By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – Goodbye, Parentlode.

New York Times Co, which has a parenting blog known as Motherlode, has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the Huffington Post after that website decided to change the name of its new Parentlode blog.

The settlement came two weeks after Lisa Belkin, who had overseen Motherlode and started Parentlode in October after joining AOL Inc’s Huffington Post, said she would drop the Parentlode name and hold a contest for readers to pick a new one.

Eileen Murphy, a Times spokeswoman, said “we are in final settlement discussions with the Huffington Post.” She called the name change “a victory for all creators of original intellectual property.”

An AOL spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Terms of the agreement in principle were not disclosed. Both companies are based in New York.

The Times had accused Belkin of intentionally naming her new blog to confuse readers into believing it was the same “virtual koffee klatch” for parenting as her old blog.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A bankruptcy judge has denied a request by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEHMQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to block billionaire Sam Zell from acquiring part of apartment company Archstone.

Lehman, which owns 47 percent of Archstone, had sued Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Barclays Plc (BARC.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which own the other 53 percent, for trying to sell half of their stake to Zell’s Equity Residential (EQR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Lehman argued it would suffer “irreparable harm” if forced to partner with Equity Residential, a key rival. Archstone is one of the most valuable assets Lehman is trying to liquidate so that it can repay creditors and exit bankruptcy.

But Judge James Peck of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan denied Lehman’s request, saying Equity Residential has the right to go ahead.

“The balance of harms … together with the lack of irreparable harm (to Lehman), makes this a ruling I am comfortable making today,” Peck said in court on Friday.

Lehman will still likely exercise its right to match Zell’s $1.325 billion offer for Archstone, which will trigger Zell’s right to make an offer for the second half of the banks’ stake.

Lehman had argued that it should have the first bite at the second half of that stake, allowing it to offer the same $1.325 billion price considered to be below-market.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – Grooveshark has been sued by the large record company EMI Group Ltd, which accused the popular digital music service of paying no royalties since entering a licensing agreement to stream music nearly three years ago.

EMI, which brought the world such acts as the Beatles and Coldplay and is now being sold by Citigroup Inc, filed its complaint against Grooveshark’s parent, Escape Media Group Inc, on Wednesday in a New York state court.

The filing came less than a month after three other major record companies – Vivendi SA’s UniversalMusic Group, Sony Corp and Warner Music Group – filed a federal copyright lawsuit accusing Grooveshark of pirating thousands of songs.

Grooveshark spokeswoman Kristin Harris said in an email: “This is a contract dispute that we expect to resolve.”

The lawsuit was reported earlier by The New York Times.

In its complaint, EMI said Grooveshark has acknowledged in writing or orally owing royalties, but has neither paid anything nor provided any accounting statements.

* Trustee: California AG interfering with recovery efforts

* Judge rules Madoff feeder fund claimants not customers

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – The Bernard Madoff bankruptcy trustee has sued California Attorney General Kamala Harris to stop her from interfering with his efforts to recover money for the swindler’s former customers.

Irving Picard, the trustee, won a separate legal victory as a federal judge ruled that investors who sent money indirectly to Madoff’s firm through so-called feeder funds did not qualify as “customers” entitled to share in what Picard recovers.

Picard has recovered about $8.7 billion for former customers of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, but much of that sum is tied up in litigation. He was not immediately available for comment.

The developments are the latest arising from Madoff’s estimated $64.8 billion Ponzi scheme, which was uncovered in December 2008. Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – The Bernard Madoff bankruptcy trustee has sued California Attorney General Kamala Harris to stop her from interfering with his efforts to recover money for the swindler’s former customers.

Irving Picard, the trustee, won a separate legal victory as a federal judge ruled that investors who sent money indirectly to Madoff’s firm through so-called feeder funds did not qualify as “customers” entitled to share in what Picard recovers.

Picard has recovered about $8.7 billion for former customers of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, but much of that sum is tied up in litigation. He was not immediately available for comment.

The developments are the latest arising from Madoff’s estimated $64.8 billion Ponzi scheme, which was uncovered in December 2008. Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence.

Investigations have shown that Madoff and some employees created fictitious accounts, and paid out consistently high but made-up returns to customers over three decades.

CHAIS CASE

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – A federal judge blocked Clorox Co from airing a TV commercial for its Fresh Step cat litter after the company ruffled the fur of a rival that said the ad was false.

District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan on Wednesday said Church & Dwight Co, which makes cat litter under its Arm & Hammer brand, showed a high likelihood of “irreparable harm” from Clorox’s ad.

Rakoff issued a preliminary injunction to halt the ad, which began airing last February, while litigation continues.

In its commercial, Clorox featured what Church & Dwight described as “playful home videos” of cats engaging in “clever behavior,” with a voiceover describing how cats are “smart enough” to choose litter with less odor.

