Johnny Law Won't Shut Down Jersey Shore

Judge rules against New Jersey dude who tried to stop release of Jersey Shore DVD for including his fight with Ronnie

This just in: You can still pick up that Jersey Shore DVD tomorrow.

A New Jersey judge ruled against a local dude who tried to block the DVD release of the first season because he's shown getting decked by one of the show's residents guidos, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro.

So was the judge a closet fan?

Not really. The judge simply believed that MTV had done a good enough job blurring plaintiff Stephen Izzo's mug in the incident, in which he wound up face down on a brick footpath outside a Seaside Heights nightspot at the hands of the Bronx bomber.

"A reasonable observer of either one of those episodes would be hard-pressed to identify the plaintiff other than a Caucasian male of a similar age," Judge Joseph L. Foster said, per the Asbury Park Press.

After the hearing, Izzo, 26, told reporters he found the judge's ruling laughable, saying, "Everybody knew it was me. My tattoos are clear (in the TV footage)."

The decision seems to deflate the plaintiff's key claims of invasion of privacy and that Jersey Shore's makers attempted to profit off him by using his face and likeness without his permission. However, the judge still has to rule on whether Izzo's suit—which also seeks to prevent Ortiz-Magro from collecting further earnings for his participation on Jersey Shore—can go forward.

And although it doesn't pay the beer tab, Izzo can take some solace in knowing that there's still a separate criminal assault case pending against Ortiz-Magro over the beatdown.

The next hearing in the civil complaint is scheduled for March 19.