Posted on 05/04/2009 2:48:52 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Is it time for an OctoAgent?
OctoMom Nadya Suleman is pimping out her eight babies without proper consideration of their interests, a new lawsuit in Orange County, Calif., claims.
Gloria Allred, the celeb lawyer behind the suit, said Monday that the babies deserve a court-appointed guardian - and a separate theatrical agent - to make sure their options are fully "explored" and that they get their fair share of any booty generated by their fame.
"Rather than choosing to provide her children with a normal life," Allred said, "Nadya Suleman, has chosen instead to commercially exploit them, and it appears she plans to continue commercial exploitation of them in the future as well." "Since she has chosen this path," Allred continued, "we believe that the babies are entitled to remuneration." The suit, filed by Allred on behalf of former child actor and child labor advocate Paul Peterson, has a hearing set for June 22. Allred and Peterson also sent a letter to California labor officials asking for an investigation into the media mayhem at Suleman's new two-story house in La Habra, Calif.
Allred argued that filming of the infants by media outlets with paid contracts violates child labor laws. She said Suleman may have run afoul of the infants' rights when she allowed a video crew to film two of the octuplets from 10 p.m. until 11:50 p.m. on March 17, the night they arrived home from the hospital.
A video taken inside the octuplets' nursery on March 17 later appeard on RadarOnline.com. RadarOnline is owned by American Media, the company that also owns the National Enquirer and Star magazine.
It's not clear whether the filming was protected by first amendment laws.
"If a media organization has bought and paid for special access to these children in a way that legitimately can be construed as compensation to them for their services, then it may be that labor laws come into play," said Peter Scheer, a lawyer and executive director of the California First Ammendment Coalition.
"But it wouldn't come into play if other news organizations were to be permitted by the parent to enter the house and interview and take photographs of the children with consent."
Allred and Peterson also questioned Suleman's plan to include the babies in a documentary-style reality TV series produced by a European company.
Suleman's lawyer Jeff Czech could not be reached for comment.
Standing?
I suspect Allred is suing Octomom for not allowing Allred to exploit the babies.
I hope the Jon & Kate Gosselin are next!
I suppose she is going to try to get the courts to appoint her as a guardian for the kids.
So she can make sure all of the money is properly taken care of (for a small fee of course).
I think Octomom is a disgrace myself, but this lawsuit is nothing but grandstanding.
Just when Suleman had disappeared from the radar for the most part, here comes Allred to the rescue. The courts should bitch-slap her pronto over lack of standing.
Are you kidding, Alred exploit a situation for economic gain??? Geeze, she’s a lawyer for crying out loud. /sarc
Allred is a media whore, but I hope she prevails in this case.
Be careful, or else we may find ourselves on a slippery slope.
Re: “Normally I have little time for Gloria Alred, but in this case I say good luck to her.”
********
Agree — Gloria’s a loudmouth but from what I’ve seen of her work over the years, she really does have these babies’ best interest at heart. Octomom is a horror, and the fact that child advocate Paul Peterson is involved lends credence to the suit. You may remember him as the little brother in the old Donna Reed show. He has been advocating for kids in entertainment for eons.
Good luck to them all — I don’t believe Octomom should be allowed to ‘raise’ those babies, or the older children for that matter. She gives new meaning to the word “unfit!”
GA is working over time to try and take all the kids from “octomom”. It has become her obsession.
And where is her standing to bring suit?
The issue is how much money is she going to make off of those babies, and they ought to get a share of it.
I would advocate the same for the John and Kate, and the Little People parents as well.
All of these kids are being employed as entertainment and they should be paid just as the parents are.
Why we NEED to restore bastardy laws and their enforcement.
Some states still have them on the books, I think, but most seem to have eliminated them in the 1970s.
I do like him. Has he been involved in protecting the other reality show kids? He'd have more credibility if he has.
Although, thinking about it, I wonder if part of the lawsuit issue is that the show they are talking about for Octomom is european. Maybe that leaves the kids financially vulnerable in a way that the US productions are not? I don't know how that works to be honest.
The California Child Actor’s Bill (also known as Coogan Act or Coogan Bill) is a law applicable to child performers, designed to safeguard a portion of their earnings for when they enter adulthood.
The original Bill was passed in 1939 by the State of California in response to the plight of Jackie Coogan, who earned millions of dollars as a beloved child actor only to discover, upon reaching adulthood, that his parents had spent almost all of his money. Since then, it has been revised a few times — most recently on January 1, 2004[1].
“California’s current law that regulates minors’ entertainment contracts is codified in sections 6750-53 of the Family Code and section 2855 of the Labor Code. Even though the current law is based on the previous law, there are some differences. For example, the current law extends the scope of minors’ entertainment contracts that the superior court can approve to include contracts pursuant to which a minor renders services as an ‘actor, actress, dancer, musician, comedian, singer, or other performer or entertainer, or as a writer, director, producer, production executive, choreographer, composer, conductor, or designer.’ Further, the superior court may approve contracts that involve the transfer of intellectual property.” (Thom Hardin, “THE REGULATION OF MINORS’ ENTERTAINMENT CONTRACTS: EFFECTIVE CALIFORNIA LAW OR HOLLYWOOD GRANDEUR?”1998 La Verne Law Review, Inc.)
The law requires the child’s employer to set aside a portion of the child’s earnings in a trust savings account.
This bill has been further updated stating that 100% of the money earned by the child actor is solely theirs, and unauthorized use by the parents is considered, by law, stealing.
OK, cool......
So where in that gives Alrhed standing?
Gloria Allred with no legal standing whatsoever decides that she must sue a mother to make sure that the children aren’t exploited without Allred getting a piece of the pie.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.