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Michael Lohan needs to be on his best behavior when it comes to dealing with his estranged wife after striking a plea deal in his harassment case.

Michael pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct Tuesday in a Suffolk County Court ... according to law enforcement sources. As we reported ... Lindsay's dad got arrested last month and charged for allegedly choking Kate Major and harassing her.

The choking charge has been dropped, but Michael is now subject to a limited protective order for the next 2 years. It means he can have contact with Kate, but must not threaten, harass or abuse her. The estranged couple has 2 young boys.

We're told Michael also has to pay a fine. The good news for him? No jail time or probation.

As we first reported ... Michael was busted one day after Kate's DWI arrest last month. He claimed she made bogus allegations that he choked her because she was pissed he'd called cops when he suspected she was drinking and driving.

Michael denied he attacked Kate. Meanwhile, she's due back in court next month for the DWI case.

The Boiling Crab restaurant chain ain't about to let some lesser bottom dwelling crustacean pinch its biz ... the popular joint is suing The Boiling Shrimp for stepping on its claws.

Tensions have been simmering for awhile, but the Crab finally pulled the trigger. Here's the deal ... TBC says its been cooking since 2004, when it's first restaurant opened in California. They've since expanded to several states including Florida.

That's key because The Boiling Shrimp is now opened in neighboring Georgia ... and the Crab is steamed.

In a shell, here's the meat of their complaint. TBC says in the lawsuit, TBS is trading off its good name in the shellfish game -- copying interior designs, significant portions of the menu and even used similar color schemes in their signage.

The Crab says it's fired off multiple written warnings to The Shrimp, but they've seen no sea change ... and quite frankly, they're pretty salty about it now.

So, they're serving up this lawsuit -- The Boiling Crab wants an injunction to put a lid on The Boiling Shrimp's copycatting ways. It also wants the Shrimp to hand over its profits, or at least pay royalties to the Crab.

And, that's it ... when ya boil it all down.

Harvey Weinstein is asking the judge who will sentence him Wednesday for mercy ... a 5-year prison sentence.

Weinstein's lawyers filed legal docs late Monday, laying out personal matters they want the judge to consider in handing down the sentence.

For starters, the lawyers honed in on Ronan Farrow's New Yorker article ... "Since the New Yorker article was published in 2017, Mr. Weinstein's life has been destroyed. His wife divorced him, he was fired from The Weinstein Company, and in short, he lost everything."

The lawyer goes on to describe "his fall from grace [as] historic, perhaps unmatched in the age of social media."

The lawyer asks the judge to consider that Weinstein otherwise has no criminal history. The lawyer tried reopening the case by writing, "Both [victims] continued consensual relationships with Mr. Weinstein after the alleged assaults and contacted him for jobs, tickets, and professional advice."

The lawyer also wants the judge to give weight to Weinstein's charitable contributions, including millions for the 9/11 firefighters and police officers. He also helped raise $2.5 billion for the Robin Hood org.

The lawyer wrote, "...the trial did not fairly portray who he is as a person. His life story, his accomplishments, and struggles are simply remarkable and should not be disregarded in total because of a jury's verdict."

67-year-old Weinstein faces a maximum of 29 years in prison for a Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree and Rape in the Third Degree. Prosecutors have asked the judge to impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of his offenses, his total lack of remorse and the need to deter him from engaging in further criminal conduct.

Niecy Nash and her ex have divvied up their property and are just one final, formal step away from no longer being husband and wife.

According to new legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the "Claws" star and Jay Tucker have reached a property settlement and will be officially single in the eyes of the law June 21.

In the settlement, Niecy gets their house in Bell Canyon, CA and the 2016 Tesla. She also gets to keep her production company, Chocolate Chick.

Jay -- who's an electrical engineer -- gets the 2011 Ford F-150 truck and will receive a final payment from Nash of $184,820, which represents his cut from the sale of another property.

Both parties have agreed to forever waive the right to spousal support, and get to keep all earnings made after their official separation date ... which was June 1, 2019 -- right after their 8-year anniversary.

We broke the story ... Nash filed for divorce in December, but the exes broke the news a couple months before, saying they'd realized they'd become "better friends than partners in marriage." They added ... "Our union was such a gorgeous ride."

