A multimillion dollar court case is raging between Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's media empire and Western Kentucky University over the right to dress up in a goofy red costume and dance in public like a madman.
The university argues that one of Italy's most popular TV shows ripped off its bubbly sports mascot Big Red and turned it into a character called Gabibbo that is the symbol of a hit satirical news show.
Western Kentucky and the company that licenses Big Red are suing Berlusconi's Mediaset company for $250 million, an estimate of how much Gabibbo has earned through "Striscia la Notizia," or "Slithering News," a book, a No. 1 album of songs and other enterprises.
Details here from the AP via Findlaw.com.