Every “funny” uncle knows at least some of the classic “Who’s On First?” comedy routine made famous nearly 80 years ago by the duo of William “Bud” Abbott and Lou Costello. But can you repeat large chunks of the well-known baseball-themed bit verbatim in a Broadway show without violating copyright? Two courts have said yes you can, but for very different reasons. [More]
lawsuits
Court Throws Out “Who’s On First?” Copyright Lawsuit Against Broadway Show
By 10.12.16 — Updated: 10.31.16
Regal Can’t Stop Studios From Letting Upscale iPic Theater Show New Movies
By 10.11.16
If you’re a movie studio, you want as many people as possible to pay to see your films. If you’re a movie theater chain, you don’t want competing theaters to showing the same movies you’ve got, especially if that competitor has luxury features you don’t offer. But is it legal to use your leverage as the nation’s biggest theater chain to stop movie studios from licensing their films to the newer, fancier kid on the block? [More]
Navy Federal Credit Union Ordered To Pay $28.5M Over Bad Debt Collection Practices
By 10.11.16
Navy Federal Credit Union offers customers — current and former military servicemembers and their families — a wide range of financial products and services, including loans that must be repaid. But when those customers fell behind on those payments, federal regulators allege that NFCU illegally threatened borrowers and restricted access to their accounts. To resolve these allegations, the company must now pay $28.5 million in refunds and penalties. [More]
Appeals Court Calls CFPB Structure Unconstitutional; Throws Out $109M Penalty Over Alleged Mortgage Kickbacks
By 10.11.16
Since its creation as part of the sweeping financial reforms of 2010, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has, through settlements and enforcement actions, returned billions of dollars to Americans who were wronged by financial institutions. But consumer advocates say a new ruling from a federal appeals court threatens to undercut the Bureau’s independence and its ability to hold banks, credit card companies, mortgage lenders, and others accountable. [More]
5-Hour Energy Loses One Deceptive Advertising Case; Wins Another
By 10.10.16
More than two years ago, the attorneys general for Washington and Oregon each filed separate (but very similar) deceptive advertising claims against the makers of the popular 5-Hour Energy drinks, alleging that the ads misled consumers into believing that doctors recommend the product, and that the combination of ingredients provides some sort of benefit that is superior to just drinking coffee. In the last few days, judges in both those cases came to very different decisions. [More]
Pharmaceutical Companies Accused Of Colluding To Delay Generic Version Of Popular Cholesterol Drug
By 10.10.16
If you’ve got a patent-protected drug that’s bringing in more than $1 billion a year in sales, you stand to lose a significant chunk of that revenue when the patent expires and lower-cost generic versions come on the market. A California prosecutor alleges that a number of drug companies illegally colluded in a nearly decade-long “pay-for-delay” deal intended to prevent the release of a cheaper competitor to a popular cholesterol drug. [More]
UPDATE: Court Overturns Judge’s Order Barring Uber & Lyft In Philadelphia
By 10.7.16
This week, a Common Pleas court judge in Philadelphia issued an order barring ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber’s UberX from operating in the city. This afternoon, an appeals court has overturned that order, allowing these companies to offer rides in Philly (which they hadn’t stopped doing anyway). [More]
Fox News Anchor’s Toy Hamster Lawsuit Quietly Scampers Away
By 10.6.16
Just over a year ago, a very odd lawsuit made the news: a Fox News anchor was suing toy maker Hasbro over a toy hamster. Harris Faulkner objected to the existence of a Littlest Toy Shop collection toy hamster named… Harris Faulkner. This was either a really weird coincidence or some very niche cross-marketing on Hasbro’s part. The case has now ended, though we don’t know whether there was a financial settlement. [More]
McDonald’s Accused Of Stealing Late Artist’s Work To Make Fake Graffiti On Restaurant Walls
By 10.6.16
Seven years after artist Dash Snow passed away, his estate is accusing McDonald’s of brazenly swiping one of his signature designs to use as fake “graffiti” decor on eateries around the world. [More]
