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Re:       Sandra Bullock – Commercial Infringement re: Watch Sales
 
To whom it may concern:
My law firm is litigation counsel for actress Sandra Bullock.  I am writing with reference to my client’s substantial claims against your company and all those acting in concert with it (collectively, “you” or “your”), in connection with your unauthorized use of my client’s name, photograph, identity and persona in your commercial marketing and advertising (collectively, the “Advertising”), including the use of my client’s name, photograph, identity and persona at your company’s website to advertise, market, and promote your products.  Enclosed is a screenshot from your website showing the use of my client’s name to promote your sales.
As you know, my client has never given you permission to use her name, photograph, identity or persona in connection with the promotion of either your company or any of your products or services.  Accordingly your actions constitute an unauthorized commercial infringement of my client’s name, photograph, identity and persona, in violation of California Civil Code section 3344 and California common law, and trademark infringement in violation of the Federal Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. section 1125, among other causes of action, and thereby exposing you to monetary damages equal to the value of my client’s name to promote and sell commercial products in the United States and worldwide; disgorgement of your profits; reimbursement of my client’s attorneys’ fees and costs; treble damages; and punitive damages.
Your misappropriation of my client’s name, identity and persona violates her policy of strictly controlling the exploitation of her image and persona for commercial purposes. You have intentionally taken from my client the right to protect and control the use of her name, identity and persona, in violation of California law, and the value of the injury is substantial.  Bette Midler v. Ford Motor Co., 849 F.2d 460, 463 (9th Cir. 1988) (“What [defendants] sought was an attribute of [Bette] Midler’s identity [when defendants used her publicity rights in an advertisement for a Ford automobile].  Its value is what the market would have paid for Midler to have sung the commercial in person.”) (Emphasis added.)
Your website further is misleading and injurious to my client by falsely implying that she voluntarily acquiesced to the use of her name, identity and persona to promote your company and its products – uses that she would not have permitted, if at all, absent prior express written approval and a substantial payment.  Thus, your unauthorized commercial use of my client’s name without her consent exposes you to claims for false endorsement and false association in violation of the Federal Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. section 1125(a), which entitles my client to recover disgorgement of your profits as well as treble damages in the case of a willful violation such as this.
My client also is entitled to seek reimbursement of her attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to both California Civil Code section 3344(a), and 15 U.S.C. section 1117.
In light of the foregoing, demand is hereby made that you:
1. Immediately and permanently remove and discontinue the use of my client’s name, photograph, identity and persona from all marketing, advertising and promotion for your companies, their affiliated companies, and each of their respective products and services, including without limitation, advertising, marketing and promotion on or in connection with your websites, internet search engines (including without limitation, Google), keywords, and AdWords. 
2. Promptly provide my office with a copy of all materials and information related to the use of my client’s name, photograph, identity or persona in connection with your companies, their affiliated companies, and each of their respective products and services, including color copies of all marketing, advertising and promotional materials that use my client’s name, photograph, identity or persona, including but not limited to all webpages, catalogs, brochures, marketing emails (a.k.a. email blasts), and all other forms of advertising, marketing or promotion.
3. Immediately preserve exact color copies of all of your websites, webpages and all other forms of advertising, marketing, and promotion, as they exist and appear now, before any changes are made, including to comply with Demand No. 1, above.
4. Immediately preserve all other physical and electronic documents, materials and data in your possession, custody or control that are or might be relevant or related to the foregoing matters.
Please confirm in writing within forty-eight (48) hours of your receipt of this demand that the foregoing demands will be and are being complied with.
This letter is not intended as a full statement of all facts relating to this matter, nor should anything herein be construed as a waiver, release or relinquishment of any rights, remedies, claims or causes of action available to my client, all of which are reserved.  This letter is confidential and constitutes an offer to compromise pursuant to California Evidence Code § 1152, et seq., Federal Rules of Evidence, Rule 408, et seq., and any related legal authorities.  As such, this letter may not be disseminated to anyone outside of your companies or their legal representatives, and may not be used in any legal proceeding for any purpose.
We look forward to your prompt response to this letter.
Very truly yours,
 
WOLF, RIFKIN, SHAPIRO, SCHULMAN & RABKIN, LLP
 
/s/
 
CHARLES J. HARDER
 
CH:rr
Enclosure
 
cc:        John J. Chamblee, Esq.
            Cliff Gilbert-Lurie, Esq.
            Jamey Cohen, Esq.

จาก: Raquel Rubio ([email protected]) ในนามของ Charles Harder ([email protected])