A
woman in Maryland has filed a class action lawsuit A Maryland
mother has filed a class action lawsuit against AOL-Time
Warner, Atlantic Records and Slip-N-Slide Records, the
home of Miami’s Trina, Trick
Daddy and The Iconz.
The lawsuit
comes after the woman bought a clean version of Trick
Daddy’s latest release, Thugs Are Us for her 11
year old son, and found some "explicit" lyrics
on some of the songs. Jon Pels, who is representing the
woman in the suit, claims that he bought additional copies
of the clean versions, and all had the same content.
"Although
we’ve just been served with the lawsuit, it is clear on
its face that the plaintiffs misunderstand the RIAA
guidelines on parental labels," a Warner spokeswoman
said. "If record companies and artists can be sued
just because one parent or judge believes that an album
was improperly labeled, then that discourages all record
companies from labeling."
The lawsuit
adds fuel to Congressional fire, where a new bill similar
to Senator Lieberman’s is making it’s way through Congress.
The new bill, which was introduced in the House of Representatives
by Rep. Steven Israel (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Tom Osborne (R-Neb.).
Osborne, read similar to Lieberman’s bill.
Senator Lieberman
recently wrote President Bush, who all but came right
out and supported Lieberman. The letter Lieberman sent
contends that the entertainment industry has been “targeting
heavily violent content meant for adults directly to our
children” and the legislation needs to be put into place
to help.
"Like
most Americans, (Bush) is disturbed by the amount of violent
entertainment. The president is committed to providing
parents with the tools they need to protect their children
from unhealthy images. He is committed to working with
leaders in the industry to encourage less violence, less
substance abuse and less sex in entertainment,” White
House deputy press secretary Scott McClellan McClellan
said.
"We too
have First Amendment rights. We have a right to be advocates
for parents,” Lieberman said. "Frankly, we are trying
to touch (the entertainment industry’s) sense of shame,
so that they will draw lines they will not cross.”
"This
bill is fatally flawed. It actually punishes those who
voluntarily rate their films and provide information to
parents while giving those who do nothing a free pass.
This is illogical and anti-parental information,” Motion
Picture Assn. of America president-CEO Jack Valenti said.
