Entertainment Law News
- No Doubt is suing Activision Blizzard over the use of the band’s likeness in the game “Band Hero.” According to the lawsuit, the band had a licensing agreement with Activision, but the videogame maker went out of bounds by allowing game-players to have No Doubt perform songs by other bands and do other crazy stuff. Here’s the full complaint.
- Capitol Films top executives David Bergstein and Ron Tutor are facing more legal trouble. The pair are being sued by a group of investors who provided most of the money for the company to make and sell films. The plaintiffs seek reimbursement of about $120 million, citing personal guarantees on loans made by the executives.
- The MPAA is barking at the FCC’s door with various requests. On Wednesday, the movie industry association filed a brief pushing for a waiver to be allowed to implement selectable-output control technology to disable less-secure analog outputs on HDTV sets. The MPAA argues that the move would allow studios to securely transmit first-run movies sooner to consumers. Last Friday, the MPAA sent the FCC another letter that recommended the agency adopt rules encouraging ISPs to get tough on pirates, including disconnecting repeat offenders.
- EMI is suing Bluebeat.com for selling unauthorized digital music from The Beatles. Many were surprised when the US website began offering Beatles tracks for 25 cents since the band and label have never been able to reach an agreement with Apple’s iTunes store. The defendant is offering an extremely unusual defense, basically arguing they own the copyrights to the works it sells.
- IATSE has reached a settlement with the American Film Institute over accusations the latter attempted to discourage concession workers from joining the union. The deal ensures that the AFI Fest in Los Angeles will go off without labor strife.
- We now know the answer to the question: Is there anything TMZ wouldn’t post? Miss California USA Carrie Prejean has settled a lawsuit with pageant officials after reported revelations of a “sex tape.” TMZ says it obtained the “video months ago but decided not to post it because it was so racy.”
New Sports Law Book
Hat Tip to Sports Law Blog:
There are a number of terrific sports law case books available, and there is a new one that joins them: Peter Carfagna’s “Sports and the Law: Examining the Legal Evolution of American’s Three ‘Major Leagues” (West, 2009).
Peter’s book is devoted to the sports law of Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association. It is very clear and relatively short (167 pages, not including appendixes; appendixes include the MLB Uniform Player Contract, the NFL Standard Player Contract, and the NBA Uniform Player Contract) — it addresses all of the key decisions and also provides useful practical materials, such as an actual naming rights agreement between the Red Sox and Anheuser-Busch (pages 125 to 135).
Peter has also just published Representing the Professional Athlete (West, 2009), another excellent work. This one is about hands-on training for acting as a player agent.
Peter teaches sports law at Harvard Law School and has a long and storied career in the industry, including serving as chief legal officer/general counsel of IMG.
Entertainment Law News
- Lucasfilm continues to pursue a British designer who sculpted the Stormtrooper helmets in the first “Star Wars” film. Last year, a British court ruled that Andrew Ainsworth had violated Lucas’s U.S. copyright by selling replicas of the Stormtrooper uniforms worn by the Empire, but rejected the copyright claim under British law, saying the costumes were not works of art. Lucas won a $20 million judgement against Ainsworth in California court in 2006, but the British judge has refused to enforce the decision, saying that U.S. sales are not significant enough. Lucas is appealing the decision that the suits are not works of art.
- A fight has erupted over credit for the book that inspired the new film, “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” John Sergeant, a documentary-maker, says he spent two years in Los Angeles researching and gathering material for a TV series that spawned a bestselling book by Jon Ronson. A lawsuit may be in the cards, but for now, Sergeant is attempting to get one of the film’s stars, George Clooney, involved in settling the dispute.
- The heirs of George and Ira Gershwin have filed lawsuits in separate Los Angeles courts against Warner/Chappell Music over how to divide foreign royalties from hits including “I Got Rhythm” and “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.” The lawsuits emanate from warring factions of the Gershwin family who each claim the publisher is favoring the other side. Warner/Chappell has filed its own suit in an attempt for resolution.
