Fox Hit with $250M "Simpsons" Lawsuit by Goodfellas Actor
by Dominic Patten
October 21, 2014


This is so good and so big that you have to wonder if it is a joke – in which case the state courts are going to be plenty peeved off.

Here’s the deal: Frank Sivero says that "The Simpsons" ripped off the Frankie Carbone character he played in 1990’s Goodfellas and he wants to be paid for it. In a lawsuit filed today, the actor says he wants to be paid a lot – $250 Million and more for the Springfield Mafia’s Louie.

Claiming that the long-long-running animated series has made $12 Billion over the decades from TV, the big screen, video games and other revenue streams, Sivero alleges in his very detailed 5-claim complaint that "The Simpsons" producer James L. Brooks was “highly aware of who Sivero was, the fact that he created the role of Frankie Carbone, and that The Simpsons character Louie would be based on this character.”







While likeness lawsuits bounce around the courts all the time, this has to be one of the biggest in terms of the cash the plaintiff is seeking and the time he has waited to go after it.

One of Fat Tony’s crew, the Louie character first appeared on "The Simpsons" in Season 4 back in October 1991, and has been in over a dozen more episodes including one last season.

Fox had no comment today on the mega-suit.







Sivero and his lawyers, on the other hand, had a lot to say in their 12-page complaint. For one, they want $50 Million in damages for loss of his likeness, another $50 Million in actual loss for “improper appropriation of Plaintiff’s confidential idea”, $50 Million more in exemplary damages and $100 Million for “improper interference.”

Claiming a loss of “prospective economic advantage” and industry “type-casting,” Sivero says a “portion” of the profits from "The Simpsons" franchise should now end up in his pocket – especially because he was promised a film of his own, he alleges.







“The Simpsons continued use of Sivero’s image and likeness for commercial purposes are all done without Sivero’s consent and without compensating Sivero,” says the complaint for misappropriation of name and/or likeness and unjust enrichment against Fox TV Studios, 21st Century Fox America and "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening.

“Over the years, Sivero was told by Gracie Films that he would be part of the future in connection to the success of The Simpsons. He was promised that they would make a film together; but it never happened,” the filing adds.

“On one occasion, at a party in or around 1995/96, Sivero had another conversation with Mr. Brooks where Sivero stated, ‘It’s about time we do something together.’ Mr. Brooks said yes, but this again never materialized.”

http://deadline.com/2014/10/simpsons-lawsuit-goodfellas-character-rip-off-fox-857282/

and Frank Sivero owes 250 million to some real mobsters i guess.


dude should shut up...250 million my ass

also not to nit pick the article writer but wasn't the debut of the springfield ma fia in season 3? the episode where Bart joins them

Wow this lawsuit is like maybe 23 years too late.

Technically...Frank Sivero told The Simpsons "**** You, Pay Me"!

It's a parody. This suit is baseless and smacks of desperation.

Fox Wants To Whack $250M "Simpsons" Lawsuit by Goodfellas Actor
by Dominic Patten
March 27, 2015


Over five months after Frank Sivero launched his mega-complaint against Fox alleging that a character from the Matt Groening co-created series was based on the role he played in the 1990 Martin Scorsese film, the studio has hit back – blunt and hard.

“Defendant specifically denies that the character ‘Louie’ in The Simpsons television series was based on Plaintiff or any character that he has ever played,” said Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation earlier this week in a L.A. Superior Court filing.

“Defendant further specifically denies that it has any liability to Plaintiff, for the reasons set forth in the Complaint or otherwise, or at all.”





Cut to the chase – Fox says in its March 23 filing that the case first filed on October 21 last year should be dismissed, ended for good and forget about any $250 million because Sivero has no real proof that animated gangster Louie is lifted from the Frankie Carbone he says he created for Goodfellas.

And anyway, even if “any of the acts alleged in the Complaint occurred,” Fox says he he took way too long to take legal action under the defense of the statute of limitations.





Now let’s admit it, while Scorsese and Goodfellas screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi might disagree with Sivero’s assertion that he created the movie character, the actor as Carbone and Louie certainly look alike. That’s something Fox never directly addresses in its 17-page response.

One of Fat Tony’s crew on "The Simpsons", the Louie character debuted on the Fox series in October 1991 during its fourth season. The character has been on over a dozen episodes including one last season – which all adds up to why Sivero says he’s due some of those "Simpsons" millions.





No way says Fox in its formal answer to the 5-claim complaint against Fox Television Studios, Inc. and 21st Century Fox America, Inc from last fall.

In fact, except for admitting that Groening is the co-creator of "The Simpsons", that the series starting aired “in or around 1989,” was also made into a 2007feature film, that there were video game adaptations, merchandise and global sales of the show “generating revenue,” Fox either says it lacks “knowledge or information” on Sivero’s claims or just out and out denies them.

