This article first appeared in Entertainment Law Matters, a Frankfurt Kurnit legal blog.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a lawsuit.Muhammad Ali Enterprises (MAE), owner of the famed boxer's intellectual property and publicity rights, is suing Canadian digital reading device manufacturer, Kobo Inc. ("Kobo"), for using Ali's slogan "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee," without permission. In its complaint, MAE accuses Kobo of making unauthorized commercial use of its registered trademark for the slogan in a New York Times advertisement. MAE claims that Kobo featured the phrase as its "attention getter" by making it "the most prominent wording on the page." To establish Ali's and his slogan's recognition, MAE quotes a 2011 study which ranked the boxer as first among all athletes in familiarity among 12-64 year-old Americans. MAE further describes its highly selective licensing process for the phrase, listing Gatorade, Epson, and Intel as prominent companies which have licensed it for use in various commercial campaigns. MAE is seeking an injunction against further use of the advertisement, as well as damages.
Latin Jazz musicians sue the Grammys for cutting their category. Four Latin Jazz musicians filed a class action lawsuit in state court in New York after the organizer of the Grammy awards, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, eliminated the Best Latin Jazz Album award category. "The concern is [that] by lumping several categories together, it makes it much easier for larger record labels and those artists who have already gained recognition to dominate," one of the plaintiffs said. In their complaint, the musicians accuse the academy of harming their career by depriving them of the opportunity to be nominated for or win a Grammy. According to the complaint, the category was started in 1995 to bestow "a long-overdue recognition to the highly-regarded artistic work of musicians who blended the improvisatory leaning of jazz with the native music and cultures of the Caribbean and Central and South America." The musicians are seeking class action status and are hoping that more artists will join them. The recording academy has issued a statement describing the lawsuit as "frivolous" and "without merit."
Judge allows athletes' publicity rights suit to proceed. A federal judge rejected Electronic Arts' motion to dismiss antitrust claims alleged against it in a class action lawsuit filed by former college basketball and football stars. The athletes alleged that the NCAA and its licensing arm, the College Licensing Company, conspired with Electronic Arts (EA) to fix prices on student athlete compensation, preventing plaintiffs from the ability to control and profit from the use of their publicity rights. According to the plaintiffs, the NCAA and CLC licensed out the athletes' images, likenesses, and names to EA and included in the contract a provision setting athletes' compensation at zero. Although EA's video games identify the athletes only by number, they permit players to upload rosters containing the athletes' names and statistics. Rejecting EA's motion to dismiss, the federal judge pointed out that EA agreed to go beyond the NCAA's rules against current student athlete compensation by not offering compensation to former student athletes. Trial is set for March 2013.
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