- Joann Wiggan, a former phone company employee, has been convicted of lying to FBI agents in connection to its wiretapping probe of Anthony Pellicano.
Entertainment Law Docket
- Did James Cameron take his idea for “Avatar” from a 1957 novella? A number of websites have started remarking about the film’s plot similarities to Poul Anderson’s “Call Me Joe.” (1, 2, 3, etc.) One lawyer examines if Cameron has some copyright trouble on his hands. Probably not, says attorney Maxwell Kennerly, although he mentions that like everyone else Cameron was once sued by sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison over “Terminator.”
- Key Brand Entertainment is suing Live Nation and Ambassador Theatre Group of orchestrating a phony bidding war and violating a bidding rights agreement in the sale of 17 theaters. Key Brand says that it should have won the bidding, but Live Nation tipped off Ambassador at the last moment on the amount they needed to bid to win the theaters without triggering matching rights.
- The Interactive Advertising Bureau has come out strongly against a new bill that would expand the Federal Trade Commission’s ability to bring civil lawsuits and create new rules. Mike Zaneis, the vice president of public policy at the IAB calls the legislation a “fast track vehicle for expansion of the FTC.”
- The heirs of Jamaican reggae superstar Bob Marley have hired a Canadian company to aggressively protect trademark rights to the Marley brand. Forbes magazine says the Marley name generates $600 million a year in unlicensed sales and just $4 million in legal sales.
- Kate Winslet has settled a libel claim against the Daily Mail for reporting she lied about her exercise regime. The newspaper agreed to pay the actress 25,000 pounds.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled the confirmation hearings for Victoria Espinel’s nomination as the first U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator for tomorrow at 2 pm.
- Business Insider lists 10 iPhone Apps every lawyer should have. Apps include the ability to keep track of CLE hours, a way to log billable hours, the Federal Rules of Procedure, Black’s Law Dictionary, and oddly, Tetris. We suppose that lawyers get some enjoyment out of figuring out where to fit quickly-descending puzzle pieces.
Entertainment Law News
- “Thriller” director John Landis filed a lawsuit yesterday against Michael Jackson’s estate for $2.4 million in unpaid profits he alleges are due to him. Landis sued Jackson himself this past January, among a long list of people who took the King of Pop to court. Now that Jackson is deceased, all those with outstanding claims, including by Jackson’s former manager and former doctor, are re-filing against the estate.
- A jury has awarded $16 million to the family of a woman who died of water poisoning during a radio contest. Entercom Sacramento, which operates KDND 107.9 “The End,” was found negligent for ignoring several warnings that the water-drinking contest could be dangerous.
- Comcast continues to make progress in buying a big stake in NBC Universal. According to Reuters, the biggest stumbling blocks to a deal at the moment are governance and exit provisions for GE’s 49 percent stake. One possibility being floated is an option for GE to sell all or part of its stake to Comcast within seven years.
- Can the FCC do anything to rescue the ailing media market? The FCC has appointed Steve Waldman to a post that will “assess the state of media in these challenging economic times and make recommendations designed to ensure a vibrant media landscape.” Waldman is co-founder of Beliefnet.com and a former national editor at US News & World Report.
- Facebook was awarded $711 million by a California district court in a default judgment against self-described “spam king” Sanford Wallace. The judge also found that the defendant willfully violated a restraining order and referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
- A Stockholm District Court has ordered two of Pirate Bay’s founders to pay a big fine or close down the website. However, the defendants say they no longer have any control over Pirate Bay’s operations and say they will appeal.
- UK’s second largest ISP is threatening to sue the government if it implements a new law that requires households to be disconnected for repeat copyright infringement violations.
Hayden Christensen Suing for Pay-or-Play Deal Gone Wrong
From thresq.com:
Hayden Christensen and his brother Tove have filed a lawsuit against a producer who claimed to have secured $250 million for the production and distribution of independent films.
