Lawbites: Whitesnake fan wants £10,000 for sick fall

David Coverdale of Whitesnake
A Whitesnake fan is demanding £10,000 in compensation after she slipped in vomit during a concert and suffered injuries to her knees, neck and back.
Lindy Butcher, 39, attended David Coverdale’s show at Newport Leisure Centre in Wales last December, during which she slipped. She realised what had caused her fall when another fan helped her up.
Butcher tells the BBC: “It was horrifying – you don’t expect to fall in someone’s vomit.”
Managers have refunded her ticket price and say they’d been alerted that a clean-up was required, but due to the number of people in the venue, staff had been unable to locate the puddle of sick.
* * * * *
Axl Rose’s attempt to sue video game maker Activision for fraud has been thrown out of a Los Angeles court.
The Guns n’Roses singer wanted $20m in damages, saying the Guitar Hero III game made use of songs he hadn’t licensed for that particular title, and also used guitarist Slash’s likeness when he’d ordered Activision not to.
The firm based their counter-argument on the fact it took Rose three years to file a complaint, but the singer says that was because “Activision offered me a separate video game and other proposals worth millions of dollars to resolve my claim.” He says an exclusive GnR game was planned to include nothing but the current lineup and music from their Chinese Democracy album.
The court blocked Rose’s fraud charge, but allowed his breach-of-contract claim, meaning a trial could take place next year. [Hollywood Reporter]
* * * * *
Tommy Lee is facing legal action from an engineer who says the Motley Crue drummer’s roller-coaster stage set was his idea.
Scott King insists he approached Lee in 1991 with the idea, and the 2011 execution matches what he’d proposed. But Crue’s attorneys say the band never heard from King, and the two concepts are separate.
* * * * *
Journey guitarist Neal Schon has settled a lawsuit with girlfriend Machaele Salahi’s estranged husband.
Tareq Salahi went to court after his wife left him for Schon, alleging she’d “lived a double life” with the musician for years. He also said the split hurt his reality TV career because he’d been due to appear on Australia’s Dancing With the Stars alongside her.
Schon has reached an agreement with Salahi, but the terms are confidential. A band spokesman says: “Neal and Journey are very pleased with the resolution of all legal issues.” [TMZ]
* * * * *
Sheryl Crow has been granted a restraining order against a fan who threatened to shoot her and accused her of having broken into his home and stolen from him.
Phillip Sparks has been ordered to stay 300m away from the singer and movie exec Harvey Weinstein, who also took legal action against him.
A psychiatrist told Los Angeles Superior Court that Sparks was “imminently dangerous.”
The order follows a temporary one placed on him last month after Crow read a series of online posts which she described as leaving her “fearful.”
Judge James Hahn agreed with medical experts who said Sparks was “delusional.”