Apparently in between shaking down bookies, getting laundromats to pay protection and stealing cannoli from people theyve just shot the mafia still find time to go to court a bunch. Youd think thats the last place people connected to organised crime but wanna spend their time, but there is overwhelming evidence to the contrary, with Frank Sivero being another prime example. Okay, so to save him from spending more time in a courtroom with defamation charges, he isnt actually a mobster himself. Instead hes an actor who played a mobster, by the name of Frankie Carbone, in Martin Scorseses peerless Goodfellas. Which hes fine with because hey, who wouldnt be? The real problem is The Simpsons. Louie, a member of the Springfield chapter of the mafia under Fat Tony, is quite clearly based on Siveros character from the film. Which would be fine for a one-off Goodfellas spoof, but Louie quickly became a recurring character who turned up any time Fat Tony did. So maybe he was justified in filing a lawsuit asking for $250 million from Fox for misappropriation of likeness, infringement of the right of publicity, misappropriation of ideas, and interference with prospective economic advantage.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
