Post by domenicaflor on Nov 13, 2004 10:38:26 GMT -5
This came over Yahoo this morning. THe mothership is being sued for defamation stemming from their "ripping from the headlines". I gues this means all the L&O shows will have to display their standard disclaimer that the show does not reflect any actual persons or situations....yadda yadda. I don't suspect that the complainant has a real case here, but I don't know about specific laws and precidents for media portrayals and slander.
D.
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story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=9&u=/ap/20041113/ap_on_en_tv/law___order_lawsuit
N.Y. Lawyer Sues 'Law & Order' for $15M
1 hour, 2 minutes ago
By SAMUEL MAULL, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - A lawyer sued the producers of the television show "Law & Order" for $15 million Friday, claiming they defamed him by portraying him as a crooked attorney in one "ripped from the headlines" episode.
Ravi Batra said the show titled "Floater" maliciously inflicted emotional, economic and professional injury on him.
The episode initially focuses on the husband of a woman whose decomposed body is found in the Hudson River. Detectives investigate the husband's alibi — and find a corruption scandal at the courthouse where the wife worked. The scandal includes her divorce lawyer and a judge who has heard a suspiciously large number of the lawyer's cases.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, where Batra is well-known in legal and political circles, investigations by the Brooklyn district attorney's office have resulted in arrests for the alleged fixing of matrimonial cases by judges and lawyers, and for the alleged sale of consultancies and appointments to judgeships.
The lawsuit says the "Floater" episode featured an Indian-American, Brooklyn-based lawyer named Ravi Patel who has similarities to Batra — including a bald head and facial hair.
People who know Batra and saw the episode "were disturbed and distressed by the story line of criminal conduct attributed to plaintiff (Batra) by defendants," court papers say.
Batra's lawsuit names 35 defendants, including "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf and NBC Universal. A spokesman for Wolf referred calls to NBC Universal spokesman Curt King, who said the studio hadn't seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment on it.
"But this episode, like all 'Law & Order' episodes, is fictional," King said.
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D.
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story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=9&u=/ap/20041113/ap_on_en_tv/law___order_lawsuit
N.Y. Lawyer Sues 'Law & Order' for $15M
1 hour, 2 minutes ago
By SAMUEL MAULL, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - A lawyer sued the producers of the television show "Law & Order" for $15 million Friday, claiming they defamed him by portraying him as a crooked attorney in one "ripped from the headlines" episode.
Ravi Batra said the show titled "Floater" maliciously inflicted emotional, economic and professional injury on him.
The episode initially focuses on the husband of a woman whose decomposed body is found in the Hudson River. Detectives investigate the husband's alibi — and find a corruption scandal at the courthouse where the wife worked. The scandal includes her divorce lawyer and a judge who has heard a suspiciously large number of the lawyer's cases.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, where Batra is well-known in legal and political circles, investigations by the Brooklyn district attorney's office have resulted in arrests for the alleged fixing of matrimonial cases by judges and lawyers, and for the alleged sale of consultancies and appointments to judgeships.
The lawsuit says the "Floater" episode featured an Indian-American, Brooklyn-based lawyer named Ravi Patel who has similarities to Batra — including a bald head and facial hair.
People who know Batra and saw the episode "were disturbed and distressed by the story line of criminal conduct attributed to plaintiff (Batra) by defendants," court papers say.
Batra's lawsuit names 35 defendants, including "Law & Order" creator Dick Wolf and NBC Universal. A spokesman for Wolf referred calls to NBC Universal spokesman Curt King, who said the studio hadn't seen the lawsuit and couldn't comment on it.
"But this episode, like all 'Law & Order' episodes, is fictional," King said.
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hey mettlea i kind of cant belive it myself gjeez you sort of think that he would proablly have better things to do( like pay his court costs).