Court revives copyright lawsuit against singer Frankie Valli
National News
A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a copyright lawsuit against Frankie Valli and fellow "Four Seasons" band member Robert Gaudio over "Jersey Boys," the popular musical about the band.
Donna Corbello sued Valli and Gaudio in 2011 for copyright infringement, claiming the musical was based in part on an unpublished autobiography of "Four Seasons" band member Thomas DeVito that her late husband ghost-wrote. She said she deserved to share in the profits from the musical's success.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling in favor of Valli and Gaudio and sent the case back down for further proceedings. The court said there was contradictory evidence about whether Valli and Gaudio executed an agreement with DeVito to produce the play in time to avoid termination of their ownership rights.
Daniel Mayeda, an attorney for Valli and Gaudio, said he was disappointed in the ruling, but he had not yet decided whether he would appeal.
Corbello is also suing DeVito. The 9th Circuit ruled that DeVito had transferred his copyright in the autobiography to Valli and Gaudio, and therefore had to account to Corbello for any profits he obtained from it.
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Does a car or truck accident count as a work injury?
If an employee is injured in a car crash while on the job, they are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. “On the job” injuries are not limited to accidents and injuries that happen inside the workplace, they may also include injuries suffered away from an employee’s place of work while performing a job-related task, such as making a delivery or traveling to a client meeting.
Regular commutes to and from work don’t usually count. If you get into an accident on your way in on a regular workday, it’s probably not considered a work injury for the purposes of workers’ compensation.
If you drive around as part of your job, an injury on the road or loading/unloading accident is likely a work injury. If you don’t typically drive around for work but are required to drive for the benefit of your employer, that would be a work injury in many cases.
If you are out of town for work, pretty much any driving would count as work related. For traveling employees, any accidents or injuries that happen on a work trip, even while not technically working, can be considered a work injury. The reason is because you wouldn’t be in that town in the first place, had you not been on a work trip.
Workers’ compensation claims for truck drivers, traveling employees and work-related injuries that occur away from the job site can be challenging and complex. At Krol, Bongiorno & Given, we understand that many families depend on the income of an injured worker, and we are proud of our record protecting the injured and disabled. We have handled well over 30,000 claims for injured workers throughout the state of Illinois.