Third Annual SELS Charity Poker Tournament
SELS is pleased to announce our Third Annual Charity Poker Tournament. This event will take place on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. in the Student Lounge at the FIU College of Law. The buy-in for the event is $20 per person and the winner’s charity will receive all of the proceeds in the winner’s name.
The event will feature food from Chick Fil-A, which is included with your entry fee. In addition, we will be serving desserts and refreshments, all included with your entry fee. The game will be No Limit Texas Hold Em’ Poker and will continue until a winner is declared.
The top finishers will receive prizes for their efforts. Prizes include: A 2 day/1 night hotel stay at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, located in Hollywood, FL, $50 Best Buy gift card, and others.
If you are interested in participating in the event, please email or contact Philip Bennett at pbenn001@fiu.edu
Disney in some hot water
By Eriq Gardner of www.thresq.com:
A California District Court is allowing a case to proceed to trial that claims The Walt Disney Co. has dumped contaminated waste near its Burbank studios for decades.
WTA launches match-fixing and gambling probe
Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, a tale of great sportsmanship has instead turned into an investigation of gambling, match-fixing and tennis integrity.
Caroline Wozniacki, a 19-year-old Dane ranked sixth in the world, retired from the first-round match at the Luxembourg Open with a hamstring injury on Wednesday while leading Anne Kremer of Luxembourg 7-5, 5-0.
Wozniacki’s father, Piotr, told his daughter at 3-0 in the second set to retire before winning because her injury would prevent her from playing in the next round. His comments, apparently spoken in his native Polish, were picked up by microphones and heard by viewers watching the match on the Internet …
… The father’s comments during the match led to a surge in online bets for Kremer to win.
Wozniacki did a tremendous thing for Kremer by allowing her to advance to the second round in front of her hometown fans. As she explained:
I could possibly have finished the match, but felt there was no way I could get ready for the second round on Thursday, so I chose the sporting way and let her go through. She’s also [playing] at home.
For her selfless actions, Wozniacki has earned an investigation from the Tennis Integrity Unit. Because there were a number of bets made after her father’s comments were picked up by the microphones, the WTA became concerned that there was something nefarious about Wozniacki’s retirement.
The British gambling exchange site Betfair, which allows clients to make mid-match wagers, says it did not have any concerns about the match.
Article located here.
New Advertisement raises the ire of Disney
The x-rated advertisement, for Jamieson’s Raspberry Ale, depicts the fairytale heroine blowing smoke rings while lying in bed with seven semi-clad dwarves.
In this Disney dystopia, Snow White has been renamed “Ho White”, while the loveable dwarves Sleepy, Happy and Doc are rebranded Filthy, Smarmy and Randy – supposedly to represent different types of drinkers.
Campaign creators The Foundry claimed the idea was to convince Australian drinkers that the fruit-flavoured beer was “anything but sweet”.
However, the advertisement has reportedly angered Disney, the entertainment giant which licenses Snow White.
The Foundry said it had had “a little bit of contact” with Disney over the issue, according to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
The Foundry’s website had featured pictures of “Ho White” but links to the campaign appeared to have been disabled and the campaign’s official website, anythingbutsweet.com, could not be accessed.
Australia’s Food Week website speculated that this may be due to a copyright infringement.
Disney, which released the famous animated Snow White feature in 1937, was not immediately available for comment.
However, it is unlikely that the company, which runs the family-friendly Disney theme parks and is known for its cartoon feature films aimed at children, would agree to Snow White’s image being used to sell beer.
Article located here.
Radio Public Performance Bill Passes Senate Committee
Legislation to make radio stations pay royalties to performers when they broadcast their music won the Senate Judiciary Committee’s approval Thursday.
Satellite radio, Internet radio and cable TV music channels already pay fees to performers and musicians, along with songwriter royalties. AM and FM radio stations just pay songwriters, not performers.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said the bill corrects a glaring inequity. “When we listen to music, we are enjoying the intellectual property of two creative artists — the songwriter and the performer,” he said.
