'Gangster' lawsuit dismissed by court
A judge has tossed out a lawsuit alleging that about 400 retired federal drug agents were defamed by a false statement on screen at the end of the film "American Gangster." The statement suggested that a notorious Harlem heroin dealer, Frank Lucas, cooperated in the prosecution of some high-level drug dealers. It said Lucas's "collaboration [with law enforcement] led to the conviction of three quarters of New York City's Drug Enforcement Agency." In a written ruling, US District Judge Colleen McMahon dismissed the $50 million lawsuit filed last month against NBC Universal by three former federal DEA agents on behalf of agents who worked in the city between 1973 and 1985. (AP)'Body' doctor makes '20/20' appearance
The doctor behind the "Body Worlds" exhibits that show cadavers in different poses says he's stopped using bodies from China for fear that some may be executed prisoners, ABC News reported yesterday. Dr. Gunther von Hagens told ABC's "20/20" he had to destroy some bodies received from China because they had injuries that made him suspect they were execution victims. He invented a liquid plastic process that preserves bodies. (AP)Royalty suit by some of music's royalty
The estates of some of American music's biggest names, including Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and Sarah Vaughan, have sued Universal Music Group Inc. for more than $6 million, claiming it has been cheating them out of royalties for years. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of some living artists, claims the company withheld record royalties, engaged in lucrative self-serving schemes with record clubs, and suppressed payments from digital distributors such as Apple's iTunes. The plaintiffs are Patti Page, Tony Martin, Dick Hyman, Richard Hayman, and Kitty Kallen, and the estates of Basie, Goodman, Vaughan, Woody Herman, Les Brown, the Mills Brothers, the Harmonicats' Jerry Murad, gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and Frankie Laine. (AP)Long and winding road
The divorce hearing between Paul McCartney and Heather Mills looks set to stretch into a second week, after a judge allotted extra time for the couple's court case. The hearing had been scheduled to end yesterday, but officials at London's Royal Courts of Justice said the case before Justice Hugh Bennett would continue Monday. Mills and McCartney separated in 2006 after four years of marriage and have since traded blows in the media while trying, and failing, to agree on divorce terms. (AP)Don't inhale, though
"There's no good evidence that smoking up to about 10 [cigarettes] a day does you any harm whatsoever." Rock star Joe Jackson, whose subscription to the Journal of American Medical Association must have lapsed
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
