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Hall & Oates sue in NY over `Maneater' recording
Legal Topics |
2008/11/05 22:10
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| Daryl Hall and John Oates have filed a lawsuit saying their music publisher failed to protect their rights to their 1982 hit "Maneater." The pop duo's lawsuit says they learned in April 2007 that an unidentified singer-songwriter had used "Maneater" in a 2006 recording. The papers, filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, claim Warner/Chappell Music Inc. breached its publishing contract with Hall and Oates by refusing "in bad faith" to sue for copyright infringement. The singers seek unspecified money damages and want to terminate their agreement with Warner/Chappell. A Warner/Chappell spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment on Thursday. Hall and Oates' hits, which came mostly in the 1970s and '80s, also include "Rich Girl," "Private Eyes" and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)." |
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Court to decide on convict's right to test DNA
Legal Topics |
2008/11/03 22:09
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| The Supreme Court will decide whether, years after his conviction, a defendant has a constitutional right to test genetic evidence found at the crime scene. The justices, in an order Monday, accepted the appeal of prosecutors in Alaska. They asked the court to overturn a federal appeals court ruling in favor of William Osborne, who was convicted of rape, kidnapping and assault in an attack on a prostitute in 1993. The woman was raped at gunpoint, beaten with an ax handle, shot in the head and left for dead in a snow bank near the Anchorage International Airport. Osborne admitted his guilt under oath to the parole board in 2004. Another man also convicted in the attack has repeatedly identified Osborne as having participated in the crimes. The testing would be done on a condom and hairs found by investigators. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, said Osborne has a right to subject the evidence to advanced DNA testing that was not available at the time of his trial. Forty-four states and the federal government have laws that give convicts access to DNA testing, but Alaska does not. Osborne urged the court to reject the appeal, saying that because so many states have laws on the topic, it rarely arises in federal court. Prosecutors argued that even if testing determines that the hairs and sperm are not Osborne's, other evidence introduced at his trial is sufficient to leave his conviction in place. That matter is not before the high court. |
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Navy Refuses to Release McCain Car Crash Records
Legal Topics |
2008/10/20 16:39
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Journalists say the U.S. Navy refuses to release documents about a 1964auto accident in which then-Lt. John McCain was involved, and injured,along with another man, outside the main gate of the Norfolk Navy Base.The Navy allegedly located the documents but refused to release them tothe National Security News Service, because "the Navy contended thatthe records could only have historical value and could not become abreaking news story."
The news service says it is working ona story about McCain for Vanity Fair magazine, "including anexamination of his conduct in Norfolk and Portsmouth in the 1960s.Despite Senator McCain's prior 23 years of service as a Naval officer,the Navy has only released general summaries of his military career,"the federal FOIA complaint states.
It continues: "Plaintiffsand Vanity Fair have developed from first-hand sources informationindicating that Lt. McCain was involved in an automobile accident onHampton Boulevard outside the main gate of the Naval Base at Norfolk,VA in July 1964. Plaintiffs' investigation has disclosed thatresponding civilian law enforcement officers recall the accident, thatanother person was injured, and that a Naval officer dispatched amessenger to take a change of clothing to Lt. McCain at PortsmouthNaval Hospital. Plaintiffs have also obtained documents showing thatlaw enforcement officers were ordered back to the accident scene toretrieve personal physical effects. The Navy has never publiclyacknowledged this information.
"The fact of assignment toPortsmouth Naval Hospital, as to any Navy hospital, is a public recordnot protected by FOIA law or regulations." Nonetheless, plaintiffs say,the Navy refuses to release the documents, which it has located, on theabsurd claim that they "could only have historical value and could notbecome a breaking news story."
The news service and itsreporter Christopher Law want to see "releasable Navy records listingassignments of Navy personnel to Portsmouth Naval Hospital in 1964."
They are represented by Mark Nagle with Troutman Sanders. |
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Court Stays Guantanamo Prisoner Release
Legal Topics |
2008/10/09 16:27
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The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Wednesday stayed a federaljudge's order that the Bush administration free 17 prisoners fromGuantanamo. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina ordered the governmentto bring the prisoners to his court Friday, saying the administrationhad not proved they had broken any laws or were "unlawful enemycombatants." The three-judge appeals panel gave the Justice Departmentand the Uighurs' attorneys until Oct. 16 to submit briefs.
TheUighurs, Muslims who lived in China, face torture if deported there,Urbina said, so they must be released in the United States. Theirsupporters say a Pakistani tribe sold the men to the U.S. military forthe U.S.-offered bounty of $5,000 apiece.
Urbina's order on Tuesday set the Bush administration into a tizzy. |
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Tokyo Broadcasting Sues ABC for Ripping off Shows
Legal Topics |
2008/10/07 16:29
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ABC's "reality" show "Wipeout" is a ripoff of Tokyo BroadcastingSystem's shows, the Japanese network claims in Federal Court. TBS saysABC's show might "more aptly be titled 'Swipe-Out, given that it isnothing more than a blatant copycat combination of protected elementsstolen from plaintiff's ... shows 'Takeshi's Castle,' 'Most ExtremeElimination Challenge,' 'Sasuke,' 'Kunoichi,' 'Ninja Warrior' and'Women of Ninja Warrior.'
TBS' complaint continues: "From themoment ABC revealed 'Wipeout' to the public, that program has routinelybeen described in the press as a 'rip-off' and 'knockoff' ofplaintiff's shows. Apparently, ABC boldly decided that it need notobtain plaintiff's permission to use the content of the shows despitethe obvious need for ABC to do so. ABC's willful and wrongful use ofPlaintiff's shows to create 'Wipeout' is egregious, inexcusable and notto be tolerated."
TBS demands punitive damages for copyright violations and unfair competition. It is represented by Stanton Stein. |
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State Farm Won't Back Mean Mom
Legal Topics |
2008/10/06 16:45
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State Farm says a policyholder, a mother, suggested her daughter taunta girl the daughter doesn't like by writing insults, including "bitch,""whore," "slut" and "you have no friends," on disposable diapers andstrewing them about the girl's yard. The girl attempted suicide and washospitalized after the mom bought the diapers, helped write theinsults, drove her daughter to the victim's house and helped her strewthem in the yard, State Farm says. It claims it has no obligation todefend the woman.
State Farm claims that the defendant, JulieHefner-Phipps, admitted to police that she directed and participated inthe diaper insults.
The girl's family sued Hefner-Philips.
StateFarm says the victim tried suicide the day she saw the insultingdiapers, one of which stated, "move-bitch." She was placed in intensivecare and then sent to a psychiatric hospital.
State Farm saysit's not obligated to defend Hefner-Phillips because the policyexcludes "bodily injury or property damage ... which is the result ofwillful and malicious acts of the insured." |
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Judge Rejects Challenge to College Religious Displays
Legal Topics |
2008/09/30 15:57
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Religious displays in the bursar's office at Hunter College do not constitute a government endorsement of religion, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell dismissed a challenge brought by Herman Menes, a college accountant who said the collection of angel figurines, religious posters and holiday decorations on display at the city college violated his First Amendment rights.
Menes claimed the college transferred him from the bursar's department to the accounting department in retaliation for his complaints about the religious displays.
Holwell granted the college's motion for summary judgment, concluding that Menes "failed to offer evidence that any action or policy of any defendant, whether considered individually or in the aggregate, was undertaken with a non-secular purpose."
Menes also failed to establish a causal connection between his opposition to the office displays and his transfer, the judge ruled. |
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