The bill enjoys star-studded support. Entertainers Tony Bennett, Sheryl Crow, will.i.am, Herbie Hancock and Patti LaBelle have all made visits to Capitol Hill to lobby for it. But it also has some powerful opposition, the National Broadcasters Association, which argues that performers already benefit because radio stations playing their work drive listeners to buy music and concert tickets.
The Judiciary Committee’s approval on a voice vote sends the bill to the full Senate, but lawmakers said they still want to make changes before a vote. A similar bill is pending in the House after winning the approval of its Judiciary Committee in May.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called the bill a job killer and said it would hurt small and minority-owned radio stations already struggling in the hard economic times. He said he feared many of them will just switch to all-talk formats rather than pay more royalties.
Leahy said he amended the bill to accommodate smaller broadcasters by allowing them to pay a flat fee annual fee ranging from $100 to $5,000 based on their revenues. Public radio and other noncommercial stations would pay between $100 and $1,000 in new royalties.
Larger commercial stations that make more than $1.25 million would pay a rate set by the federal Copyright Royalty Board.
Broadcasters that make less than $5 million would start paying fees three years after the bill becomes law. Stations that make more would have to start paying the fees a year from enactment.
Article located here.
Are Ringtones Public Performances? Judge says “No”
Wednesday, a court quashed ASCAP’s argument that ringtones constituted a “public performance” for purposes of copyright liability, ruling that “when a ringtone plays on a cellular telephone, even when that occurs in public, the user is exempt from copyright liability, and Verizon is not liable either secondarily or directly.”
Ringtones were at one time thought to revive the music industry and it seemed that people were willing to put more for a ringtone than they were for a full version of the song on iTunes.
Since cellphone users were exploiting songs this way, performance rights organizations like ASCAP and BMI came to the table demanding royalties from the “public performance” of a song. Earlier this year, Verizon challenged this assessment by filing a lawsuit in New York District Court.
Here is the decision by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
According to Nielsen RingScan, sales of ringtones and ringbacks fell almost 23 percent last year, from more than $700 million in revenue to less than $550 million.
Chris Bosh wins cybersquatting case
Bosh, a popular, 25-year-old power forward who plays for the Toronto Raptors (seen here with Raptors coach Jay Triano), recently won an intellectual property dispute over a website name, allowing him to own the site chrisbosh.com and opening the door for hundreds of other athletes to take control of their own sites.
The issue started when Bosh, wondering why someone else had the rights to chrisbosh.com before him, decided to challenge a “cybersquatter,” or a person who attempts to profit from someone else’s trademark via Internet. Before this got resolved, Bosh used chris-bosh.com.
In this particular case, Bosh alleged that Luis Zavala was wrongfully using his name — and the names of about 800 other athletes and celebrities — as web domain names. The biggest celebrity included in the cybersquat was Britney Spears. The sports figures ranged from college basketball players to NBA All-Stars like Phoenix’s Amare Stoudemire and Orlando’s Rashard Lewis. There were also several sites under the names of players from the University of Notre Dame and University of North Carolina basketball teams, including Tyler Hansbrough. To scroll the entire list, click here.
Because domain names can help generate visibility, there can be a great deal of money attached to using someone else’s name for a domain name, Bosh’s attorney, Brian Heidelberger, said. “We’d guess that [Zavala] made a pretty significant amount,” said Heidelberger of Winston & Strawn.
The Law Blog could not immediately reach Zavala for comment.
Bosh and his law firm, doubting Zavala would pay the $120,000 awarded by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper for the violation of Bosh’s rights under the Federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, instead asked for the rights to the 800 domain names Zavala previously had been using.
Heidelberger said his client wasn’t necessarily angry — just interested in getting his name back. “That was the main thing he wanted,” he said. “And when he knew there was an opportunity to help out all these other people, too, he decided to push for that.”
Bosh’s legal team argued that Zavala was able to garner so many domain names because he kept tabs on highly touted players from a young age, hoping they’d blossom to the point where there’d be demand for a personal website. Indeed, Zavala had several websites that took on the names of high-school basketball players.
Article continued here.
