Refried Screens

With all of the news about Avril Lavigne’s alleged copying (here and here), one situation that isn’t getting as much press is Evel Knievel’s beef with Kanye West.

Evel is upset over Kanye’s alleged infringement on his trademarked name and likeness in the Touch The Sky video, where Kanye wears gear just like Evel’s and calls himself ‘Evel Kanyevel’ while acting like Evel Knievel. Kanye says it was a parody AKA he was just making fun of Evel.

Back in the day, Evel was all that and a bag of chili cheese fritos. He was a tough as nails daredevil who looked danger in the eye and kicked it in the nuts. And he wasn’t the kind of guy to be made fun of, but all kids still made fun of him by taking their Evel Knievel dolls (or a G.I. Joe) and faking a jump over a batch of Tonka Trucks which would end up in a bloody mess. It was kinda like this guy here:

I’m not sure if Evel sued him too, but you can check out the real Evel here:

You can find Touch The Sky here:

Instead of handling the matter in court, they’re trying mediation. Mediation is akin to marriage counseling: a voluntary process for squabbling parties without a judge present. The guys speak their part and conversation is guided by a mediator. If you saw Wedding Crashers, you’ve seen mediation. It’s what Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn were doing with the bickering couple who eventually hugged it out. If Kanye and Evel (or their attorneys) hug it out, they’ll save themselves at least 150K each in attorneys fees and court costs.

Kanye and Evel did the smart thing. Will Avril and The Rubinoos follow suit?

Sorry, bad choice of words, since ’suit’ could mean ‘lawsuit’. Let me try again.

Will Avril and The Rubinoos ‘not’ follow ’suit’?

That doesn’t read right either, but you get the point, I hope…