Law, boring?

11Jun06

Law and love are the same – romantic in concept but the actual practice can give you a yeast infection.

–Ally McBeal

Once in a while, after muddling through piles of legalese, one chances upon gems uttered by judges and lawyers. More often than not, Lord Denning provides such entertainment. Yesterday though, while doing research I chanced upon the case Baywatch v Home Video Channel (UK), a case which left me horribly envious of Justice Law Clerks and their future careers as judges.

Michael Crystal QC was sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge in 1996. The Plaintiff was the producer of Baywatch, the television series. The Defendants on the other hand, were producers of Babewatch, a porn channel in the UK.

Michael Crystal first had to describe the Baywatch series:

"Baywatch" is set in California and features a team of lifeguards who patrol the Santa Monica beaches. The members of the team wear a distinctive uniform consisting of a red jacket and red costume. The key female character in the seriies is played by the actress Pamela Anderson-Lee who has an 'hour-glass' figure and long blond hair. Each programme in the series involves at least one rescue by the lifeguards which invariably involves the lifeguards running along the beach together and may also involve the resuscitation of the victim.

The Plaintiff's case is that the 'Baywatch' series is a light entertainment family programme with a strong moral theme.

This judge obviously has a sense of humour – I loved his succinct yet precise summary. And let me state for the record i totally understand the strong moral theme prevalent in the show.

What really got me all hot under the collar was what happened next:

I was invited by both counsel to view in court, and did view, extracts from videos of the "Babewatch" programme broadcast and from one episode of Baywatch. The "Babewatch" programme broadcast on May 25, 1996 begins with a beach scene not dissimilar to that in Baywatch with actresses wearing red swimming costumes, carrying red floats and running along the beach. The beach scenes are filmed on a beach which looks similar to that used as the setting in Baywatch. After a brief introduction reminiscent of the opening scenes of Baywatch, the Babewatch programme contains sexually explicit material, including scenes of oral and group sex.

Imagine that, free porn in court! Now that's something that you'll never hear CJ Yong uttering.

 

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