Saturday, July 30, 2016

The Little Guy Wins One!!

The last time I wrote about Jack Urbont's legal saga against Ghostface Killah and Sony Music it was to tell you that Mr. Urbont's appeal slogged on. Slog on it did ... and Mr. Urbont won! Well, he only won on one issue, but it's the big one. His federal copyright infringement claim still lives.

You could read the 32 page opinion here. Or you could read my shorter, breezier and wittier analysis here. As I said over a year ago:

I am, admittedly, a stupid guy, but the asserted facts in this case are too unclear for me to figure out exactly what happened. The preemption argument is stronger than the work for hire argument but even there, is it really clear what RZA copied from? So I don't think either side will win a motion for summary judgment--there's a genuine dispute.

The Court of Appeals also took the District Court judge to task on procedural issues (required joinder y'all!) and her substantive analysis of the case. They also threw shade at the District Court's legal research skills:

The district court characterized the presumption that the work was made for hire as “almost irrebutable” and held Urbont’s claims to a “clear and convincing” burden of proof. Urbont, 100 F. Supp. 3d at 353. It is the law of this Circuit, however, that the plaintiff need only establish the existence of a contrary agreement by a preponderance of the evidence. Playboy Enters., Inc., 53 F.3d at 554–55.

That might sound dry to laypeople's ears but it's a legitimate benchslap. And it completely upends my understanding of the little guy and his relationship to the big guy. Of course, Mr. Urbont could still lose after further discovery and trial. Bur for now he's going to bibbily bop some more. Because if your heart is in it right you'll bibbily bop all night.

17 comments:

rob said...

i think you should write some lyrics and pitch them to mr urbont for his follow up diss track.

zman said...

In case you wondered, Khizr Khan wrote that speech himself, which isn't surprising given that he's a Harvard-trained attorney.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/07/29/us/elections/khizr-humayun-khan-speech.html?_r=0

rob said...

even more impressively, he gave the speech with no teleprompter and no notes.

rob said...

guy walking across the parking lot at my local supermarket, preppy shorts, white polo shirt, pistol strapped to his hip. just 'cause he can.

Clarence said...

You should have challenged him to a duel.

rob said...

fuck. opportunity lost.

Danimal said...

T. Perdue sighting?

rob said...

i laughed.

where is ol' trav living these days?

Danimal said...

RVA

Clarence said...

Danimal, T Walt sighting at the 10th annual FlynnFest yesterday.

Also, Clarence played crap golf and had a blast remembering one of the best friends he ever had. And threw back two dozen cold ones and got called a son of a bitch by Flynn's mom multiple times and got shiitake shitted with Flynn's widow and laughed and reminisced into the evening. It's called making the big man proud.

Danimal said...

Oh man. That's awesome. I saw a couple pics on the fb today and assumed you were there but certainly not Walt and Buckles.
Great showing. I only have a couple of handfuls of memories with Flynny, but a couple handfuls more than most so I will take 'em. Rest up.

rob said...

did clarence deserve to be called a son of a bitch? never mind. don't answer that.

Mark said...

Sketches of plans being made for a December mini-Summit in DC/Baltimore. I suggest other Gheorghies get in on it.

zman said...

Venue? Event?

zman said...

Reporting live from Osaka. It is 169% humidity and hot. I need an albuterol inhaler.

zman said...

Fifty minutes from airport to hotel in moderate but briskly moving traffic. At least ninety five percent of the cars were Japanese. I saw one American car. One. Everything is a small box like a Nissan Cube, a minivan, or a station wagon/hatchback. I saw maybe five SUVs.

Mark said...

I'm intensely jealous of Zman being in Japan. It's #1 on my vacation wish list. I understand he's not on vacation but still, I'm jealous.