Charter Files Lawsuit To Slow Rollout Of Google Fiber In City Where It’s Not Even Offered Yet
By 10.5.16
Seven months after AT&T went to court to put up a roadblock to the deployment of Google Fiber in Louisville (even though it’s not yet a market for Fiber), the folks at Charter have laid down their own legal challenge, accusing the city of being unconstitutionally biased in favor of Google and AT&T. [More]
Pediatricians, American Cancer Society Take FDA To Court Over Delayed Graphic Warning Labels On Cigarettes
By 10.4.16
It’s been more than seven years since the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act became law, directing the Food and Drug Administration to bolster warnings on tobacco labels and to create graphic warning images to be printed on cigarette packaging. Even though the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the tobacco industry’s challenge to these labels in 2013, they have yet to materialize. In an attempt to force the FDA’s hand, a coalition of doctors, public health advocates, and anti-smoking groups have filed a lawsuit against the government. [More]
Lawsuit: PepsiCo’s Naked Juice Drinks Mislead Shoppers About Ingredients, Sugar Content
By 10.4.16
Should a drink called “Kale Blazer” have kale as its primary ingredient? When something says “no sugar added” on the label, do you think that means the beverage is low in sugar? These and many other questions may eventually possibly be answered by a new lawsuit filed against PepsiCo. [More]
Feds Accuse Bar Of Charging Cover Fees To Non-White Customers
By 10.3.16
Federal law prohibits restaurants and bars from discriminating against customers on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin, but prosecutors say a popular Houston bar actively discouraged non-white customers by, among other practices, demanding cover charges that were not required of white customers. [More]
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Arguments On Possible Pay For NCAA Athletes
By 10.3.16
Nearly exactly a year after a federal appeals court ruled that the NCAA’s amateurs-only requirement violates federal antitrust laws — while simultaneously shutting down a plan to pay certain college athletes for their work — the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to not hear any further appeals in this dispute. [More]
Comcast Fights Back Against Washington State’s Potential $3.6B Deceptive Service Plan Lawsuit
By 10.3.16
In August, Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson slammed Comcast with a potentially massive lawsuit, accusing the cable/internet giant of violating state consumer protection laws nearly two million times by using allegedly deceptive marketing for its Service Protection Plans. Now, Comcast is firing back at Ferguson, claiming the state’s complaint is “premised on a profound mischaracterization of Comcast’s actual business practices.” [More]
Scammy, Bankrupt “USA Discounters” To Pay $96M For Targeting, Then Suing Armed Forces Customers
By 9.30.16
Two years ago, we told you about the not-at-all a discount retailer called USA Discounters that targeted active-duty servicemembers, and not only trapped a number of them in high-cost installment payment plans but then sued customers who fell behind, knowing it was highly unlikely the customer would ever be able to defend themselves. Since then, the company has changed its name, only to go bankrupt, but that hasn’t stopped prosecutors from coming after it. Today, the defunct retailer reached a multi-state settlement deal that could result in USA Discounters customers receiving millions of dollars in forgiven debt. [More]
NC Mall Wants To Evict Sears For Low Sales, Lack Of Effort
By 9.30.16 — Updated: 10.3.16
Sears had a deal with the Holly Hill Mall in Burlington, NC that isn’t unusual: the retailer gave the mall a small percentage of its sales instead of paying a fixed rent. That amount has evidently fallen over the years as the popularity and business prospects of Sears fell, and now the mall has sued Sears for failing to keep up its end of the lease. [More]
Mom Sues JetBlue After Airline Flies Unaccompanied 5-Year-Old Son To Wrong City
By 9.30.16
September began with news of a New York City mom whose unaccompanied 5-year-old son somehow ended up on the wrong JetBlue flight, and now the month comes to an end with that mom filing a lawsuit against the airline that misrouted her child. [More]
