Bon Jovi Slapped With $400 Billion Lawsuit Over Baseball Song

Bart Steele is a Boston Red Sox fan, and in light of these circumstances, he probably even qualifies as a “Super Fan.” I think that’s a title that’s well deserved for someone who writes a song about their hometown team, and referred to it as a "love song for his beloved Red Sox,” and graced it with the name “(Man I Really) Love this Team.”

Although Steele may still be feeling pretty good about last year’s World Series win by his beloved Sox, there is something that he is definitely not too happy about, and he’s not taking it sitting down. Steele has filed a $400 billion (no, that’s not a typo) lawsuit against legendary rock group Bon Jovi.

Steele alleges that Bon Jovi essentially re-wrote his beloved baseball song and called it “I Love This Town,” which the group recorded as a promotion for Major League Baseball, and also included the tune on their CD Lost Highway.

Although $400 billion sure sounds like a lot of dough, the lawsuit claims that the amount is authorized by copyright  laws. The suit says they are seeking $100,000 per CD sold, and with just under 4 million sold, the math comes out to around $400 billion. The suit also states that Steele intends to donate 99% of the money to musicians’ rights organizations.

When I hear about lawsuits filed against rock stars or other big-name celebrities, I will often comment about my doubt that the defendant(s) in question will wind up in the poor house, or anywhere in its vicinity even if they lose the case.

In this case, however, I’m wondering if Bon Jovi might be just a little nervous. $400 billion has to be way beyond any amount that the group has accumulated during their career, and the old poor house could be opening its doors for the Jersey rockers if by some chance, a judgment that large is levied against them.

Granted, a $400 billion award in this case is probably very unlikely, but you do remember the case of the woman who won a $2.7 million judgment against McDonald’s when she spilled hot coffee on herself don’t you? That amount was reduced, and then changed again later when both parties agreed to a settlement that remains secret.

Like most of these cases, it will probably be quite some time before we hear about a verdict or a settlement, but it will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

For more details, check out AntiMusic.