Recently in Celebrity Intellectual Property Category

Hip hop group Beastie Boys has been sued for copyright infringement. The lawsuit accuses the rappers of illegally sampling music in their 1986 album "License to Ill" and the 1989 album "Paul's Boutique."

The suit was filed in New York federal court by TufAmerica, Inc. on May 3rd, The Hollywood Reporter reports. Just a day later, Beastie Boys founding member Adam "MCA" Yauch died after a nearly three-year battle with cancer.

It's terrible timing for sure, but TufAmerica plans to continue forward with its lawsuit. So what does the company want out of its cause of action?

Here's lookin' at lawsuits. Burberry has sued to use Humphrey Bogart's picture on its Facebook page, The Hollywood Reporter reports.

The lawsuit was filed against Bogart LLC, the owner of the late actor's name and image. The dispute started when the British clothing retailer posted a picture of Bogart from "Casablanca" on its Facebook timeline. Bogart is wearing a Burberry trench coat in the photo.

The company claims it's using the picture to show Burberry's fashion history, and not to sell its products. But Bogart LLC disagrees.

George Clooney and Julia Roberts have reunited to sue the pants off of two electronics companies. Sorry fans, no "Ocean's Thirteen" sequel here. Just two Hollywood stars looking to protect their intellectual property rights.

Clooney and Roberts (suing under her real name, Julia Moder) filed suit against Beyond Audio, Inc. and Digital Projection, Inc. Apparently, both companies got the idea to use the stars' names and images to promote their high-end projectors and entertainment systems, according to the complaint. Beyond Audio does business out of Canada and Digital Projection operates out of Georgia.

The duo we'll combine to call Robney (because Clooberts sounds like a bad kid's TV show character) have alleged four causes of actions against the companies. But do any of them hold water?

Scholars everywhere, stop your endless debates. The secret meaning behind electro pop duo LMFAO's name has finally been revealed in a trademark application.

Theories abound across Internet message boards. Fans have speculated the duo's name stood for everything from the original dirty Internet acronym to "Loving My Friends And Others." LMFAO's Stefan Kendal Gordy (RedFoo) and Skyler Austen Gordy (SkyBlu) have never actually been too clear, until now.

So what does their name really mean?

The quiet half of magic and comedy duo Penn & Teller is suing for copyright infringement. Teller's magic trick lawsuit alleges that Dutch magician Gerard Dogge infringed on his magic act "Shadows."

Dogge, stage name Gerard Barkardy, titled his version of the trick "The Rose & Her Shadow." Dogge allegedly posted videos of himself performing the act on YouTube, Reuters reports. At the end, Dogge offers to reveal the trick's secret for $3,050.

So what did Teller do in response?

The new Clint Eastwood lawsuit is a strange one. The surly actor slash director slash producer is suing Evofurniture and website Inmod.com, accusing the two companies of inappropriately using his "name, identity and persona for the purpose of attracting attention to" their furniture.

Yes. Furniture.

Up until well, today, Inmod.com was selling Evofurniture's "Clint" entertainment centers and "Eastwood" chairs and ottomans. The suit seeks an unspecified amount in damages to compensate Eastwood for the egregious use of his name.

A new development in the Rick Ross name lawsuit surfaced yesterday.

A Los Angeles county court judge has thrown out the trademark infringement case brought by infamous drug trafficker "Freeway" Rick Ross against rapper Rick Ross, TMZ reports.

Ross (the rap star) was born William Roberts, which in comparison probably isn't as catchy as his stage name.

"I should've filed a lawsuit while I was in prison," "Freeway" Rick said.

Court records show hip-hop stars Jay-Z and Kanye West have settled a sampling lawsuit brought by Syl Johnson. In October, the soul musician accused the pair of illegally sampling his song in a track entitled "The Joy," which appears on their joint album Watch the Throne.

The duo had denied the claims in December, arguing that the sample was not protected by copyright law. But they appear to have had a change of heart. Why?

Probably because there is no conclusive rule stating sampling is illegal.

Rush Limbaugh is facing the music after his crude and possibly defamatory remarks about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke. First advertisers, and now some famous musicians, are cutting ties to the right-wing radio host.

The band Rush and singer Peter Gabriel are taking steps to stop Rush Limbaugh from using their music on his talk show, The Washington Post reports.

Peter Gabriel's 1986 song "Sledgehammer" was played in the background as Limbaugh called Fluke a "slut" and a "prostitute" for her Congressional testimony about birth control. Gabriel was "appalled," his agent said.

A federal judge has ruled that the Batmobile is copyrightable. Yes, it's that special.

At least DC Comics thinks so. The company sued Mark Towle, owner of Gotham Garage. He builds and sells Batmobile replicas to comic book geeks with money.

DC and its parent company Warner Bros. believe the replicas violate their Batmobile copyright and trademarks -- that Towle is somehow making people think his cars are authorized replicas.

This in spite of a clear disclaimer on his website.