So is a Tesla.

Nicki Minaj's husband finally got his ducks in a row on the West Coast -- getting himself registered as a sex offender, and looking kinda ticked off in the process.

Kenneth Petty is now entered into the California Megan's Law database, which tracks sex offenders in the state. We don't know exactly what day he was registered, but it was clearly very soon after his arrest on Wednesday last week -- so a matter of days, really.

He's listed as 5'9", 170lbs ... and has a Bev Hills address. Check out his booking photo too -- Ken doesn't look very happy to be in custody.

TMZ broke the story ... KP was initially picked up by cops after a traffic stop last year in Bev Hills -- prosecutors say that's when they discovered he was registered as a sex offender in NY, but not yet on the books in California.

He was charged by the L.A. County D.A. for not registering ... before the feds arrested him last week for the same crime. While the L.A. County charge has been dropped, Petty will be back in court next month for the federal case -- and he has to wear an ankle monitor until then.

He also has to keep his nose clean substance-wise -- one of the conditions of his bond is no drugs, including legal weed.

The son of ex-"Real Housewives of Orange County" star Lauri Peterson is off the hook for attempted murder -- thanks to a sweet plea deal -- and he's walking out of jail.

Josh Waring pled guilty on Friday to felony counts of assault with a firearm, evading a peace officer, 2 counts of assault, hit-and-run with property damage and battery ... this according to court records. Waring's attorney, Joel Garson, tells us Waring will get time served and be released later today.

As we've reported ... Waring's been locked up for nearly 4 years while waiting for his trial since his July 2016 arrest when he was accused of shooting a man outside a sober living home. He initially pled not guilty.

It's been a harrowing time for Waring behind bars. As we first reported ... he was ambushed back in October 2019 at the Orange County jail in Santa Ana and brutally assaulted by another inmate wielding razors wrapped in towels.

Waring suffered deep gashes to his chest and face. Waring's lawyer believed the attack could have been retaliation against Josh for filing a federal lawsuit against Orange County and its Sheriff's Department for violating his civil rights.

Feathers are seriously ruffled over at Drake's company, OVO, after a couple of companies jacked their famous owl logo ... or at least that's what OVO's claiming in a lawsuit.

OVO is suing Australian-based Bellroy and L.A.-based Clae claiming the merch companies collaborated to create, among other things, a shoe featuring a bird which OVO claims is the spitting image of its famous owl ... and it's crying fowl.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, OVO claims Bellroy "changed the design of the owl by altering its posture, width, wings and feet in order to blatantly mimic the OVO owl." OVO thinks these changes were intentionally made to maximize similarities with Drake's brand.

Specifically, OVO gives a hoot because Bellroy first sold wallets, smartphone cases and small luggage, but recently added footwear and clothing which OVO says is the core of its biz.

OVO alleges Bellroy and Clae are misleading consumers into thinking they're in bed with OVO's world-famous brand.

It's suing for trademark infringement and is asking for an injunction to stop Bellroy and Clae from jacking its owl -- plus any profits it's made so far and damages.

Brooke Burke and David Charvet are free to move about Malibu as single people -- they've finally hammered out their divorce and they're both walking away with plenty of assets.

Brooke filed to divorce the ex-'Baywatch' star way back in April 2018, which might make ya think this was a nasty split, but the divorce docs -- obtained by TMZ -- make it seem pretty damn amicable.

First off, they're putting the co in co-parenting -- agreeing to 50/50 physical and legal custody of their 2 kids -- Shaya and Heaven. They're also going 50/50 on all expenses for the children, and neither will pay child support.

As for property, Brooke gets 2 homes -- one in Malibu and a condo in Santa Monica -- while David gets a Malibu property of his own. Let's face it ... both of those bodies belong at the beach.

The exes share an art collection that they plan to divvy up down the road. Brooke gets ownership of 2 fitness companies, and David gets a few other companies, including Malibu Stone and Building Materials.

As for money ... they're splitting up their bank accounts, and they've agreed neither will pay spousal support. That's it. Easy, breezy divorce ... and both have already moved on.

Chris Cornell's widow is spilling more bad blood in her legal war with Soundgarden ... she says the surviving band members didn't so much as text her after her husband's tragic death.

