Hollywood Docket: Sumner sued; Congress fights piracy; Kid Rock

Entertainment law news while digesting the Golden Globes nominations this morning:

• A class action lawsuit targets Sumner Redstone for damaging the CBS empire by deflating the value of the company by waiting too long to take a write-down. The lawsuit, filed by a Tennessee iron works union pension fund, takes issue with the way the company handled loans and allegedly inflated its book value. Redstone has been targeted previously in another class action lawsuit. 
• Congress has earmarked $30 million to fight piracy as authorities report success with a recent year-end crackdown code-named Operation Holiday Hoax. The law enforcement effort involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies targeting illegal vendors and seizing 79,796 counterfeit CDs and 79,610 DVDs. Top government officials including vice president Joe Biden are scheduled to meet with Hollywood leaders this afternoon to discuss ongoing piracy efforts.
• Kid Rock and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl are suing a Canton, Ohio bar for copyright infringement for playing tunes without having the necessary licensing agreements. According to one article, Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani and Bon Jovi also have filed various suits against bars across the nation in recent months. It sounds like a number of musicians are lending their names to a new legal campaign lead by performance rights organizations. 
• The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia is suing Philadelphia newspapers for not publishing the columns of notable sports and political columnist Stephen A. Smith. According to the complaint, an arbitrator ordered the Philadelphia Inquirer to rehire Smith and pay him a $250,000 salary, but the paper has thus far refused to run his column. The plaintiffs say the arbitrator required the newspaper "promote" his column.