It then showed green gas floating through two beakers. One held Fresh Step and a black substance labeled “carbon,” and the other a white substance labeled “baking soda.” The voiceover said: “We make Fresh Step scoopable litter with carbon, which is more effective at absorbing odors than baking soda.”

Church & Dwight said the ad sent a false message that cat litter with baking soda fights odor less well than Fresh Step.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – David J. Stern, who became one of the country’s best-known foreclosure lawyers before shutting his business under regulatory pressure, has been sued for fraud by the publicly traded company he helped create to take on his now-defunct law firm’s back-office operations.

DJSP Enterprises Inc said Stern, a former chief executive, concealed that his law firm David J. Stern PA inflated revenue by systematically “cutting corners” in the foreclosure process.

It said this took place even though the firm knew that such clients as Citigroup Inc, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might flee.

DJSP said the shortcuts included letting workers sign foreclosure documents without reading them, known as “robo-signing,” and submitting false or backdated documents to courts. It also said Stern awarded bonuses and “extravagant gifts” to workers who could churn out foreclosures quickly.

Stern had “specific intent to fraudulently induce DJSP” to assume the back-office operations, the company said. The demise last March of Stern’s law firm “directly and necessarily resulted in the destruction of DJSP’s business,” it added.

DJSP in January 2010 took on the Stern operations in exchange for paying nearly $60 million in cash to Stern, whose lifestyle included luxury homes and a yacht.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – A New York state judge made it easier for the bond insurer MBIA Inc (MBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to pursue its $1.4 billion lawsuit accusing Bank of America Corp’s (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Countrywide Financial unit of fraudulently inducing it to insure risky mortgage-backed securities.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Eileen Bransten ruled on Tuesday that to show fraud, MBIA need only show that Countrywide misled it about the $20 billion of securities that it insured, not that the misrepresentations caused its losses.

MBIA had accused Countrywide of misrepresenting the quality of underwriting for about 368,000 loans that backed 15 financings between 2005 and 2007, while the housing market was booming. It said it would not have insured the securities on the agreed-upon terms had it known how the loans were made.

“No basis in law exists to mandate that MBIA establish a direct causal link between the misrepresentations allegedly made by Countrywide and claims made under the policy,” Bransten wrote, citing New York common law and insurance law.

While not ruling on the merits of the case, the Manhattan judge lowered the burden of proof on MBIA to show Countrywide committed fraud and breached the insurance contracts.

She also said MBIA may seek damages for its losses, rejecting Countrywide’s argument that the Armonk, New York-based insurer’s only remedy was to void its insurance policies. MBIA had said that would be unfair to investors.

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – Coach America Holdings Inc, the largest U.S. tour and charter bus operator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after being unable to restructure more than $400 million of debt as losses piled up.

The Dallas-based company, which operates buses in 26 U.S. states under its own name and the Gray Line, American Coach Lines and CUSA brands, filed for protection from creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Forty-eight affiliates also filed for protection, a court filing shows. Private equity firm Fenway Partners is the main equity sponsor for Coach America, which said it has lost $207 million since the end of 2009.

Coach America operates more than 3,000 vehicles, including 1,623 full-size motor coaches and 902 vans, and is the nation’s second-largest motorcoach service provider.

The company said it employs 6,000 people, and will operate normally while in bankruptcy.

Chief Restructuring Officer Brian Cejka, a managing director at restructuring adviser Alvarez & Marsal, in a court filing called Coach America’s business “operationally sound.”

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) – A judge ordered the appointment of an examiner for the bankruptcy of Dynegy Holdings LLC, after a bond trustee said an investigation was needed to determine whether bondholders were being treated fairly.

The examiner will investigate a series of transactions that took place shortly before last month’s Chapter 11 filing by the holding company for power producer Dynegy Inc, which is trying to restructure more than $4 billion of debt.

This restructuring is unusual because it would cause losses for bondholders, yet protect shareholders such as the Seneca Capital hedge fund and billionaire financier Carl Icahn.

“The examiner shall conduct an unfettered investigation” into Dynegy Holdings’ conduct, and assess whether it “is capable of confirming a Chapter 11 plan,” Bankruptcy Judge Cecelia Morris in Poughkeepsie, New York, wrote on Thursday.

Examiners are appointed for the benefit of creditors, equity investors and the bankruptcy estate. They may investigate allegations such as dishonesty, fraud, incompetence and mismanagement. A finding that management has done something wrong could undermine support for or derail a reorganization.

Dynegy Holdings’ examiner will have the power to issue subpoenas, and examine whether any transactions predating the bankruptcy constituted “fraudulent conveyances,” Morris wrote.