October 2008
Articles in this issue:
Celebrity Legal Issues: O.J. Alleged to have Committed Copyright Violation When He Described How He Did It. Boy, is He in Trouble!
Issue: Did O.J.’s Book “If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer” infringe upon the Plaintiff’s copyright for his 1995 Book in which the Plaintiff outlined his theory on how O.J. did it?
Pourtemour v. Simpson, No. CV-07-7308-RGK (C.D. Cal. March 4, 2008).
Virginia Legal Issues: Catch Me if You Can, Copper! Umm, Now That You’ve Caught Me, I Didn’t “Escape from Custody.” You Got No Papers on Me!.
Issue: Can a defendant be convicted for a felonious escape from custody where there is no written criminal complaint against him at the time of the attempted arrest?)\
Hubbard v. Commonwealth, 276 Va. 292, 661 S.E.2d 464 (2008).
A One, A Two, A One-Two . . . The Difference Between One and Two Makes All of the Difference.
Issue: Did a lease of a mountaintop for the erection of a telecommunications tower allow for the erection of a second tower?)
Nextel WIP Lease Corp. v. Saunders, 276 Va. 509, 666 S.E.2d 317 (2008).
National Legal Issues: Yum! Naked Cowboy M&M’s Just in Time For Halloween?
Issue: Did the Times Square “Naked Cowboy” state a claim for false endorsement under the Lanham Act against Mars, Inc. for dressing a blue M&M in “Naked Cowboy” garb on a Times Square video billboard?)
Burck d/b/a The Naked Cowboy v. Mars, Inc., 2008 WL 2485524 (S.D.N.Y., June 23, 2008).
A Note from Ed McPhillips
Gratuitous
Lawyer Joke
Two lawyers were out hunting when they came upon a couple of tracks in a clearing. After close examination, the first lawyer declared them to be deer tracks. The second lawyer disagreed, insisting they must be elk tracks. They were still arguing when the train hit them.
It has been more than two years since my last Newsletter, so I must urgently report that I am still bald. I apologize for the delay in producing another one of these missives, but I was in the process of writing another issue in November 2006 when my father’s health took a bad turn, and he died on November 22, 2006. Every time I started to work on a Newsletter since then, I have hit the biggest writer’s block since Norman Mailer’s head. That’s a literary and cultural joke that you’re free to ignore. Some of you knew my Dad; many of you did not. He was a great guy.
In the meantime, McPhillips Legal Research has been running smoothly. In addition to researching and drafting a steady flow of memoranda, pleadings, motions, contracts, trusts, and wills, I have prepared a Petition for Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court (pending) and many appellate briefs in the federal and state courts. Some have been successful, some have not. That’s also true of my attempts to have my children do as they are told, but I try to enjoy the successes more than I suffer the defeats. Or at least try to make it to cocktail hour.
* * Please let me know if there is anyone you want me to add to the mailing list for this Newsletter. A new subscriber could turn into a new client, or a new critic.