Tag Archives: contract

“Former” NFL Star Tackles Celebrity Lawsuits

Rashard Mendenhall #failwhale

Following the reports of Osama Bin Laden’s death in May of 2011, Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back Rashard Mendenhall took to twitter in an attempt to curb the Nation’s enthusiasm. The remark not only earned him public backlash, but also got him cut from his endorser Hanesbrands’ roster. Mendenhall retaliated in July of the same year by filing a lawsuit against the corporate clothier for terminating his contract. His argument: Does a public figure concede the right to express an opinion that may not coincide with the views of the brand he or she endorses?
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Happy Day for Former Sitcom Cast

TV turnaround

Queue the jukebox: the ol’ gang just got an increase in allowance.

Happy Days actors Anson Williams, Don Most, Marion Ross, Erin Moran, and the estate of the late Tom Bosley have settled with CBS and Paramount over a contract dispute from April, 2011. Potsie and co. believed they had not received proper royalties for the sales of Happy Days merchandising that used their images, including comic books, T-shirts, and trading cards. (Yes, nearly three decades after Happy Days aired its last episode, they still make comic books and trading cards with the characters.) The actors’ contracts included clauses that gave 5% of proceeds from any merchandise holding their image and 2.5% if they’re shown as a group, but they claim that CBS and Paramount never included merchandise figures in revenue statements provided to the actors. CBS and Paramount’s counterclaim was that, under a separate agreement with the Screen Actors Guild, the companies were allowed to use images from the show to promote sales of DVDs without paying the actors any extra royalties.

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Business v. Class Action

How much are you signing away to get that sweet, sweet 1994 Toyota Tercel?

An article in the New York Times caught my attention today. It’s about the fallout from the 2011 Supreme Court decision in AT&T v. Concepcion, which stated that corporations can write clauses into contracts to prevent class action lawsuits. To do this, the clauses require customers to settle disputes through arbitration (instead of in an actual court of law) and to relinquish their right to litigate as a class. In effect, the contracts waive the customers’ right to due process. Since that decision, the legal world has changed. For the better or for worse?

Keep reading the full post to see what’s up with these clauses and to learn a tip on how to get around them.