Blogger arrested for leaking songs
August 28, 2008
“Welcome to the courtroom, we set bail set at 10K,” probably was not a variation on “Welcome to the Jungle” Kevin Cogill had ever considered. Yet those were the circumstances he faced Wednesday morning in federal court in Los Angeles.
Cogill’s alleged crime: leaking nine songs off Guns N’ Roses long-anticipated new album on his blog earlier this year.
What makes the story even more interesting is Cogill just about predicted Wednesday’s arrest and legal troubles on his blog, Antiquiet (which, be warned, does contain profanity).
Cogill, 27 and a huge GNR fan, posted the songs on Antiquiet in June. The rush of users caused the entire site to crash and the songs were eventually removed. “Also, we got a call from Guns N’ Roses,” Cogill noted in the same revised post, foreshadowing his future troubles. “Stay tuned.”
Three days ago, Cogill, aka Skwerl, asked his readers if they knew any good lawyers who could represent him in the copyright infringement case. The FBI had been interviewing him and collecting information, he said. “More and more each day, it looks like I may be indicted.”
It appears the site’s remaining bloggers will keep tabs on the legal proceedings. The last post noted that the judge let Cogill go home on a signature bond for the $10,000 and told him not to leave the district before his next court date, a preliminary hearing on Sept. 17.
The leaked songs are from “Chinese Democracy,” an album 10 years in the making that has reportedly already cost $13 million. Still no official word on when Axl Rose and Co. plan to release the album — nor if Cogill will be in jail or a free man the first time he hears it.
DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentMouse wars and cat fights
May 22, 2008
The story in today’s Daily Record about the trademark fight over “Mighty Mouse” computer devices reminded me of the big-cat fight that arose about a dozen years ago.
In one corner was Tony the Tiger, Kellogg Corp.’s animated pitch man, er, feline, for Frosted Flakes. In the other was the tiger from Exxon, now ExxonMobil Corp.
Kellogg sued Exxon, claiming its tiger’s resemblance to Tony infringed on Kellogg’s trademark and created confusion among patrons at the gas company’s Tiger Mart convenience stores, which Exxon had recently introduced.
Exxon sought dismissal of the claim, saying the company had used the tiger as its symbol for about 30 years without objection from Kellogg. The cereal company said true, but argued that the infringement had only recently occurred, when Exxon went into the food-service business.
A federal district court agreed with Exxon and dismissed the case. But the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Kellogg and allowed the lawsuit to proceed.
The Supreme Court, which later that year would jump into a dispute between rivals for the leadership of the free world, chose in 2000 to stay out of the cat fight and let the 6th Circuit’s decision stand without comment. The case ultimately settled, according to Kellogg’s lawyers.
Can anyone think of a more epic (trademark) battle in our nation’s courts?
STEVE LASH, Legal Affairs Writer
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