Monthly Archives: February 2015

D’oh! Simpsons Settle with Hologram Company

Mmm, lawsuits.

The Simpsons are going to court! Well, they were planning on it, until reaching a settlement. 20th Century Fox recently came to an out-of-court settlement with a special effects company over a 2-minute hologram of the popular cartoon character, Homer Simpson. Appearing at Comic-Con, an entertainment-themed convention in California, Homer’s hologram told several jokes and interacted with Simpsons’ creator Matt Groening, much to the amusement of everyone other than Hologram USA. The company claims that they have an exclusive patent to the technology behind the hologram, and that without their consent or approval, Fox owes them a monetary fee. The groups were able to meet and come to an agreement, although the terms were not immediately disclosed. Read more

Former Hockey Star Sues Referee on the Fly

A frosty relationship

Professional athletes and referees have never gotten along too well, but an NHL legend is bringing this disagreement with an official to the next level. Former Philadelphia Flyer Eric Lindros is suing referee Paul Stewart for defamation of character after the ref’s comments in an article for the Huffington Post. Early in the 1990’s, Stewart and Lindros had a disagreement during a game, which played into the controversial incident. Stewart claims that after the game, he approached the 19-year-old Lindros and asked him to sign some posters for a charity event. The referee claims Lindros ripped the posters in half, and proceeded to verbally assault him. The Flyer Captain has come out and defended himself, balking at the idea that he is unnecessarily hostile and not charitable. Lindros is seeking $250,000 from both Stewart and the Huffington Post for running the story. Read more

Birthday Suit Blues

Playing the world’s saddest song on the world’s smallest violin

A Hillsboro, Oregon man is suing the Portland police department over his arrest at the Mark O. Hatfield Courthouse in 2014. Twenty-five year old Matthew Mglej was playing his violin naked in front of the federal courthouse in downtown Portland while quoting former Iranian President Ahmadinejad as a protest. The police showed up after receiving several complaints about the demonstration. Read More

Melissa Rivers Files Malpractice Lawsuit

First do no harm

The untimely death of the legendary Joan Rivers during a routine procedure took the world by surprise, including her close knit family. “The city’s medical examiner found that Joan Rivers died of brain damage due to lack of oxygen after she stopped breathing during the endoscopy. Her death was classified as a therapeutic complication”. Melissa Rivers has filed a lawsuit with the Manhattan Supreme Court alleging incompetence on behalf of the doctors, and seeks unspecified damages. According to the lawsuit the doctors mishandled this procedure, and performed a separate procedure without the consent of the patient or her family. Concern was expressed during the procedure in regards to Rivers’ breathing, this concern went unaddressed.

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Tommy the Chimp is No Chump

Quit monkeying around

A unique case is taking place in the court of  appeals in New York, it is about whether chimpanzees are entitled to “legal personhood”. The defendant is 26-year-old Tommy, who is owned by a human and lives alone in what is described as a “dark, dank shed” in upstate New York. Tommy currently lives alone in a cage in a warehouse in Gloversville, New York. In December, Steven Wise, founder and president of  the Nonhuman Rights Project, filed writs of habeas corpus on behalf of four chimpanzees he believed were wrongfully detained. Wise compared chimps to human children when Presiding Justice Karen Peters asked him about how novel his theory really was. “Hey, I’m no animal rights freak, but if we’re extending the legal fiction of corporate personhood to include religious rights, we should at least give a creature with a 99 percent DNA match the right to not be locked in a shed. The standard really isn’t that onerous. If the courts fails to get this done  and based on the oral argument that seems likely  legislatures should take action to protect these creatures. But I wouldn’t hold my breath for that either.”

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