WWE vs. Wine School: Trademark Dispute
WWE has reportedly threatened legal action against the Wine School of Philadelphia for their use of the word “Smackdown” in a contest pitting professionals against students.
The Wine School is labeling their contest “Sommelier Smackdown.” The Philadelphia City Paper reports the contest “pits a professional sommelier’s food and wine pairings against those of a member of the Wine School team, with the students voting for the winner.”
WWE issued a cease-and-desist letter to the school. Keith Wallace, the director of the school, says he’s not going to let WWE CEO Vince McMahon and his attorneys bully him.
“They don’t have a leg to stand on. I am not going to bow down to a bully,” Wallace said in a press release. “They claim that they own the term ’smackdown,’ but they don’t.”
According to the U.S. government’s trademark office, the Wine School filed a trademark for the term “Sommelier Smackdown.” WWE believes this is an infringement on their ownership of the trademark “Smackdown.”
WWE’s threat of legal action comes less than two weeks after the company hyped the ten-year anniversary of the weekly Smackdown show and released a commemorative DVD on the top 100 moments in Smackdown history.
“Smackdown” has become a common word used in news reports and formal writing. The Merriam-Webster dictionary has included the word since 1997, which is around the time “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson popularized the word. The dictionary lists four separate definitions. One of the definitions includes “a confrontation between rivals or competitors.”
Article located here.
We’re Having a Bake Sale!
SELS is having a Bake Sale in the Student Lounge on Thursday, October 15th from Noon-7 p.m., so make sure to stop by and support SELS and get some tasty treats! All items will be fresh and home-made and will include: Rice Krispy Treats, Brownies, Cupcakes, Cookies, and more! Be sure to bring your appetite and your money! See you there!
NFL Players Union opposes Rish Limbaugh’s bid to buy the Rams
NFL Players executive director DeMaurice Smith on Saturday made a move to solidify the union against a bid by conservative talk show radio host Rush Limbaugh as part of a group that aims to purchase the St. Louis Rams.
In an e-mail to the union’s executive committee on Saturday specifically addressing Limbaugh’s bid, Smith said, “I’ve spoken to the Commissioner [Roger Goodell] and I understand that this ownership consideration is in the early stages. But sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends. Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred.”
Limbaugh and St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts are among six potential ownership groups that have discussed buying the Rams. League sources say the current sale price has ranged from $700-to-$750 million but that there did not appear to be an imminent transaction.
On Sunday, Smith briefly elaborated, “This communication is more about what we stand for than the reality of our role in any franchise sale. While it’s true the subject matter was related [to Limbaugh's bid], I do understand that the NFL does not present ownership bids to me or the NFLPA. I encourage our players to express their views.”
At least seven NFL players have publicly opposed Limbaugh’s interest in purchasing the Rams with Checketts. In Smith’s communication Saturday with his executive committee, the union leader encouraged players to speak their mind on all matters, including Limbaugh’s bid.
“I have asked our players to embrace their roles not only in the game of football but also as players and partners in the business of the NFL,” said Smith in the e-mail. “They risk everything to play this game, they understand that risk and they live with that risk and its consequences for the rest of their life. We also know that there is an ugly part of history and we will not risk going backwards, giving up, giving in or lying down to it.
“Our men are strong and proud sons, fathers, spouses and I am proud when they stand up, understand this is their profession and speak with candor and blunt honesty about how they feel.”
Limbaugh has expressed a number of controversial racial ideas in the past. For example, he suggested that Gen. Colin Powell supported Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy simply because he was black, and he also stated that the media wants black quarterbacks to do well and that Donovan McNabb doesn’t deserve much of the credit he has received for the Eagles’ success.
Among the half-dozen interested buyers of the Rams, there are strong African-American ownership groups interested in buying the Rams, including businessmen Donald Watkins and Dave Steward.
The league has maintained it does not publicly address potential franchise sales. All transactions, when formally presented after a thorough background check, are decided by the 32 owners by vote.
Article located here.