Well they do also say that Yes, that there was a character named “Louie” on the show and that sometimes the “television series has featured parodies of real-life people” – all of which its allowed under the free speech flag of the First Amendment and all of which is going to make things all the more difficult for Sivero unless he can prove that "Simpsons" EP James L. Brooks really credited part of the show’s success to the actor and was going to do another project with him, as Sivero says in his initial lawsuit.

No trial date has been set in the action.

http://deadline.com/2015/03/simpsons-goodfellas-lawsuit-fox-actor-frank-sivero-1201400030/

Fox Gets "Simpsons" $250M Lawsuit from Goodfellas Actor Tossed
by Dominic Patten
August 6, 2015


As Bart Simpson would say “eat my shorts Frank!”

Almost 10 months after Frank Sivero sued Fox for $250 million over claims that "The Simpsons" stole the Frankie Carbone character he portrayed in Goodfellas, the case was dismissed today. In a hearing Thursday morning in L.A. Superior Court before Judge Rita Miller issued a tentative ruling to toss the actor’s complaint, first filed last October.





“I think the tentative relied on some inaccuracies,” said Sivero’s lawyer Alex H. Herrera disputing the ruling. “He should be given an appropriate day in court to prove his case.”

The judge was quick to solidify her call that Sivero wasn’t the basis for "The Simpsons‘" mobster- because the cartoon character doesn’t look enough like him to merit a continuation of the mater. “If I was a teenage girl and I had a crush on your client, would I be happy with a poste of this character Louie?” she rhetorically asked Herrera.

“Even if Mr. Sivero face was on this as long as it is parody you can’t win.”



Sivero was not in court today. His lawyer raised the notion of an appeal but would not confirm that outside the courtroom.

“It’s not up to me,” said Herrera.

http://deadline.com/2015/08/simpsons-goodfellas-lawsuit-dismissed-fox-frank-sivero-actor-1201493434/

Appeals Court Won't Let Goodfellas Actor Have Another Shot at "Simpsons" Lawsuit
by Eriq Gardner
Feb. 13, 2018


On Tuesday, a California appeals court affirmed the dismissal of Goodfellas' actor Frank Sivero's lawsuit against Fox Television.

Sivero sued in 2014 and claimed that "The Simpsons" character of Louie misappropriated his likeness. Sivero alleged in his complaint that just as "The Simpsons" was getting off the ground in the late 1980s, he was living in an apartment complex in Sherman Oaks, California, right next to writers of the animated series.

"They knew he was developing the character he was to play in the movie Goodfellas," stated the complaint. "In fact, they were aware the entire character of 'Frankie Carbone' was created and developed by Sivero, who based this character on his own personality."





That didn't overcome Fox's SLAPP as the television studio argued Sivero had brought a frivolous lawsuit that impinged free speech rights. In August 2015, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected the lawsuit along with Sivero's $250 million demand.

On Tuesday, a California appeals court accepts the state judge's reasoning as sound — which may come as welcome relief to other studios facing publicity right claims.



"In the present case, we agree with the trial court’s conclusion that Fox’s use of Sivero’s likeness in the television shows, movie, and a video game is transformative and therefore is protected by the First Amendment," writes California appellate justice Kerry Bensinger before applying the standards articulated in some landmark publicity right cases.

"Even if Louie resembles Sivero, the Louie character contains significant transformative content other than Sivero’s likeness. Louie is not a literal likeness of Sivero as were the images of The Three Stooges in Comedy III and the depictions of rock band members in No Doubt, and college football players in NCAA. Instead, Louie is a cartoon character with yellow skin, a large overbite, no chin, and no eyebrows. Louie has a distinctive high-pitched voice which, as the trial court pointed out, has 'no points of resemblance to Sivero.'"





Bensinger then nods to what Sivero has admitted.

"Sivero acknowledges his likeness has been 'Simpsonized,'" states the opinion. "To be 'Simpsonized' is to be transformed by the creative and artistic expressions distinctive to The Simpsons. This is precisely what the California Supreme Court meant in Comedy III when it said: 'an artist depicting a celebrity must contribute something more than a merely trivial variation, but must create something recognizably his own, in order to qualify for legal protection.'

Contrary to Sivero’s argument, the fact other cartoon characters in The Simpsons share some of the same physical characteristics does not detract from the point these physical characteristics are transformative. Indeed, Sivero’s observation highlights the very point that the creative elements predominate in the work."





Bensinger then adds that the humorous depiction of mafia characters is meant as a parody of mobsters depicted in Hollywood films. Not only does that bolster the case for a fair use of his supposed likeness, but the appeals court states that Louie is "not a satisfactory substitute for a conventional depiction of Sivero."

"And as a result, Louie does not greatly threaten Sivero's right of publicity."

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/appeals-court-wont-let-goodfellas-actor-have-shot-at-simpsons-mob-character-1084379

I'm glad Sivero lost the lawsuit. Parody and satire are protected forms of free speech and artistic expression. If he had won this, it would set a dangerous precedent going forward.

Heard his case was so cold it took them three days to thaw it out for the autopsy.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpamuz5oXaxVdDsbYMtZrmUvbFQga-Vq0M6I8bmlx6JqOjxBh8jw