Too bright? Pennsylvania couple countersues billboard owner

It sounds like a story straight from "Seinfeld": a Pennsylvania couple says an electronic billboard near their home is so bright, it shines into their bedroom all night. When they complained to some advertisers, the billboard owner sued them. Now, they're fighting back.

Patty and Andrew Colberg have been living in their West Kittanning, Pennsylvania, home for 37 years, but now they're fed up with an unwanted neighbor.

"It's like trying to sleep at a drive-in movie," Patty said.

The couple said their lives haven't been the same since this 12-foot by 40-foot electronic billboard popped up two years ago.

"The flashing, the changing, the colors, the brightness" keeps Patty up at night, she said.

"It's very difficult to sleep when there's a constant pulsation of lights almost every five to seven seconds," Andrew said.

"I refuse to sleep in a cave," Patty added. "I don't like to sleep with all the windows boarded up."

In April of last year, they decided they'd had enough. Patty started calling some of the advertisers to complain.

"A lot of these people were so kind and so sympathetic and they said, 'Well, we don't know what to do because we have contracts,'" she said.

One of them, Armstrong County Memorial Hospital, responded in a letter saying, "...we....have indicated our willingness to support the suspension of [the sign's] operation at night."

The billboard owner, Oliver Outdoor Advertising, offered to dim the light at night.

"I called them back and I told them that this isn't working. Could you please shut the billboard off at night? And his reply to me was it'll never happen," Patty said.

Last month, the advertising company filed a lawsuit, accusing the Colbergs of berating its customers, resulting in more than $50,000 dollars in lost business.

The lawsuit claims the Colbergs contacted 18 businesses, six of which pulled their ads.

"I did not tell one person to not advertise with them," Patty said.

The Colbergs hired their own attorney who filed a counter-claim this week.

Oliver Outdoor Advertising maintains its sign is legal and serves local businesses, many of which are non-profits. In a statement to CBS News, one of the owners said, "We've offered to buy the Colbergs better window treatments and landscaping buffers. None of that was acceptable. Sometimes you can't reason with people that are unreasonable."

"I feel like we're being bullied. I really do," Patty said. "If I wanted bright lights, I would've moved to the city."

Until the court takes action, however, it looks like the Colbergs are stuck with the bright lights of the city in their Pennsylvania suburb.