Is Cumulus really the correct company for him to be suing? Susquehanna still owned the station when all of this happened and would have profited from any additional revenue any of this brought in. I realize Susquehanna no longer exists, but why would Cumulus be held responsible for this?
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dave fm's Steve Barnes sues Toucher, Jimmy, Leslie, and Cumulus for $1,000,000+
Re: dave fm's Steve Barnes sues Toucher, Jimmy, Leslie, and Cumulus for $1,000,0
Since you seem to be buddies with Cap'n Barnes, you might tell him to try Accutane. I hear it'll clear up that little problem of his.
Slider7 said:
Since you seem to be buddies with Cap'n Barnes, you might tell him to try Accutane. I hear it'll clear up that little problem of his.
RoddyFreeman said:
It does sound like Cumulus shouldn't be involved if they weren't owners at the time of the incident but they bought 99x which includes its liabilities. It's tough luck for Cumulus but the way it must be. Cumulus could always sue Susquehanna for leaving them an undisclosed mess but 99x is their problem now.
One thing that this lawsuit brings up is: what the heck was 99x thinking? Using copyrighted material while conducting business without permission should have been an obvious big no-no to a company whose life revolves around using other's materials and compensating them for it. Have there not been any responsible adults at 99x for some years now?
Re: dave fm's Steve Barnes sues Toucher, Jimmy, Leslie, and Cumulus for $1,000,0
Lol.... What an excellent retort. You know what they say, if you can't contribute something meaningful to the conversation, just insult someone with an acne reference. Maybe we can meet out by the flagpole after 6th period...
OK, I'll play, but only for a minute...
Maybe you should try jumping off a tall building. That should clear up that problem of yours....
P.S. that jab was from my nephew. He is 12.
MikeinKennesaw said:
Lol.... What an excellent retort. You know what they say, if you can't contribute something meaningful to the conversation, just insult someone with an acne reference. Maybe we can meet out by the flagpole after 6th period...
OK, I'll play, but only for a minute...
Maybe you should try jumping off a tall building. That should clear up that problem of yours....
P.S. that jab was from my nephew. He is 12.
Barnes vs. Lanny
It just doesn't get any better. ;D
It just doesn't get any better. ;D
If you think Barnsie is bad nothing compares to forming New York morning personality Star. He was recently fired from Power 105.1 after going after another station's personality and saying sexually explicit things about that persons 4 year-old daughter. Last week he was told criminal charges would be dropped probably because of free speech or satire reasons.
Now a NYC councilmsan who spoke out against him and asked for people to boycott his former station is going to be a target of a ldefamation awsuit from Star. Star is seeking $55 million for defamation. This is aguy who said some incredibly despicable things and then has the nerve to sue someone else for 55 mill because he did not like the fact this person spoke out against him.
Defaming a scumbag = $55 million
Defaming an arrognat p*&^) and illegal playing his movie to the public = $1 million
Barnsie needs a better lawyer or it just shows how worthless his reputation and movie actually is
Now a NYC councilmsan who spoke out against him and asked for people to boycott his former station is going to be a target of a ldefamation awsuit from Star. Star is seeking $55 million for defamation. This is aguy who said some incredibly despicable things and then has the nerve to sue someone else for 55 mill because he did not like the fact this person spoke out against him.
Defaming a scumbag = $55 million
Defaming an arrognat p*&^) and illegal playing his movie to the public = $1 million
Barnsie needs a better lawyer or it just shows how worthless his reputation and movie actually is
Re: dave fm's Steve Barnes sues Toucher, Jimmy, Leslie, and Cumulus for $1,000,0
Slider 7 beat me to the punch. I read the lawsuit and it's totally within reasonable limits. If we could all just stop for a few minutes from trying to make ourselves feel better by berating the has-been or underdog du' jour, then perhaps we'd see this story a bit more objectively. I honestly don't see this lawsuit as being frivolous. If the accusations in the suit are true, Toucher, Leslie and Jimmy (and 99X) went way above and beyond copyright laws.