Is Rolling Stone allowed to sell T-shirts of its former covers?
From www.thresq.com:
Most musicians would love to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. Back in its heyday, a cover spot was even worth millions of dollars in record and concert sales.
According to a complaint filed in California district court, the plaintiffs claim Wenner violated the trademarks and rights of publicity for numerous “Live Nation Artists” in connection with merchandising sold at Macy’s and Wal-Mart.
Agents want FIFA to stay out of transfer violations
FIFA want to drop their position as the world’s highest authority on cross-border transfer disputes, according to the UK’s leading agents who have revealed the new proposals to ESPN Soccernet.
ESPN Soccernet has learned of one of the most radical moves in world football which would see a major change in the way international transfer violations are dealt with.
FIFA have privately confessed that they cannot cope with the deluge of complaints and disciplinary cases and want to hand it over to the individual football associations, and they have the backing of some of the game’s most powerful agents.
Europe’s top agents are actively lobbying in favour of removing the responsibility of investigating complaints and rule breaches from FIFA and hand them back to domestic associations.
Three well-known football agents, in a position of authority and privvy to the talks, spoke to ESPN Soccernet about this revolution behind the scenes; Mel Stein, Jerome Anderson and Jon Smith.
Mel Stein, one-time agent of Paul Gascoigne, who, as a lawyer, represents First Artist Corporation and is a leading light in the Association of Agents, told me: “It seems FIFA may be dropping out of regulation and leaving it to the FAs.
“We at the AFA would be happy with that, though ideally we would like to be able to self regulate with an appeal process to the FA. I do think that the less FIFA are involved with anything to do with UK agents, an industry they have never really understood, the better.
“The UK industry is in my view the best ordered of all agents’ industries worldwide and we really don’t need external European interference.”
Jerome Anderson, who specialises in handling Arsenal players, from Thierry Henry to Ian Wright, is currently vice-chairman of the European Association of Football Agents and on the board of the domestic AFA. The London-based super agent is wholly in favour of the plans to change the landscape of transfer discipline.
Article continued here.
1st DCA upholds trial court’s ruling in Florida State public records case
A unanimous three-judge panel ruled records in Florida State University’s fight with the National Collegiate Athletic Association should be made public.
The opinion, written by 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Philip Padovano, upholds a lower court’s decision. The ruling rejects NCAA arguments that the documents are not public records, that student-privacy laws preclude their release and that requiring their release violates the NCAA’s constitutional rights.
“The right to inspect a public record in Florida is not one that is merely established by legislation, it is a right demanded by the people,” Padovano’s opinion reads. Judges Peter Webster and Nikki Anne Clark concurred in the decision.
Media organizations filed suit in June to force release of the documents. They were made available to FSU attorneys on a secure, copy-protected Web site. The lower court, and now the appeal court, ruled that the documents became public record when agents of the university viewed them in conjunction with official business.
Earlier court comments indicate the NCAA will seek to appeal the ruling to the Florida Supreme Court.
A 350-page transcript of an October 2008 hearing of the NCAA’s committee on infractions remains secret. Its release, ordered by Circuit Judge John Cooper’s previous ruling, was blocked by a stay for the duration of the appeal. The 1st DCA judges have not yet ruled on the stay that remains in place.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum wrote the NCAA earlier in the year saying the documents were public records and ordering them released. McCollum’s office has since filed briefs in the lawsuit favoring release.
“The 1st District’s decision emphasizes the importance of applying the public records laws to new and evolving technologies and serves to enhance our state’s reputation as a leader on Sunshine issues,” McCollum said in a release.
Padovano’s opinion emphatically shot down the NCAA’s multiple defenses.
Public records are not defined by their means of transmission, Padovano wrote.
Article continued here.
NBA Refs Locked Out: Season to start with replacement referees
The NBA told its teams in a memo Tuesday that it was proceeding forward with plans to use replacement officials in the upcoming season after referees shot down the latest offer from the league.
