Lawsuit throws bricks at ‘Wall’

A Las Vegas musician is suing 'N Sync, the band's music label and others for $10 million in damages for copyright infringement.

Troy Alexander, a former Brooklyn rapper who went by the name Royal T, contends in his lawsuit that 'N Sync's 2001 single "Up Against the Wall" from the "Celebrity" album was a rip-off from a song he copyrighted in 1989.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal district court by the local law firm of Callister and Reynolds.

Attorney Matthew Callister said Alexander discovered the similarities while Googling "up against the wall" about a year ago.

The 'N Sync version was co-written by Justin Timberlake and J.C. Chasez, who are among the defendants.

Callister said music experts believe that up to 60 percent of the song was lifted.

Attempts to settle the case out of court with Sony BMG, which merged with 'N Sync's original label Jive, have been rebuffed, Callister said.

THE SCENE AND HEARD

Film legend Tony Curtis and UNLV men's basketball coach Lon Kruger helped kick off ArtFest in Henderson on Thursday night. Several artists teamed up with local personalities on paintings that were auctioned off. Maria Arango collaborated with Kruger on a painting portraying basketball plays diagrammed on two parquet squares. Other artists included Jerome Ellis and Kathleen Hogan (who collaborated with Ronn Lucas), Nadia Klein (Mayor Jim Gibson) and Lionel Dougy (Louie Anderson and an eye-patched columnist). Curtis and fellow artist Jean Francois donated their work. ...

Richard Assalone Sr., longtime maitre d' at Michael's in the Barbary Coast, couldn't attend Sam Angel's remembrance party Wednesday at the Tap House, so he e-mailed me the story he would have told. Back in the late 1990s, Angel, a fixture at Michael's, was celebrating his birthday there. He had just finished his dinner of lamb chops when a finger bowl arrived. "Instead of washing his fingers," Assalone said, "he removed his dentures and placed them into the bowl and started cleaning them." One of the last Old Vegas characters, the poker-loving Angel died in March at age 86. ...

The buzz around the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight on Saturday at the MGM Grand was that boxing analyst Larry Merchant's days at HBO are numbered, with Max Kellerman stepping in soon as his ringside replacement.

MAY I RECOMMEND ...

The Fremont Street Experience goes country this weekend, with two nights of free concerts by stars in town for Tuesday's Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden. Saturday and Sunday afternoon performances start at 2. Emerson Drive, Gretchen Wilson and a special surprise guest will cap Sunday's evening performance, which begins at 6:45.

SIGHTINGS

Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, wondering aloud to a stranger why elevators have surveillance cameras, during an elevator ride Wednesday at Wynn Las Vegas. ... KC and the Sunshine Band, lunching Thursday at Border Grill (Mandalay Bay). ... David Spade, shooting segments Thursday at Bare, the tops-optional pool at The Mirage, for "The Showbiz Show With David Spade" on Comedy Central. ... Steve Wynn, reining in his German shepherds, Palo and Fela, at the south valet entrance at the Wynn on Wednesday night. ... Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, partying Wednesday at Body English (Hard Rock Hotel).

THE PUNCH LINE

"While playing outfield, yells at teammates to get the hell off his lawn." -- From David Letterman's Top Ten Signs a Baseball Player is Too Old.

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.