While a young Lindasy Lohan professed her tendency to " go ape for new Jell-O grape" in a childhood commercial, the actress recently went bananas over another commercial. Lohan was not pleased with an E*Trade Financial Super Bowl ad, featuring one of their signature talking babies named Lindsay, touted as a " milkaholic." In the spot, which the 23-year-old filed a $100 million suit over on March 9, a baby love triangle goes sour when little Lindsay comes into the picture. Shortly after it aired on February 7, Lohan asked her Twitter followers, " Did that just happen? On that commercial? Or am I wrong?" and soon said to a friend, "hahahaha vitamin D never tasted so good!" Lohan claims the company is in violation of using her "name and characterization" for their business without paying her or getting her approval, according to TMZ. Not so, said E*Trade: "We believe the claims are without merit and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this case." But Lohan's father, Michael, came to his daughter's rescue on Geraldo at Large Sunday. "It's time that Lindsay and other people that are in the media put their foot down," Lohan's dad said.
Joel Ryan / AP Photo
Nicolas Cage may be known as an over-the-top collector, but two things he doesn't collect? Arrest warrants or other people's dogs. Cage's Peggy Sue Got Married co-star Kathleen Turner made the mistake of saying otherwise in her memoir Send Yourself Roses, writing that the actor was "arrested twice for drunk-driving and, I think, for stealing a dog. He'd come across a Chihuahua he liked and stuck it in his jacket." Cage hit back immediately with a libel suit and a statement saying, "I have never been arrested for anything in my life, nor have I stolen a dog." In the end, Cage settled with Turner and her publishers after a correction was added to the U.S. edition of the book and a donation was made to his charity of choice, The National Adult Protective Services Foundation.
Retna; Walter McBride / Retna
In an effort to end a persistent gay rumor, Ron Livingston unwittingly opened a legal can of worms. The Office Space actor filed a lawsuit for invasion of privacy, libel, and misappropriation of name and likeness against an anonymous Wikipedia user who repeatedly changed Livingston's page on the site to state that the actor was involved in a homosexual relationship in spite of his marriage to actress Rosemarie DeWitt. The user also created a Facebook page for Livingston making similar claims about his personal life. Besides leading to allegations of homophobia against Livingston, the suit entered into a legal gray area since the site protects its users' anonymity and it would allow Livingston's lawyers to subpoena for their information. Another problem? Livingston's status as "notable but not extremely famous", which Wikipedia experts said left his page more vulnerable for tampering. The actor's attorney refused to comment and as of December 2009 litigation is still pending.
Jennifer Graylock / AP Photo
In 2008, 50 Cent sued Taco Bell for using his name without permission after the restaurant published an open letter suggesting that he change his name to 79, 89, or 99 Cent, and rapping his order as part of a promotion for the chain. "We made a good faith, charitable offer," said a spokesman for the company. But 50 Cent (née Curtis Jackson), who also sued an Internet company for use of his image in 2007, stuck to his guns and said that after the lawsuit was done, Taco Bell would change to the slogan, "We messed with the bull and got the horns." A lawyer for the company hit back, saying, "Jackson has used his colorful past to cultivate a public image of belligerence and arrogance and has a well-publicized track record of making threats, starting feuds, and filing lawsuits." The case was eventually settled out of court on unspecified terms.
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It's no accident that Vanna White managed to make an entire career out of turning the letters on Wheel of Fortune—White has carefully managed her image for years, and in 1993 sued Samsung over an ad featuring a robot turning letters, claiming that the company unfairly used her image and seeking to protect her property of publicity. "Someone like Vanna White makes a substantial portion of her income marketing her name, image, likeness and goodwill to advertisers," said her lawyer at the time. "We want to protect Vanna White's stock and trade." The suit went all the way to the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, which eventually ruled in favor of White, in spite of widespread criticism of the decision. "Overprotecting intellectual property is as harmful as under-protecting it," wrote one of the dissenting judges. "Creativity is impossible without a rich public domain."
Peter Kramer / AP Photo
In 2005, American Pie actress Tara Reid learned that not all publicity is good publicity. The raspy-voiced starlet sued the owners of the Sky Las Vegas Condominiums project for using her name in an ad to attract customers. Reid, who who once starred in her own reality-TV show Taradise, was not pleased with the copy, which read, "Dear Tara Reid. Come let it all hang out" —a reference to an accidental breast exposure on the red carpet at P. Diddy's birthday party months earlier. The actress claimed the ad damaged her reputation and implied she intentionally let her dress strap fall off her shoulder. She also claimed the housing company capitalized on her misfortune by portrayed her as " sexually lewd or immoral," the Associated Press reported. The case was dismissed in December of that year after both parties reached a partial settlement. In 2010, Reid posed topless for a cover of Playboy's double issue to kick-start the year.