Locked out NBA referees voted 43-14 to decline the league’s proposal, and a changed vote by one member of the union’s executive board played a major role in scuttling the deal, ESPN.com learned Tuesday.
The vote took place Sunday in Washington as the league’s 57 referees met to review a new offer made by the league last Friday.
Sources told ESPN.com that executive board members Joey Crawford, Bob Delaney and Bill Spooner initially voted to accept the proposal, while officials Steve Javie and Bennett Salvatore gave it a thumbs-down.
But Spooner then switched his vote, the sources said, and the entire body of refs voted 43-14 to decline — a sequence of events that prompted lead negotiator Lamell McMorris to announce Monday that he was withdrawing from the talks.
Negotiations for the union are now in the hands of McMorris’ associate, Brian Lam, and as of 8 p.m. ET Tuesday there had been no further discussions between the league and the union.
ESPN.com also learned details of the concessions made by the NBA in its most recent proposal, made at a secret negotiating session held in Philadelphia last Friday that included deputy commissioner Adam Silver representing the NBA.
The league agreed to cut the number of game assignments given to D-League and WNBA referees from 75 to 50 (it had previously asked for 100), and it made changes to its severance proposal that would have allowed six current referees to retire over the next two seasons with severance checks of $575,000 rather than the $350,000 previously proposed.
Also, referees with fewer than 10 years of service who chose to retire during the proposed two-year labor agreement would be eligible for severance payments from $50,000 to $100,000. The NBA’s earlier offers on severance payments excluded that group.
“On Friday of last week, we reached an agreement in principal on the terms of a new two-year collective bargaining agreement with the negotiators for the National Basketball Referees Association,” the league told teams in a memo that was obtained by ESPN.com and other news organizations.
“On Sunday night, the membership of the NBRA voted to reject that agreement. As a result, we have no expectation of concluding a timely labor contract with the NBRA, and are proceeding with replacement referees.”
Article continued here.
Amicus Briefs filed in American Needle v. NFL
Friday was the deadline for the filing of amicus curiae briefs supporting the petitioner, American Needle, in American Needle v. NFL. According to the Supreme Court’s docket, the following amicus briefs were filed:
- A joint brief filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, available here.
- A brief by a group of economists including Rodney Fort, Brad Humphreys, Roger Noll, James Quirk, Stefan Szymanski, and Andrew Zimbalist, available here.
- A brief by the players’ unions in the four major sports (i.e., the NFLPA, MLBPA, NBAPA, and NHLPA), available here.
- A brief by the American Antitrust Institute and the Consumer Federation of America, available here.
- A brief by the National Football League Coaches Association, available here.
- A brief by the Merchant Trade Association, available here.
NBA to unveil new social media policy
The NBA will this week introduce what it considers “minimal” guidelines for players, coaches and team officials when using Twitter and other social networking sites, according to sources with knowledge of the policy.
The primary restriction of the policy is expected to prevent various team representatives from tweeting during games, after the stir caused late last season when Detroit Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva, then with Milwaukee, tweeted from the Bucks’ locker room during halftime.
One source described the forthcoming policy as “very minimal” and “less stringent” than the guidelines announced earlier this month by the NFL, which now regards players, coaches and football operations personnel — or any third party representing them — to be in violation of league rules if they use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook from 90 minutes before kickoff through the end of the standard post-game access period for media interviews.
Individual NBA teams, though, will have the right to impose their own standards that might be more strict, as seen with the NBA dress code where some teams in the past have mandated more formal apparel — such as suits on team flights — than league rules dictate.
The source said that the NBA’s new policy, furthermore, will treat social-networking commentary in the same manner as comments made in the traditional media, which means that anyone in the league can be fined or otherwise sanctioned for posts via Twitter, Facebook, etc., that are deemed over the line.
Villanueva was not fined by his team or the league last season but was forbidden by Bucks coach Scott Skiles from tweeting again during games. Mobile-phone usage in the locker room and on team buses has long been frowned upon in the NBA, but the severity of restrictions generally vary from team to team given the rise in recent years in texting and e-mailing from handheld devices.
