K&C Sports & Entertainment Law Weekly Roundup (June 25, 2024)

Sports:

• Under Armour on Friday said it has agreed to pay $434 million to settle a 2017 class action lawsuit accusing the sports apparel maker of defrauding shareholders about its revenue growth in order to meet Wall Street forecasts. The proposed settlement, subject to court approval, averts a scheduled July 15 trial in Baltimore federal court. Under Armour to pay $434 million to settle lawsuit over sales disclosures – CNN

NCAA

• Florida State’s lawsuit against the ACC will remain ongoing in Tallahassee after another ruling Friday. Judge John C. Cooper denied the Atlantic Coast Conference’s remaining motions to dismiss five counts in FSU’s complaint against the league. He did so via email — first reported by the Tallahassee Democrat — without explaining his rationale. The decision allows FSU to keep arguing its complaints about sovereign immunity, antitrust concerns and the unenforceability of the league’s grant of rights as it explores an exit from its conference home since 1991. Florida State lawsuit vs. ACC to remain in Tallahassee with new ruling – Tampa Bay Times
• A group of female college athletes sought to keep the National Women’s Law Center out of its transgender policy dispute with the NCAA, slamming the advocacy organization in Georgia federal court on Wednesday for its attack on the plaintiffs’ “legitimate views on biology.” Athletes Want Advocates Kept Out Of NCAA Trans Policy Fight – Law360
• Arguing that NLRB regional director Laura Sacks’ decision to recognize Dartmouth College men’s basketball players as employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act “will affect and have a far-reaching impact” on all “current and future” college athletes and “the NCAA membership as a whole,” the NCAA Thursday asked the NLRB for permission to file an amicus brief in support of Dartmouth. NCAA Urges NLRB to Side With Dartmouth Against Basketball Players – Yahoo Sports
• A state appeals court said Thursday that loyalty to Texas A&M is not enough to establish a fiduciary relationship between a university foundation and its donors, partially dismissing the donors’ suit over seating changes in the wake of 2013 football stadium renovations. Aggie Pride Doesn’t Create Duty In Donor Football Ticket Row – Law360

NFL

• A Stanford University professor of economics on Thursday told a California federal jury considering multibillion-dollar antitrust claims against the NFL that the league’s subscription deal with DirecTV and its method for distributing broadcast proceeds evenly to all its teams are procompetitive practices. NFL Sunday Ticket Is Procompetitive, Stanford Prof Tells Jury – Law360

GOLF

• The PGA Tour has created a special sponsor exemption for 15-time major champion Tiger Woods — and Woods alone — based on his “exceptional lifetime achievement,” the tour told its members in a memo Tuesday night. The sponsor exemption would be available for Woods to compete in the eight signature events, which feature limited fields, increased prize money and FedEx Cup points. PGA Tour creates sponsor exemption for Tiger Woods, cites ‘exceptional lifetime achievement’ – ESPN

MLB

• The Chicago Cubs are suing one of the rooftop owners outside Wrigley Field, accusing him of selling tickets for games and other events at the stadium without a license. Buildings along Waveland and Sheffield avenues have sold tickets under a licensing deal with the Cubs. The license for Aiden Dunican and Wrigley View Rooftop, 1050 W. Waveland Ave., has expired, but it continues to advertise and sell tickets this season, the Cubs claim in a federal lawsuit. Cubs accuse rooftop owner of selling tickets without a license: ‘No public right to a live Cubs game.’ – Chicago Sun Times

Entertainment:

MUSIC

• A Manhattan federal judge concluded that rapper and songwriter Megan Thee Stallion did not rip off music from a hip-hop producer to create her hit song “Savage” in 2020, saying the plaintiff failed to show that she and the other defendants had access to his composition or that the two songs are substantially or strikingly similar. Megan Thee Stallion song-theft lawsuit dismissed (completemusicupdate.com)
• Attorneys defending Madonna, Live Nation, and the Barclays Center against allegations that fans were “lulled” into buying tickets for a tardy show slammed the plaintiffs’ unannounced dismissal of the “frivolous” case, telling a NY federal judge Wednesday they don’t agree to bear their own costs and might seek sanctions. Madonna fans end lawsuit over late concerts; singer’s lawyers threaten sanctions | Reuters
• A CA judge refused to dismiss wrongful death claims against two members of Kiss and their manager alleging a guitar technician caught COVID-19 and died while on tour with the legendary rock back in 2021, according to an attorney for the tech’s family and estate. KISS – Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed By Family Of PAUL STANLEY’s Longtime Guitar Tech Moves Forward – BraveWords
• The 1^st Circuit ruled that members of musical groups, not their owners or managers, are due royalties as featured “recording artists” under federal law. 1st Circ. Says Song Royalties Go To Artists, Not Band Owners – Law360
• Live Nation‘s executives and directors were hit with a shareholder derivative lawsuit in CA federal court that seeks damages in the wake of the DOJ’s allegations that the company monopolized concert promotion and ticket sales following its 2010 merger with Ticketmaster. Live Nation Investor Sues Leaders Over DOJ Antitrust Claims – Law360

FILM & TELEVISION

• Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. agreed to settle its movie rights lawsuit against writers behind the Bad Boys movie franchise, according to a federal court filing. Columbia Pictures Settles Copyright Lawsuit Over Rights to ‘Bad Boys’ Story (hollywoodreporter.com)
• A NM state judge denied prosecutors’ request to grant immunity to a convicted Rust film armorer and compel her to testify at actor-producer Alec Baldwin‘s involuntary manslaughter trial in the fatal on-set shooting of a cinematographer. ‘Rust’ Armorer Won’t Testify At Alec Baldwin’s Involuntary Manslaughter Trial (deadline.com)
• A NY appellate court dismissed claims that HBO violated the state’s civil rights law when it used images of fashion model Anastassia Khozissova, without permission, in the network’s 2019 documentary about fashion designer Ralph Lauren and in the film’s trailer. HBO Sheds Liability Claim From Model in Ralph Lauren Documentary (bloomberglaw.com)

ART

• The highest bidder in an auction for a painting that might be a previously unknown work by Dutch master Vincent van Gogh is entitled to summary judgment for breach of contract against auction houses that have refused to turn it over to her, she said in a new filing in her state court lawsuit. High Bidder Insists Auctioneers Turn Over Potential Van Gogh – Law360