Steve Ross / Retna
It was too late for "I'm sorry" when the American Apparel clothing company took down their billboards in Los Angeles and New York that used a still of filmmaker Woody Allen dressed as a Hasidic Jew in his iconic film Annie Hall. The ad simply featured the photo, the name of the hipster company, and the phrase, "the holy rebbe" (or rabbi) in Hebrew—all without Allen's permission. Allen sued American Apparel for $10 million in 2008, claiming, according to court papers, that maintaining strict control over his image has been an essential part of his success in the industry and that implying he endorses a product known for risqué ads is a " blatant misappropriation and commercial use of [his] image." After calling American Apparel's products "low-end" and deeming their ads " sleazy," "adolescent," and "infantile," according to the New York Post, Allen finally won $5 million in a settlement. "I think this case was about the dignity of ideas," American Apparel President Dov Charney told The New York Times. "I'm not sorry for expressing myself." Amen.
Peter Kramer / AP Photo
Four years after Dennis Franz signed off from the acclaimed television drama NYPD Blue, the actor found himself involved in a legal matter in the summer of 2009 that his character Detective Andy Sipowicz would likely not have handled. Franz and his sister, Marlene Schraut, allegedly suffered from injuries when a chandelier fell at his Lake Coeur d'Alene home in Idaho in 2007, leading to a $10,000 lawsuit, which named Edwards Construction, Inc., ACME Electric, and Aladdin Light Lift Inc. as defendants. The 72-year-old Schraut claimed she was holding a toddler at the time of the incident. "Both she and the baby were knocked to the floor by the impact," according to the suit, as reported by the Associated Press. Franz also alleged negligence, emotional distress, product liability, and breach of expressed warranty on the part of the defendants, who he says forced him to skip a $16 million personal services contract. The case is still pending.
Robert Galbraith / Reuters
The iconic ‘80s band Devo was ready to crack that whip on McDonalds in 2008 after the fast-food giant launched a line of American Idol Happy Meal toys featuring various musical genres. While the band was fine with Disco Dave and Rockin' Riley, New Wave Nigel did not sit well with the group from Ohio due to his pop-up red disc hat that bore striking resemblance to the headgear from Devo's "Whip It" video. The Devo-deemed "energy domes" were copyrighted and trademarked, said the band's bassist and dome creator, Gerard Cassale, who added New Wave Nigel was "a complete Devo ripoff" and played a "Devo-esque song," according to AP. "They didn't ask us anything," he added on the impending lawsuit. "Plus, we don't like McDonald's, and we don't like American Idol, so we're doubly offended." But when a problem came along, McDonald's seemingly did what they had to do. A lawyer representing Devo in the following weeks told The Wall Street Journal's law blog that the issues had been " amicably resolved on mutually agreeable terms."
Scott Weiner / Retna
Former Friends star David Schwimmer was anything but cordial with former Hollywood fundraiser Aaron Tonken, who accused the actor of demanding a pair of Rolex watches in exchange for his participation at a 1997 charity event in the National Enquirer in 2005. Schwimmer, who denied the claim, slapped Tonken with a multimillion-dollar slander suit for accusing him of requesting the two watches allegedly worth more than $26,000. According to the suit, as reported by E!, Schwimmer deemed Tonken a "scheming pathological liar" and accused him of being "bent on castigating Schwimmer and other celebrities by conducting bogus stories… in an effort to justify [his] own deceit and lies." Schwimmer also claimed he was "greatly damaged" by Tonken's "outrageous lies." In the end, the sitcom star won $400,000 from the then-jailed Tonken, adding salt to his wound. "I feel vindicated by the judgment," Schwimmer said in a statement via the Associated Press. "I am pleased that Aaron Tonken has set the record straight and admitted that his statements about me… were untrue."
R. Stonehouse / Retna; Reed Saxon / AP Photo
A little after Thanksgiving 2008, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose accused Dr Pepper of profiting from his band's name when the company's Web site malfunctioned during their free Dr Pepper giveaway. Dr Pepper promised 20-oz. handouts of their 23-flavor soda for "everyone in America" if G N' R's long-overdue sixth studio album Chinese Democracy ever hit the shelves. Rose' lawyers demanded full-page public apologies in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, an extended period of time to collect on the free beverages, and payment for unauthorized use the iconic rock band's name. A Dr Pepper spokesman did not address the Rose's lawyers demands, but said, "This was one of the largest responses we have ever received for a giveaway, and we're happy we were able to satisfy the thirst of so many Dr Pepper fans," according to the Associated Press. Rose later told Stereogum that he was still considering a suit, saying, "Maybe the guy who got it rolling originally meant well, but it turned out sour."
Michael Bush / Landov
Comedienne Carol Burnett did not find the use of her signature "Charwoman" character in an April 2006 episode of Family Guy very funny. The Emmy-winning actress was offended by the use of the cleaning woman in a porn shop and the altered version of The Carol Burnett Show theme song that played in the episode without her permission. In 2007, she sued Twentieth Century Fox for $6 million in damages for copyright infringement, trademark violation, statutory violation of right of privacy, and misappropriation of name and likeness. But what pushed Burnett over the edge was a "vulgar comment" about her trademark ear tug. A Los Angeles federal judge did not see it the same way and dismissed the lawsuit two months later stating that the First Amendment allows parodies. Show creator Seth MacFarlane has no hard feelings. "I was at the Creative Arts Emmys this year, and Carol Burnett was one of the presenters. And when she came out, everyone gave her a standing ovation, including me," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It was a moment that you only get in Hollywood: Giving a standing ovation to somebody who sued you a year ago."
Fred Prouser / Reuters