Vicky Cornell just blasted the band in legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- saying Soundgarden never reached out to her in any fashion after Chris committed suicide.

In the docs, Vicky also says the surviving band members charged her private flight to Chris' memorial as a tour expense instead of paying for it out of their own pockets.

And, get this ... in the docs, Vicky says Chris never signed a written partnership agreement with the band because he "was tired of others unfairly capitalizing on his creative talents, or in his words, 'the stupid communist bulls***.' "

Vicky's explosive filing, prepared by legal pit bull Marty Singer, is part of her ongoing legal dispute with Soundgarden.

As we reported ... Vicky is suing Soundgarden for unpaid royalties, but the band claims she filed her lawsuit in the wrong court -- a federal court in Florida -- because Soundgarden is actually based in Seattle.

Vicky claims that's nonsense because the songs were created in Florida by Chris.

We reached out to Soundgarden ... so far, radio silence.

Tim Story, the successful director of the 'Ride Along' franchise, is facing a lawsuit over a tragedy in his backyard ... the death of a 2-year-old boy in his hot tub.

The child's father, Miguel Raygoza-Castillo, is suing over what went down Nov. 18 at Story's L.A. home. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Miguel's son, named I'M, fell onto an un-fenced spa tub and suffered fatal injuries.

The boy's father says Story's hot tub not only lacked proper fencing, but it was also missing warnings and alarms. In the suit, he also claims there was no alarm to detect someone falling into the water. He claims Story -- who's also directed "Barbershop" and the 'Think Like a Man' flicks -- didn't have an exit alarm on his home's back door to the hot tub area.

According to a GoFundMe page started for I'M ... the child was hospitalized for 4 days before his family made the difficult decision to turn off life support.

Raygoza-Castillo is suing Story and his wife for damages including medical, funeral and burial expenses ... as well as pain, suffering and the emotional distress from losing a child.

G-Eazy and Three 6 Mafia's Juicy J shoulda known better when they ripped off the work of some Southern hip-hop legends ... so claim those artists in a new lawsuit.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Memphis-based DJ Squeeky and Gaylon Love say they own the rights to "Looking 4 Da Chewin" and claim G-Eazy's "No Limit" straight-up sampled their 1993 Southern hip-hop classic.

Squeeky and Love claim G-Eazy never got permission to sample the track and are suing for copyright infringement. They also want a slice of the profits from G-Eazy's "No Limit" track, which enjoyed mega-success when it dropped in 2017 as the lead single in G-Eazy's fourth studio album, "The Beautiful & Damned."

It's interesting ... "No Limit" features Cardi B and A$AP Rocky, and the remix also includes French Montana, Belly and Juicy J. But, Squeeky and Love are only going after G-Eazy and Juicy J.

The Memphis artists' lawyer Alcide Honore tells us, for starters, G-Eazy's getting sued because it's his track. As for Juicy J ... he hails from Memphis, so he should have known he was rapping over a popular Southern hip-hop track that first hit the scene in the early '90s. We're told other parties could be added to the lawsuit down the road, but for now, the legal team says G-Eazy and Juicy J bear responsibility.

It's been a rough week for Juicy J and counterpart DJ Paul ... both of whom were slapped with separate lawsuits earlier this week.

Nicki Minaj's husband's past is coming back to bite him in the ass -- he's been arrested by U.S. Marshals on an indictment for failing to register as a sex offender ... TMZ has learned.

Kenneth Petty was in federal custody Wednesday -- we're told he turned himself into the Marshals. According to court docs, he'll face a judge later today. Petty moved to California in July 2019, but according to law enforcement he got pulled over in Beverly Hills in November and that's when his legal troubles started.

We're told Bev Hills PD made a traffic stop on November 15 and determined Petty was a registered sex offender in New York state but had not registered in California ... as required.

He was arrested and released on a $20,000 bond. The L.A. County D.A. charged him for failing to register as a sex offender.

It appears he still didn't check in after that because now the feds are in on the case. He was indicted in federal court for the same thing ... failing to register.

As we've reported, Kenneth's rap sheet includes a 1995 conviction for first-degree attempted rape. He served almost 4 years in NY state prison for the crime and was required to register as a sex offender. If convicted on the federal charge for failure to register, Kenneth faces up to 10 years in prison.

