There have been two notable lawsuits involving the character Jim Brockmire.
Hank Azaria Sues Craig Bierko to Keep Ownership of Baseball Announcer Character (2012)
In 2012, actor and voice actor Hank Azaria filed a lawsuit against actor Craig Bierko over the rights to the character Jim Brockmire, a fictional sports announcer that Azaria had created and voiced for a popular Funny or Die video. Azaria alleged that Bierko had been claiming ownership of the character and had been interfering with his efforts to develop a movie or television series based on Brockmire.
In 2014, a federal judge ruled in favor of Azaria, finding that he had created a “fixed, tangible expression” of the Brockmire character through his voice acting and that Bierko did not have any ownership rights to the character. The judge also ordered Bierko to cease and desist from making any claims of ownership to the character.
Azaria Wins Lawsuit Over Funny Baseball Announcer Character (2014)
This lawsuit was significant in that it helped to establish the legal protections that voice actors have over the characters they create. In the past, voice actors have often had difficulty protecting their rights to their characters, as they are often considered to be “work for hire” and therefore belong to the employer. However, this lawsuit helped to establish that voice actors can have legitimate ownership rights to the characters they create, especially if they have developed a distinctive and recognizable voice for the character.
Conclusion
The two lawsuits involving the character Jim Brockmire have been important in helping to establish the legal rights of voice actors. These lawsuits have also helped to raise awareness of the issue of copyright and intellectual property in the entertainment industry.
