Johnny Depp Says Prof Threatening Suit Lacks ‘Hobo Ben’ Rights

Johnny Depp accused a professor of shaking him down over a recording of a toast known as “Hobo Ben” despite the professor’s acknowledgment that the work is rooted in oral tradition has no clear author.

The actor, joined in his Oct. 21 complaint by guitarist Jeff Beck, said Bruce Jackson, an English professor at the University of Buffalo, threatened litigation over the pair’s song, “Sad Motherf—in’ Parade.” Jackson’s August letters claimed their song ripped off the words from the “only known authorized transcription and recording of ‘Hobo Ben’” in his 1974 book “Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim ...