Fight Fan Takes a Legal Swing at Mike Tyson

Fight fan Mark Egland isn’t just putting the bite on Mike Tyson with his class-action suit demanding that Tyson pick up the pay-per-view tabs of millions of disappointed boxing enthusiasts. He also gave Tyson and his lawyers an earful in a colorfully written lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

It called Tyson’s “cannibalistic” sucker munches “one of the most despicable and one of the most unexpected acts in the history of professional boxing.” After receiving a warning about the first bite, the suit says, Tyson went after Holyfield’s other ear, “possibly because the reduced surface area of Holyfield’s right ear after Tyson’s first attack made it a more difficult biting target than the still intact left ear.”

Tyson’s handlers couldn’t be reached. But the executive producer of the telecast has called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

Can’t wait to hear the oral arguments.

IMAGE IS EVERYTHING: The courts have recognized that the value of a star’s image extends well beyond the grave, ever since the heirs of Bela Lugosi sued Universal in 1979 over the rights to the actor’s Dracula character. Such litigation has evolved into a cottage industry for a generation of entertainment lawyers. Two suits, bothhandled by Beverly Hills lawyers Joseph F. Hart and Jerome E. Weinstein, are typical of the genre:

Donna Reed’s widower is suing one of Aaron Spelling’s production companies, Hallmark Cards, the Bradford Exchange, the Fossil Watch Co. and others for using his late wife’s likeness without permission. Reed became an icon of Hollywood motherhood after she played opposite the late Jimmy Stewart in the 1946 Christmas classic film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Now, Col. Grover Asmus claims that Reed’s name and likeness are being exploited for items like calendars and Christmas ornaments without his permission.

Settlement talks are ongoing, so the lawyers are being tight-lipped.

In another suit, Jean Rogers Hill and Lynda Wells, daughters of Maxene Andrews and LaVerne Andrews--two-thirds of the singing Andrews Sisters of the 1940s--are suing ABC over “sound-alikes” they contend were used without permission during the TV show “The Shining.” The surviving Andrews sister, Patti, is not a party in the suit.

No comment from ABC.

FORGET ABOUT A TIGER WOODS ACTION FIGURE: Golfing phenom Tiger Woods has won an injunction barring the Franklin Mint from distributing “The Tiger Woods Eyewitness Commemorative Medal,” capitalizing on his victory at the Masters, at age 21 the youngest golfer to do so.

U.S. District Judge Kim Wardlaw said the ban will remain in place until the case settles or ends with a verdict.

Woods’ lawyer, Mark Lee, claims that the mint pirated the golfer’s likeness. The mint, which reported $800 million in revenue last year, sold about 2,000 Woods medals for $37.50 apiece without receiving the golfer’s permission to market his image, Lee said.

The Pennsylvania-based mint maintains that because the medals commemorate news events, they are published material protected by the 1st Amendment right to free speech.

A Woods publicist described the mint’s sterling silver medals as “low-end merchandise of the type with which Tiger Woods does not wish to associate himself.” The golfer endorses only “prestigious” companies such as Nike, Rolex and American Express, his handlers said.

The Franklin Mint, owned by the Venice-based Roll International, sells memorabilia of sports stars, politicians and other public figures. The Woods medal was included in a series noting newsworthy events and was advertised in the Wall Street Journal in May.

Woods sued June 16. The mint agreed to stop selling the medals 10 days later. Besides the injunction, Woods is seeking damages and an accounting of how many medals were sold.

BEEPED OFF: You call yourself the King of Beepers and put yourself up on billboards all over L.A. There you are, presiding over the freeways, grinning beside a bikini-clad woman astride a giant pager. This makes you a public figure, Superior Court Judge John Ouderkirk ruled last week, throwing out self-proclaimed Beeper King Juda Alszeh’s libel and invasion of privacy suit against a documentary filmmaker.

Alszeh had sued filmmaker Nick Broomfield, claiming that he had been portrayed in an HBO movie as Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss’ bodyguard. The Beeper King didn’t even know the Hollywood Madam, Alszeh’s lawyer told the judge. But he did know her former bodyguard Cookie.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH: Talk about double vision. Writer Johnny Burt was visiting his 8-year-old twin nieces in Detroit when inspiration struck, his lawyer said. The result was a story treatment for a sitcom based on twin teens separated at birth who meet by chance and convince their adoptive parents to move in together. He called it “Double Identity” and pitched it in 1992 to execs at Disney. Burt’s idea was rejected. But, in a copyright infringement suit filed in U.S. District Court, Burt and his lawyer, Steven M. Kramer, allege that the same people who heard Burt’s pitch stole his idea and turned it into the sitcom “Sister Sister.”

“The similarities are so extraordinary,” Kramer said.

According to the suit, Burt’s story treatment and “Sister Sister” have these elements in common: The adoptive parents are single, of opposite sexes, with no idea that the child they adopted was a twin separated at birth. The adoptive mother is named Leisa, which is the first name of Burt’s co-writer. The name of one of the show’s characters--Dolores Burke--is similar to the name of Burt’s mother--Dolores Burt. The twins meet by chance and eye each other “with identical synchronized movements as if they are reflecting in a mirror.” The show is based in Detroit, Burt’s hometown.

A Disney spokesman had no comment, saying the company’s lawyers hadn’t yet seen the suit. It was Disney who during the 1960s gave us “The Parent Trap,” the original twins-reunite-their-parents film starring Hayley Mills and the late Brian Keith.

A MOTLEY CRUE OF WITNESSES: Three members of the rock band Motley Crue have avoided the cumbersome process of opening up the band’s financial books during bandmate Vince Neil’s bankruptcy proceedings.

Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx had sought a court order limiting trustee Byron Z. Moldo’s inquiry into the financial terms of Neil’s rejoining the band after a falling out in 1992. But the lawyers in the case recently agreed upon what records could be scrutinized, avoiding a court fight and an accounting nightmare, said Bennett Spiegel, attorney for the three band members.

According to court papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Woodland Hills, Woldo is particularly interested in the terms of a settlement of the 1992 lawsuit between Neil and other members of Motley Crue. The trustee says in a legal motion that he is trying to learn whether Neil still holds a financial interest in the band, and whether it should be used to settle creditors’ claims.

In addition, Woldo asserts, Neil’s record company may have recouped a $700,000 advance by buying out his songwriting and royalty rights--at a proverbial song.

Neil sought protection from creditors under Chapter 7 in 1996, claiming debts of $2.4 million against assets of $118,000.

A DEAL’S A DEAL: A suit by Dustin Hoffman against Castle Rock Pictures and director Harold Becker over Hoffman’s non-role in the 1995 film “City Hall” has been settled, according to court documents. Hoffman contended that he had a verbal agreement for a small role in the film. He said he even contributed ideas for changes in the screenplay. But the movie, which starred Al Pacino, Bridget Fonda and John Cusack, was made without him. Hoffman had been seeking a protective order preventing the defendants from rooting through his agent’s files dealing with other contract negotiations when the settlement was struck. Castle Rock attorney Harriet Posner confirmed the settlement, but said lawyers couldn’t discuss the terms.

QUOTABLE: “I don’t recall ever denying my wife anything.”

Producer Aaron Spelling, denying he cut corners--including deciding not to erect a tennis clubhouse and greenhouse--to save money building his $48-million Holmby Hills mansion. Aaron and Candy Spellings’ lawsuit over their leaky roof continues this week.