Is this REALLY necessary?
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is suing General Motors for $2 million, because they used his likeness in an ad a month after his contract had expired. Oh puh-leeeeze! This is the kind of crap that leaves a bad taste in the mouths of everybody, except the lawyers who’ll make lots of money off it. I mean, come on! Sure the agency that did the dastardly deed should be called on the carpet for it, but to actually file a $2 million lawsuit is absurd. Is there any wonder why pro athletes are thought of as spoiled brats?
Brady, you’re being a dick! (Note: The FCC says I can say that.)
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 26th, 2005 at 4:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
January 29th, 2005 at 6:07 pm
How long should he have given them free use of his likeness? Six months?
If someone contracts to use something valuable of yours, say rental property, do you let them use it for longer than the contract period for free?
Yes, though, I am a lawyer.
January 29th, 2005 at 7:08 pm
God bless the lawyers, Roboto. I just think a $2 million suit is a bit much. Here’s more:
Cadillac, GM’s luxury brand, issued a statement Wednesday calling the suit “disappointing and shocking.”
Jeff Kuhlman, a spokesman for the company, said Cadillac has been “actively engaging in settlement discussions,” and that company officials were not notified about the suit.
“It was an honest mistake that we have attempted to reasonably resolve for the past year, however the settlement expectation of Mr. Brady’s agents has been unreasonable,” Kuhlman said.
“For accidental use of Mr. Brady’s likeness following the 2004 Super Bowl, Mr. Brady’s agents are demanding more than 20 times the amount paid for use of Mr. Brady’s likeness for the entire regular season.”
January 29th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
Having not seen the actual lawsuit, I bet that the high number is "punitive" damages, as a result of intentional conduct by GM. They asked him if they could run extra ads, he said no, and then they did anyway.
An athlete generally has two assets: his talent and his likeness. To be the devil’s advocate, he had to sue them, because they stole from him. And he had to do it by January 2005 or his claim would expire.