LEGAL FILE

Jurors won’t be treated to a Bette Midler concert in her $10-million lawsuit against Ford Motor Co., but they may hear her recordings, a judge in Los Angeles has ruled. U.S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima on Monday said Midler may not sing at the trial, which will decide whether Ford and the Young & Rubicam ad agency used a “sound-alike” to impersonate her in a 1985 car commercial. Young & Rubicam hired a former backup singer for Midler to sing “Do You Want to Dance” in a Mercury Sable commercial after Midler’s manager turned down an opportunity for her to sing in the TV ad, the court said. Midler sued in 1987, after which a judge said the ad agency had acted like “the average thief” but had broken no law.