legal
New Idea’s Boom Year Continues As Demi Moore Sues
1:30PM Clem Bastow | In case you’ve forgotten, when it comes to “two thousand and great”, the only person or thing whose annus horribilis has rivalled that of Channel Nine has been beleaguered women’s rag, New Idea. From dodgy deals to paying alleged domestic abusers to spill their guts to “accidentally” breaking Palace embargos (and that’s just the stuff that was actually in the mag, they’ve had plenty of strife behind the scenes), it hasn’t exactly been a red letter year for the mag. Well, as Queer Eye told us, all things just keep getting better, and now Demi Moore is suing New Idea after they allegedly printed photos from a private party without permission. Bonus!
In a statement of claim filed with the Federal Court last week, Moore claimed New Idea infringed her copyright over the pictures when it put them on the cover of its March 8 edition and across two pages inside the magazine.
Timbaland Sues Touring Company, Leaves Post-It On Papers That Reads, ‘Sorry, It’s Just The Way I Are’
9:36AM Clem Bastow | You’ll recall that about a month ago, Timbaland’s Australian tour was cancelled at the last minute with little to no excuse given to ticketholders other than “tough tits” (or words to that effect). Well, Mr Mose is now hopping mad at the Queensland-based Showtime Touring Group, who he reckons tarnished his reputation by way of a breach of contract when they publicised the tour cancellation, and he’s going to sue the XXL hoodies off them.
In the 18-page suit, obtained by The Courier-Mail yesterday, Timbaland’s lawyers revealed that their client wanted to “set the record straight” for his Australian fans about the “last-minute cancellation”.
“Despite Timbaland’s desire to perform for his Australia and New Zealand fans, he was unable to do so,” the suit stated. “From the moment the parties signed the contract at issue, Showtime breached its obligations.”
More » The Truth Behind The Alex Lloyd ‘Amazing’ Saga (According To A Mysteriously Knowledgeable Defamer Australia Commenter)
10:04AM Jess McGuire | Are you, like very few people, strangely captivated by the copyright saga currently surrounding Alex Lloyd’s massive hit ‘Amazing’? Yesterday Clem talked about how truck driver/musician Mark O’Keefe, the fellow who is suing Lloyd, has his updated recollection of how things went down and revealed he now believes he wrote the song with Lloyd up to two years later than he originally stated when he launched legal action.
A mysterious commenter named Sam contacted us and gave us a very, very lengthy version of events from “someone who was actually there”.
It’s just someone’s opinion, and there’s no way for us to verify it (thank GOD for the legal system, eh? Imagine if Defamer Australia was left in charge of running things!) but it may prove to be an interesting read.
Please get your facts right before you crucify a brilliant songwriter and singer. Mark was not a truck driver at the time, he had only started driving a truck in the last couple of years to support his family. Maybe if Alex had of come clean with the copyright, he would not have needed to. Mark O’keefe has always been, and still is, a professional musician. You make him sound like a truck driver leaning on the bar getting drunk. Mark O’keefe wrote the song “Amazing” and this was witnessed by many people at the Bridge hotel in 1991. At the time in question Mark O’keefe and his band “What’s Next” were performing to a packed hotel. When the band had finished to a standing ovation, Mark was approached by Alex Lloyd, then (Slim La Beef) or (Slim) from his Band “Slim La Beef and the Spare Ribs” as he was known.
What’s Next was not just your average mediocre pub band either, and had many guest artists, including Stevie Wright (Easybeats) Paul Day (Iron Maiden) and Laurie Marlow (Heaven), to name a few.
More » 
Alex Lloyd’s Legal Worries Not So Big Anymore
9:51AM Clem Bastow | You’ll recall back in April that an average Joe piped up and reckoned he’d written Alex Lloyd’s megabucks-earning hit Amazing on the back of a coaster in a pub’s front bar. Well, Mark O’Keefe seems to have cooled his heels somewhat (you know, after waiting roughly 16 years to even take the matter to court in the first place), changing his story just prior to the matter hitting the courts. That’s the spirit, Mark! Keep up the legal cats!
Mark O’Keefe, who originally said he wrote the song Amazing with Lloyd at the Bridge Hotel in Rozelle in November 1989, now says he got it wrong and it was up to two years later.
More » 
Ajay’s (Legal) Weigh-In
9:11AM Clem Bastow | You’ll recall that a month or so ago it was revealed that Biggest Loser host Ajay Rochester was headed to court to face 23 charges of fraud (yes, 23).
Well, she had her day in court yesterday, and it was good to see the Daily Telegraph bringing out the sizeist adjectives once more to describe “the larger-than-life personality” of Rochester:
She is accused of receiving single parent payments for four years when she knew she was not eligible, Kim Arlington reports.
Rochester was a no-show – believed to have been in Fiji – when her case first came before the court last month.
But the larger-than-life personality appeared in person yesterday, with her lawyers telling the court she was formally pleading not guilty to the charges.
More » Law & Order: The Fashion Capital – Update!
10:33AM Clem Bastow | In the criminal justice system, Newton-family-based offenses, particularly those involving bag-snatching and priceless family memories, are considered especially heinous. In Chadstone, The Fashion Capital, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad, known as the Patti Newton vigilante taskforce. These are their stories.
