I see Paris Hilton learned ALOT from her jail time...sues Hallmark over card

[TZ]

Hilton's been carded—and she's not pleased about it.

The 26-year-old heiress has filed a lawsuit against Hallmark, alleging that the company used her image without permission and invaded her privacy by including her mug and signature phrase, "That's hot," on a greeting card. (View the complaint.)

The card in question purports to show "Paris' first day as a waitress," and has Hilton's face superimposed on a cartoon body, as she hands a plate to a customer and warns, "Don't touch that, it's hot." The customer asks, "What's hot?" to which Hilton-as-waitress replies, "That's hot."

(Look for it in the "not funny at all" card section of your local store.)

According to Hilton's complaint, the card went on sale earlier this year and can still be purchased for the bargain price of $2.49.

It is one of three recent Hallmark designs featuring Hilton. Another shows a cartoon of the former Simple Life star behind bars and clutching a small dog, with copy reading, "The really, really, really, really simple life." On the inside, the card wishes its recipient a "really, really, really, really happy birthday."

Hilton is seeking at least $500,000 in damages and a permanent injunction barring Hallmark from any further use of her name and image.
http://tv.yahoo.com/paris-hilton/contributor/61630/news/urn:newsml:tv.eonline.com:20070907:32ffac79880c_4041_85c8_3ea7b75e0b6f__ER

Normally I couldn't care less about what this idiot does but the hypocrisy of this strikes me. First of all she doesn't have enough of her own money? She has to add another frivolous lawsuit over something trivial that most public figures have done to them at one time or another? And what happened to she "wants to make a difference" she was talking about doing once she served out her jail time? I guess that means making a difference in how she is "marketed". God knows she doesn't DELIBERATELY put herself on public dispaly..And people wonder why there is so much venom aimed at this spoiled brat.:grr:

[Katina]

1. anything to stay in the news

what a pathetic thing she is...so needing of the spotlight. I suspect she will lose the suit anyway. "that's hot" is a phrase along with Trump's "your fired" are in the public domain with common usage and can't be trademarked. I think I recall that Trump tried to sue and lost for that very reason.

[MrScorpio]

2. She's a public figure

Apparently one with thin skin

[LeftyMom]

3. Well, the way to stop that is to stop making an ass of herself in public! nt

[Auggie]

4. I agree with her on this one

It's an effort to profit from her likeness without her consent. No different had it been Robin Williams or Oprah Winfrey. The law is there to protect everyone, even publicity hounds like Hilton.

[TZ]

5. Can you copyright yourself? This is all about parody

I believe this kind of thing has been thrown out of court because of them being public images. If you haven't been in a Hallmark store, there are a lot of cards like this. There are TONS with Chimpy on them with some of his quotes. Should he sue too?

[Auggie]

8. Here's a link (it's called the Right of Privacy/Publicity, depending on state):

http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Publicity

Right of Publicity: an overview

The Right of Publicity prevents the unauthorized commercial use of an individual's name, likeness, or other recognizable aspects of one's persona. It gives an individual the exclusive right to license the use of their identity for commercial promotion.

In the United States, the Right of Publicity is largely protected by state common or statutory law. Only about half the states have distinctly recognized a Right of Publicity. Of these, many do not recognize a right by that name but protect it as part of the Right of Privacy. The Restatement Second of Torts recognizes four types of invasions of privacy: intrusion, appropriation of name or likeness, unreasonable publicity and false light. Under the Restatement's formulation, the invasion of the Right of Publicity is most similar to the unauthorized appropriation of one's name or likeness.

If a person can establish an aspect of his or her identity as a trademark, protection may be provided by Federal law.

The Federal Lanham Act can also provide protection where a person's identity is used to falsely advertise a product or designate its origin.

-----

Technically, Chimpy, Darth and the rest of Bushco would have to be covered under the same rights. BUT (I was told this by a rights and permissions firm years ago), the right to privacy has never been challenged by public figures that high up. In other words, they accept it as part of the job.

I'm not a lawyer or agent, but I have negotiated to use celebrity photos for advertising purposes. Hilton has a case.

[skygazer]

9. Fair Use

Including satire which the card obviously is.

[Shakespeare]

10. Yup, that's correct. n/t

[wildhorses]

6. are mug shots public domain?

how else could they plaster the 10 most wanted everywhere? i don't think she has a case here. that mug shot is not hers. it belongs to the people and is therefore public property, right? that is my understanding, anyway.

[Orangepeel]

7. well, she probably should sue.

I doubt it is about the money in this case. It is about keeping control over her image. If she didn't show intent to keep control by suing in this case, it would be harder to win future cases of people stealing her image and using it for their own profit.

I also think Paris Hilton is a spoiled waste of space. But I don't see why that gives Hallmark the right to profit off of her image without giving her a cut (assuming that they make any profit off of those stupid cards).