seating trial.  In the recording, Goodell blamed the league, not the Dallas Cowboys, for the fiasco that left over 400 ticket holders without seats at all while other affected ticket holders had seats with restricted views.

When asked whether the Cowboys and owner should be held responsible for the seating problem, Goodell responded,

“I’m not blaming others. I’m blaming ourselves. I’m accepting responsibility. It is

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The Secret Is Out: How Much Artists Make on a Hit Like “Blurred Lines”

$16.6 million.  That is the profit that the hit song “Blurred Lines” has generated since its release.  While the profitability of a song is highly guarded secret in the industry, Robin Thicke was forced to reveal the number during the copyright infringement trial.  Of the total profit, he and Pharrell Williams each took over $5 million.

The copyright infringement dispute arose when the family of deceased “Got to Give It Up” singer Marvin Gaye sued Thicke over allegedly ripping off Gaye’s song.  Arguing …

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TSN Broadcasts Inappropriate Trade Deadline Tweet Sparking Legal Controversy

On Monday March 2, TSN mistakenly rebroadcast a distasteful tweet about Toronto Maple Leafs players Joffrey Lupul, Dion Phaneuf, and Pheneuf’s wife – actress Elisha Cutherbert.  Now, the rebroadcast could cost TSN and the tweet’s author a “significant amount.”

TSN is a Canadian sports television network, widely known for its coverage of hockey and the NHL.  On Monday, the network was broadcasting live coverage of the NHL’s trade deadline on a segment called TradeCentre.  It encouraged viewers to live tweet their thoughts and comments using …

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Super Bowl Seating Trial Underway; Angry Fans Claim NFL Greedy

On Monday, March 2, a jury was selected and the trial finally began in the 2011 Super Bowl seating snafu lawsuit that was brought by eight plaintiffs seeking damages for their unsatisfactory experience at the game

In 2011, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl held in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington Texas.  Some ticket holding patrons, however, missed it.  The eight plaintiffs in this lawsuit, in addition to 200 other plaintiffs in a second pending lawsuit, are suing …

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San Jose Takes MLB Antitrust Case to Supreme Court

As anticipated, the San Jose City Council unanimously voted to appeal the antitrust case challenging MLB’s antitrust exemption.

The dispute arose when San Jose’s attempt to relocate the Oakland Athletics to the South Bay was halted by the MLB’s territorial restrictions.  In the lawsuit, the city argued that the territorial rule granting the San Francisco Giants club the right to block the A’s relocation as well as alleged stalling by an MLB relocation committee violated antitrust laws.

After the district court dismissed the suit, the …

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Seth MacFarlane Sued over Talking Bottle Opener

The Ted and Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane along with Universal Pictures, Media Rights Capital and Target found himself in a legal trouble when Michael Cram who claims to be the inventor of a talking bottle opener filed a copyright infringement suit over a promotional talking bottle opener included in the special edition Blu-ray/DVD of Ted.

In a suit filed on February 25, Cram claimed that he invented the no-button talking bottle opener as well as the talking beer mug and has sold them …

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Former NFL Players Object to CTE Benefits Cutoff Date for Incentivizing Suicide

On Friday, February 27, ten former NFL players objected to the revised settlement proposed in the long-running NFL concussion injury litigation.

The objectors, dissatisfied with the recent amendments made February 13, mainly take issue with the “arbitrary cutoff date” for players’ families to receive benefits when a player dies with CTE.  Originally the plan was to pay $4 million in benefits to the families of players who died with CTE prior to July 7, 2104.  Under the most recent proposal, the cutoff date for …

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Judge Overturns NFL Arbitrator’s Denial of Peterson’s Appeal

U.S. District Judge David Doty found that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had no authority to retroactively apply the NFL’s new policy and that NFL arbitrator Henderson “simply disregarded the law of the shop and in doing so failed to meet his duty under the [Collective Bargaining Agreement signed on August 4, 2011].”  The judge remanded the case to follow further proceedings under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement.

Peterson had been suspended until at least by April 15 pursuant to the new personal conduct …

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