In 2011, Pitbull had his first number-one single with a song called “Give Me Everything”, written by Pitbull, Dutch DJ Afrojack and Matt Howard, and featuring Ne-Yo. One of the lines in the song was “I’ve got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan”. (Knowing Lohan’s track record of courtrooms and jails, it’s not hard to figure out what the lyric meant). But, not surprisingly, Lindsay Lohan took great exception to the lyrics and sued a whole bunch of people, as well as Sony Music Entertainment, RCA Music Group and Polo Grounds Music.
Her lawsuit – filed under the New York Civil Rights Law, according to The Huffington Post, claimed that Pitbull needed permission to use her name in the song and, since he hadn’t gotten it, he had no rights to any profits from the song. The suit also asked for a permanent injunction preventing any further playing of the song. Lohan claimed that the song had made “disparaging and defamatory statements” about her and caused her “tremendous emotional distress.” Does Lindsay Lohan know what tremendous emotional distress it causes me to have to keep writing stories about her bad behavior? Probably not but I had to ask.
On February 22, a judge in U.S. District Court in New York granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge, Denis R. Hurley, said the song is a protected work of art under the First Amendment and, therefore, doesn’t violate the New York Civil Rights Law. He also noted that one line of a song is not sufficient outrageous conduct that could intentionally cause emotional distress.
In the category of “when it rains, it pours”, Lohan’s attorney was fined $1,500 by the judge for plagiarism and false representation. Pitbull’s attorney argued that Lohan’s lawyer, Stephanie Ovadia, had copied her arguments from online sources, including the Los Angeles Times, and the court agreed
The one ray of sunshine in this for Lindsay Lohan is that the court did not impose any sanctions on Lohan for bringing the lawsuit, as the defendants had requested. Maybe the judge figured that having Charlie Sheen come to Lindsay’s rescue again to pay sanctions was asking too much of him
Stay tuned. More Lindsay Lohan news is sure to follow.
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