If this had been YOUR original composition/music/video/art/whatever, and some of YOUR former co-workers who you may not have left on the greatest of terms with then took it and publicly used it to berate you, I'll bet you'd be a bit fired up, too, and would probably seek the advice and counsel of a lawyer. I know I sure would.
Slider 7 beat me to the punch. I read the lawsuit and it's totally within reasonable limits. If we could all just stop for a few minutes from trying to make ourselves feel better by berating the has-been or underdog du' jour, then perhaps we'd see this story a bit more objectively. I honestly don't see this lawsuit as being frivolous. If the accusations in the suit are true, Toucher, Leslie and Jimmy (and 99X) went way above and beyond copyright laws.
If this had been YOUR original composition/music/video/art/whatever, and some of YOUR former co-workers who you may not have left on the greatest of terms with then took it and publicly used it to berate you, I'll bet you'd be a bit fired up, too, and would probably seek the advice and counsel of a lawyer. I know I sure would.
I read the thing too and it does appear there could be merit to the copyright infringment charge (the defamation charge will be thrown out because, as brutal as they were to him, Barnes is still a public figure). But what doesn't make sense is why Toucher, Leslie and Jimmy are named personally in the suit. Even though they may have conceived the event, aren't 99X (being the sponsoring station) and American Pie (being the partnering venue) really the liable ones? Wouldn't the legality of a station event ultimately be the responsibility of the radio station or whoever is promoting it? I'd imagine it's the job of management to make sure crap like this doesn't happen.
It is pretty much SOP to name individuals as well as the corporation in suits such as this to cover all of your bases. From the fact that companies can find paperwork holes to place the blame on the particular individuals as well as the fact that most of the time, a named individual won't have the dime necessary to procur the legal defense that a company will. Deep pockets and what not.
Also, as I said before, while the "he made fun of me" is a small part of the defamation portion of the suit, the main ingredient is that fact that public statements were made about Barnes being fired. Even if it was a choice by one or both parties to not renew an expiring contract, most of the time there is language stating that both parties mutually agreed to disengage, for the very purpose of avoiding the "I quit" or "he was fired" to ever come into play. That being said, in employment law, it is very bad to make public statements about the nature of someone's employment, particularly the nature of the disengagement. This is the big deal in the defamation portion of the lawsuit, not the fact that someone said he had a skin condition. If you left a company on mutual terms and all of a sudden they sent a memo to everyone in your industry that you had, in fact, been fired, this could potentially affect your employability in the marketplace and is a big no-no in labor practice. The courts are particularly keen on statements of this nature when they are not true, especially in small market scenarios. If you were a sales person, it's not as big a deal because there is less of a public perception and there are probably 1000 sales jobs in the city. In this arena, however, there are maybe 4 viable companies and maybe 8-10 positions. That being said, the court could easily decide that making statements that someone was fired, when in fact they weren't, could very adversely affect that persons ability to persue employment in that marketplace. And the courts are funny when you start damaging peoples potential to make a living, especially in Georgia. This is the reason it is so very difficult to enfore non-compete contracts in this state.
Also, as I said before, while the "he made fun of me" is a small part of the defamation portion of the suit, the main ingredient is that fact that public statements were made about Barnes being fired. Even if it was a choice by one or both parties to not renew an expiring contract, most of the time there is language stating that both parties mutually agreed to disengage, for the very purpose of avoiding the "I quit" or "he was fired" to ever come into play. That being said, in employment law, it is very bad to make public statements about the nature of someone's employment, particularly the nature of the disengagement. This is the big deal in the defamation portion of the lawsuit, not the fact that someone said he had a skin condition. If you left a company on mutual terms and all of a sudden they sent a memo to everyone in your industry that you had, in fact, been fired, this could potentially affect your employability in the marketplace and is a big no-no in labor practice. The courts are particularly keen on statements of this nature when they are not true, especially in small market scenarios. If you were a sales person, it's not as big a deal because there is less of a public perception and there are probably 1000 sales jobs in the city. In this arena, however, there are maybe 4 viable companies and maybe 8-10 positions. That being said, the court could easily decide that making statements that someone was fired, when in fact they weren't, could very adversely affect that persons ability to persue employment in that marketplace. And the courts are funny when you start damaging peoples potential to make a living, especially in Georgia. This is the reason it is so very difficult to enfore non-compete contracts in this state.
