Why is Lane Kiffin getting sued? All we know about Ole Miss HC's latest lawsuit

A lawsuit has been filed against Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin, according to the Clarion Ledger. The lawsuit relates to Kiffin's social media use, and two specific posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The person who is suing Kiffin is Dr. Keith Bell, a sports psychologist who specializes in work with swimmers. In 1981, he wrote "Winning Isn't Normal," a book about elevating athletic performance, and he has copyrighted the phrase "winning isn't normal."

Why is Lane Kiffin getting sued?

The issue started in 2016, when Lane Kiffin retweeted a passage from "Winning Isn't Normal." In response to this tweet, Bell sent Kiffin a cease and desist letter. Bell believed that Kiffin copied the phrase without his permission. After the letters, Kiffin deleted the tweet.

In March 2022, Kiffin would again use the book on social media. This time, he posted a picture of a passage in the book, consisting of seven paragraphs, also on his X account. Bell again responded by sending cease and desist letters, as he argues that the passage that Kiffin shared in the photo is a breach of copyright law.

However, the filing states that Kiffin did not respond to these letters and did not immediately delete the post.

"Kiffin's leaving up his infringing post is irrefutable evidence of willful infringement."

The post has now been deleted, but the lawsuit still remains.

The lawsuit filing goes onto mention that Kiffin's use of "Winning Isn't Normal" on his social media accounts correlate to commercial use, for which the owner of the copyright, in this case Bell, will need to give permission to use.

According to the lawsuit, Lane Kiffin's social media accounts could be compared to a business' account are because of his high salary and the use of social media to recuit players to join the program. This is a similar concept as company using a copyrighted figure to bring people to buy their new product.

Kiffin has not responded to this lawsuit as of writing.

Will this lawsuit affect the Ole Miss Rebels?

If Lane Kiffin were to lose this lawsuit, there is not likely to be an impact on the Ole Miss Rebels program, as this relates to Kiffin's own social media account.

In the grand scheme of things, this lawsuit is likely to have little impact on the Rebels program. The team comes into 2024 hoping to improve on their first-ever 11-win season in 2023. Kiffin knows that quarterback Jaxson Dart can led the offense, and even though they lost key player Quinshon Judkins to the transfer portal in the offseason, there is still enough talent to potentially cause an upset in the SEC this year.