April 1, 2008 8:09 AM
Woody Violated By Dov Charney
According to The Wall Street Journal, Woody Allen filed a lawsuit Monday seeking more than $10 million from clothier American Apparel Inc. over unauthorized billboard and online advertisements featuring the actor and director dressed as a rabbi.
image courtesy of Curbed
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleges the Los Angeles clothing maker and retailer, without his permission, put up billboards in New York and in Hollywood, Calif., in May 2007 that featured an image of Mr. Allen, who is Jewish, dressed as a rabbi from one of his films.
The images also were displayed in advertising on American Apparel's Web site and in sponsored advertisements on other Web sites, the complaint said.
The complaint said the unlawful use of Allen's image for commercial advertising was "especially egregious and damaging because Allen does not commercially endorse any products in the United States of America."
Posted by david burn
Comments (3) | View blog reactions
Should of just put Duv in the rab outfit, it would make more sense.
Or maybe Matisyahu would be into an endorsement deal.
But then again you wouldn't get the ink er pixels
Any way I appreciate those who can poke fun at themselves, Duv for sure. Woody not so much.
BTW American Apparels's 50/25/25 track shirt is the most comfy shirt I have ever worn. More comfortable than wearing nothing at all.
The above is not a paid endorsement (obviously you don't get those at AA = just a fact.)
How can the Woodster even think this case has legs? The billboard is obviously a parody which is protected by the constitution. I'm sure the publicity won't hurt his upcoming movie though.
This is a clear cut case of commercialization which uses a depiction of a celebrity for commercial purposes without permission. Companies have to pay millions for such celebrity shots. American Apparel is extremely naive or stupid.