TMZ broke the story ... Nicki and Kenneth hit up the Bev Hills Courthouse to get a marriage license in July ... around the time the couple moved to Cali.

We've reached out to Nicki's camp for comment, so far no word back.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous mug and iconic voice are being ripped-off by a Russian robot manufacturer, and he wants more than $10 million to make it right ... or for the robot to go hasta la vista.

Arnold's company is suing Promobot, which makes autonomous service robots consumers can customize to look human. The product's called the Android Robo-C, and can be made to look like a person of your choosing.

The problem -- according to the suit -- Arnold did not give permission to Promobot to use HIS likeness to promote it, and is generally very strict about his face being used for ads because "such activity diminishes his hard-earned and well-deserved reputation as a major motion picture star." However, according to the lawsuit ... he's become the "unwilling face" of the product.

Arnold's company claims Promobot is using the Arnold-like model at public events to promote and market the Android Robo-C. Even more egregiously ... Promobot allegedly asked Arnold to pose for a photo with its robot while he was in St. Petersberg to deliver a speech in 2019 ... and he refused.

However, according to the suit, Promobot kept using the Arnold android ... including at CES in Vegas in January. At that point, Arnold's attorney -- legal pit bull Marty Singer -- fired off a cease and desist letter to the robot company demanding it stop.

Singer made it clear to Promobot ... he's won cases like this in the past, including scoring a judgment for more than $2.5 mil for Priscilla Presley, who's "far less commercially valuable" than Schwarzenegger. In fact, Arnold says he would not have accepted anything less than $10 million for using his likeness.

Promobot allegedly assured Arnold's team it would cease using the Arnold-bot ... it popped up again at the New York Toy Fair at the end of February. Hence, a lawsuit's now been filed for misappropriation of Arnold's right of publicity.

DaBaby's no longer sweating a battery case in Miami ... TMZ's learned prosecutors are dropping the charge but the rapper's not exactly out of the woods just yet.

The Miami State Attorney's Office says it dropped the battery charge against DB claiming one of the alleged victims would NOT cooperate. That alleged victim is a friend of concert promoter, Kenneth Carey. You'll recall Carey was the guy who got beat up and allegedly robbed on video. The other alleged victim is not seen in the video.

Even though the battery charge has been tossed, cops are still investigating the alleged robbery of Carey ... so DaBaby could potentially be charged.

TMZ broke the story ... Carey sued DaBaby claiming DB and his crew beat him to a pulp and in the process jacked his phone, money and credit card over a business deal gone wrong. That lawsuit -- Carey's suing for more than $6 mil -- is still active.

'Real Housewives' star Jules Wainstein has something her estranged husband wants -- a lock of hair -- because he wants to prove she's abusing drugs, claiming it made her crazy.

Michael Wainstein ran to civil court shortly after Jules was arrested last week on domestic violence charges in Florida -- asking a judge for a restraining order against his wife. He also wants to get her tested and treated for what he says is a very dangerous addiction.

Per the docs, obtained by TMZ, Michael claims Jules poses a serious risk to not only him ... but to their two minor children as well. He says one of the kids told him they saw their mom taking pills before she allegedly went on a mini-rampage during a custody exchange ... for which she was ultimately arrested, booked and charged with battery.

BTW, Michael also says in the docs ... one night while they were in NYC, Jules came home visibly high on cocaine and repeatedly punched Michael in the face when he confronted  her about it. Just another reason he's concerned now.

Mike claims he's aware of a past drug problem she's had with Rx pills, including improper use of Adderall. Because of "bizarre behavior" Michael says Jules displays in front of the children -- including allegedly using a baseball bat on his car, licking his window, punching Mike, etc. -- he believes the court needs to step in here.

Specifically, he wants hizzoner to force Jules to submit hair follicles for testing to see if she is, in fact, on something ... and if so, Mike wants her ordered into a treatment program.

This is all part of their divorce case, which was filed in New York. The restraining order and battery cases are in Florida where the kids were handed off from father to mother, and Michael ran to a Florida court for an emergency restraining order that's tied to the divorce case.