DUNG DUNG!!
Two people will face a Melbourne court today charged with the theft of valuable jewellery belonging to entertainer Patti Newton.
…
Benjamin Thorpe, 32, and Rachel Ward, 34, both of Hampton East, have been charged with theft and possessing the proceeds of crime.
They were remanded to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court today.
Just goes to show, when you’re Australian entertainment industry royalty and you can throw a Police press conference and get it shown on every news bulletin in the state, you’re probably likely to enjoy a higher success rate than those of us whose bags get nicked without being touched by the hand of God, i.e., Bert. More » 
When Party Girls Attack
10:46AM Clem Bastow | Anyone who has read Cleo or Cosmopolitan over the last five years or so will no doubt be familiar with the face of “PR chick” Roxy Jacenko, who is always happy to tell us all about her PR firm, the appealingly titled Sweaty Betty, and her exciting and fast-paced glamorous life. (She can also often be spotted in her natural habitat, generally at the opening of an envelope, sometimes with BFF and “dating expert” Samantha Brett.)
Well, imagine my delight when I loaded the Tele this morning to find that Roxy and her lil’ sister Ruby are currently in court over a sisters’ bitchfight at a club that allegedly led to Ruby socking Sweaty Sis square in the face!
Naturally the story has some delightful details:
“It’s been soul destroying for us all. I don’t want my 18-year-old sister to end up with criminal charges, but what she did to me, her sister, was completely and utterly out of line and unacceptable,” Roxy said, after the hearing yesterday.
More » 
Learning How To Take Drugs With Mercedes Corby & Friends!
9:52AM Clem Bastow | With such an excellent cast of bogans characters, it’s not surprising that Mercedes “Bong Smoking Sister Of Schapelle” Corby’s defamation trial (versus Channel Seven) will be ripe with choice quotes.
Well, the latest is a faintly hilarious “Taking Drugs 101″ lesson between Corby’s estranged pal Jodie Power’s friend Dana Richie and Corby’s QC.
Asked by Stuart Littlemore QC, for Ms Corby, how she recalled Ms Corby taking the amphetamines, Richie said: “Through the nose and through a tube from the line.”
Off what surface, Mr Littlemore asked, the carpet?
“Obviously not, because you wouldn’t be able to get the particles out of a carpet,” Ms Richie, 37, said via videolink from Bendigo, Victoria.
Yeah, der fred, Mr Littlemore, get with the program! Next you’ll be suggesting snorting it off a dunny seat that’s been sprayed with WD-40! Gosh!
The trial continues – and I’m looking forward to the next edition of adults only Play School. More » 
More Sackings In Gossip Mag Headquarters As We Insert Another ‘No Idea’ Gag Here
10:13AM Clem Bastow | In the scheme of things, New Idea’s year so far has been about as good as Channel Nine’s; in between breaking embargos and paying Wayne Carey to talk about getting wasted and punching his girlfriend, suffice to say it’s been a red letter start to the year for the mag.
Well, as though they didn’t already share plenty of characteristics with Nine, New Idea is now apparently going on a boning frenzy, with staffers dropping left, right and centre. Health reporter Jane Worthington was apparently sacked via a phone call this week and is the latest to go.
Her firing follows the dismissal of New Idea veterans Patrice Fidgeon and Sue Smethurst last week.
Confidential sources yesterday alleged the sackings were part of a secret hit list poised to target current staffers Phil Koch, Lee-Anne Carter and Donna Ogier for the chop next.
Publisher Suzanne Monks denied the existence of such a list, confirming the trio’s on-going employment.
“All (are) valued members of the New Idea team and are part of New Idea’s plans going forward,” she said yesterday.
In other staff changes, the magazine’s beauty writer Chelsea Clark has been promoted to associate editor.
Naturally I assume Clark actually knows how to be an associate editor and that isn’t just a classic case of women’s magazine “editor’s BFF” musical chairs.
It’s worth noting, too, that Smethurst is considering legal action as her sacking occurred two weeks before the end of her maternity leave, as is Worthington, both fighting the bonings on unfair dismissal grounds.
Awesome, top work New Idea! Walkleys all ’round! More » 
Wayne Carey Charged With Assault
10:42AM Clem Bastow | Things on the Wayne Carey front had gone eerily quiet after the fuss that was the first half of the year (and yes, I can say “first half of the year”, because it’s almost true and because at this rate there are only five more sleeps until Christmas when Santa Claus is bringing me a robot unicorn).
Which is probably a good thing for Carey, since he can just quietly slip this one past us all: he’s been charged with assault.
Carey, 36, was charged on summons with three counts of assaulting police and three counts of resisting arrest, police said today.
Victoria Police today confirmed a 36-year-old has been charged on summons to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 22.
Umm ahh – meanwhile, what’s happened to Kate Neilson? Still chasing the big Brownlow gown in the sky? Has she been spotted hiding amongst the racks at Gasp or attempting to blend in in her natural environment (i.e. the sales rack at Crown Casino’s Versace store)? Anyone, anyone? More » 