Posted on 02/17/2013 12:45:17 PM PST by billorites
Chubby Checker, the musician best known for his 1960 hit recording of "The Twist," is suing HP over a novelty app for Palm OS of the same name that claims to check the size of your "chubby." The sum sought is a mind-boggling half a billion dollars.
The rock-and-roll star, whose real name is Ernest Evans, filed the suit this week in a Florida federal court, simultaneously releasing a statement describing the reasoning behind the suit. Willie Gary, an attorney who has already chalked up a number of large-sum legal wins, says that the app has caused "irreparable damage" to Evans' reputation and legacy.
"Chubby Checker" was a $0.99 app originally made for Palm OS (which was abandoned in 2009 in favor of Palm's WebOS). It allowed users to input the size of a male subject's feet and receive, in return, an estimation of the size of that guy's genitalia. For entertainment purposes only, of course.
Such novelty apps are now commonplace, naturally, as is the understanding that such apps are developed by companies or developers totally independent of the larger corporations that offer them in App Stores, such as Apple or Google. Takedown requests for apps that abuse copyrights or trademarks are also commonplace, although going after damages is uncommon — and damages of this scale are unheard-of.
The suit and supporting documents can be read here (PDF), and readers can form their own opinions as to its merit. But factor this in: Though the $500 million requested in the suit includes compensation for damage to reputation and other measures, the app itself was a dud. According to records at unofficial Palm app archival site House of Palm, it was downloaded only 84 times, potentially netting the parent company a grand total of around $25.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
That’s a few more downloads than that video Obama claimed caused the Benghazi massacre.
If it was so obvious to you, why post it in the first place.
And I hadn’t heard or thought a thing about Chubby Checker in about 8 to 10 years until I read this story.
For someone who’s name is a mimic of Fats Domino he is awfully sensitive about copyright infringement.
Yep :). But never fear, HP is almost as bad as Apple.
Their desktops are nothing to write home about either . Nothing but trouble .
If he has any kind of copyright protection of his name, he would have a case. Remember, Sarah and Bristol Palin both copyrighted/trademarked their names, or at least applied to get that protection for the use of their names.
Did they all sing Chubby's song Stoned In The Bathroom together?
Blame Dick Clark who took a man who was pushing a broom and got him to cover Hank Ballard's song The Twist before it could become a hit. Dick hated Hank Ballard and his "dirty songs" so he found a sound-alike performer. Chubby's cover sounded enough like Hank's original that Hank did a double-take when he heard it on the radio.
It was Clark’s wife who completed his recording name. There was already a Fats Domino, so why not continue the game theme? Because of the Clarks, the world was introduced to a singer named Chubby Checker.
Just for the record, my feet are larger than John Holmes’s were...(ahem)
Tort reform. The US, it needs. /Joda
Not necessarily. Remember, a trademark only offers protection for specific goods/services (there are 45 distinct classes of goods and services). Something a lay person easily overlooks.
And protection for any goods/services that have not been in use for a specified time are void by statute.
“are void” = is void.
Hahaha.
Popeye (the Hitchhiker) (1962)
Although Fats Domino didn't sing, he put on a virtuoso performance on the piano, and he was backed by a band of solid rockers. Checker's performance was OK, but this was clearly not the Chubby Checker of 1960.
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