T
troone
Guest
This is telling in a couple of areas:
1) The timing is interesting, considering it comes a full year after the event and at the nadir of Barnes tenure at Dave. It implies that Barnes is moving on soon and was waiting until the end to zap the 99x folks. Why wouldnt he have sued immediately? C'mon, were 2q 2006 DVD sales for No Witness lower than expected?
2) Barnes recently told a mutual friend that he personally made a million dollars from No Witness. We found the math problematic, considering the entire project (theatrical and DVD) couldnt have generated much more than $100,000. So to clear a million after costs? I'm struggling with the mental image of 150,000 consumers paying $15+ for No Witness. Now, I know what he was talking about...albeit, a little early to claim victory, Plaintiff Barnes!
1) The timing is interesting, considering it comes a full year after the event and at the nadir of Barnes tenure at Dave. It implies that Barnes is moving on soon and was waiting until the end to zap the 99x folks. Why wouldnt he have sued immediately? C'mon, were 2q 2006 DVD sales for No Witness lower than expected?
2) Barnes recently told a mutual friend that he personally made a million dollars from No Witness. We found the math problematic, considering the entire project (theatrical and DVD) couldnt have generated much more than $100,000. So to clear a million after costs? I'm struggling with the mental image of 150,000 consumers paying $15+ for No Witness. Now, I know what he was talking about...albeit, a little early to claim victory, Plaintiff Barnes!
I heard Mark Renier bought a spa franchise. If he's reading this, he's probably happy he did.
T
TER
Guest
Re: dave fm's Steve Barnes sues Toucher, Jimmy, Leslie, and Cumulus for $1,000,0
"No witness" is available at "Netflix," and "Blockbuster.com." You don't get movies there without a some kind of distribution deal. I guess it's possible that Barnes did make a million.
"No witness" is available at "Netflix," and "Blockbuster.com." You don't get movies there without a some kind of distribution deal. I guess it's possible that Barnes did make a million.
Oh, if it were only that simple.
When Susquehanna sold, Cumulus held back 15% of the employees ESOP money to protect themselves from lawsuits and other problems they might face for actions taken by Susquehanna. Employees will receive part of the funds in one year, two years, and then seven years.
I predict Cumulus settles. It's not their money they'll have to fork over. It's mine and all those of us who worked for Susquehanna and busted our butts for ESOP. I'm not even in the stupid market, resigned from Cumulus, and it will end up costing me cash.
Thanks so much Barnes and 99X. We're all delighted with you right now.
When Susquehanna sold, Cumulus held back 15% of the employees ESOP money to protect themselves from lawsuits and other problems they might face for actions taken by Susquehanna. Employees will receive part of the funds in one year, two years, and then seven years.
I predict Cumulus settles. It's not their money they'll have to fork over. It's mine and all those of us who worked for Susquehanna and busted our butts for ESOP. I'm not even in the stupid market, resigned from Cumulus, and it will end up costing me cash.
Thanks so much Barnes and 99X. We're all delighted with you right now.
D
Dixie Jock
Guest
Big Egos...Overpaid mediocre Talent...What a Biz!
T
troone
Guest
I'm no expert in video retailing, but I would suggest that a distribution deal with Blockbuster does not necessarily provide an unknown producer a million dollar advance toward future rentals and sales of a, um, less-than-spectacular ;D release.
O
OnTheAir123
Guest
Ya gotta love this business!!
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