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban received the NBA’s first-ever fine for comments he made via his Twitter account, when Cuban was docked $25,000 last March after complaining about the referees’ refusal to call Denver Nuggets guard J.R. Smith for a technical foul following a clash between Smith and then-Mavericks guard Antoine Wright.
Article continued here.
Grambling State Coach resigns; Lawsuit on the horizon?
Grambling State men’s basketball coach Rick Duckett will resign, the school announced Friday, nearly a month after one of his players died following a supervised conditioning session.
Henry White, 21, became ill at a preseason session on Aug. 14 and died on Aug. 26 at a hospital in Shreveport, La. The university and an attorney for White’s family both say they are investigating, according to reports in the Monroe News Star and the Ruston Daily Leader.
White, a prep standout in Milwaukee, transferred to Grambling for the 2009-10 season from Hill Junior College in Texas.
Duckett has been placed on administrative leave through Oct. 31, when his employment officially ends, the university said, according to the reports.
Earlier this week, WISN-TV in Milwaukee, White’s hometown, reported White’s family claims the players were made to run in 104-degree heat without water.
“We start from a position that it’s very troubling that the university was running these athletes at 2 p.m. in August in Louisiana,” said Larry English, a Shreveport-based attorney representing the family, according to the News Star.
Duckett, a former assistant to Dave Odom at South Carolina and head coach at Division II Fayetteville and Winston-Salem State, was 6-23 overall and 4-14 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference in his one season at Grambling.
Article located here.
Petitioner’s Brief in American Needle v. NFL available for download
American Needle filed its opening brief Friday for their Supreme Court case against the National Football League. The brief is available for download here.
The litigation is highly anticipated because of its far-reaching Antitrust issues and the fact that this decision will likely have an effect on every other professional sports league in the United States. There will be more updates to come once the litigation proceeds further.
NBA Refs’ Lockout “Imminent and Unavoidable”
Last week, I blogged about the looming NBA Referees’ Lockout that appears to be on the horizon. After weeks of talking between the Union and the league, it appears now that it will come to fruition. A spokesman for the Union called the lockout “imminent and unavoidable” yesterday. It appears that this situation will not be resolved in the future and could continue into the NBA season. Here is an excerpt from the ESPN.com article:
NBA referees expected a lockout to be “imminent” after negotiations Wednesday between their union and the league failed to produce a new collective agreement.
After rejecting the league’s latest offer by a vote of 57-0 at their meeting in Chicago on Wednesday night, the union and league exchanged further counterproposals Thursday, with the union claiming to have made $1 million in additional financial concessions.
But the talks ended at an impasse, and lead union negotiator Lamell McMorris said there remained a crucial unresolved dispute over the same retirement benefit issue, relating to severance pay, that caused commissioner David Stern to abruptly end a formal bargaining session nine days earlier.
A source close to the talks said there were other unresolved issues, too, including the use of D-League and WNBA referees in regular-season NBA games, a separate pension issue concerning employer vs. employee contributions to referees’ retirement plans, and myriad other comparatively minor dollars-and-cents issues pertaining to salaries, per diems, and medical and dental benefits
“It looks like a lockout is both imminent and unavoidable,” McMorris said. “We have suspended dialogue again today. We’ve been in constant communication, but it’s not going to happen.”
“I am not optimistic,” lead NBA negotiator Rich Buchanan told ESPN.com. “Based on what happened today, I’m surprised and disappointed.”
Technically, the referees are not yet locked out.
But their training camp is scheduled to begin Sunday in New Jersey, and McMorris said the 57 current referees would not attend if they do not have an agreement in principle to replace the labor agreement that expired Sept. 1.
The first exhibition game is Oct. 1 in Utah, and the NBA faces the prospect of using replacement officials for the first time since 1995.
With talks at an impasse, McMorris and the referees gathered at an airport hotel outside Chicago on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss strategy and attempt to move the process forward. But the talks collapsed by mid-afternoon and the referees were sent home.
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