N.Y. Bid for $15 Million Fee Against Tobacco Giant Ruled Excessive

A Manhattan judge has rejected New York state's bid to collect $15 million from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for allegedly violating a 1998 settlement agreement prohibiting the use of cartoons and non-tobacco-related merchandise to sell cigarettes. At issue was a 2007 nine-page ad for independent music that depicted "flying radios with propellers" and a tractor "made of film reels" in Rolling Stone magazine.