French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. has won a claim against a clothing firm for using nude images of her on their bags. It is a French version of the American common law rule against the appropriation of a person’s name or image. She will receive $56,200 but clothing vendor Pardon, says that it may appeal.
The founder and manager of the Pardon chain, Peter Mertes, complained that 40,000 euros seemed expensive to him for “a small blunder.” Litigation must be cheaper in France than in the United States. That would be an easy call for most companies here — pay the amount and avoid appellate costs that would dwarf those damages.
Bruni-Sarkozy is much more successful as a litigant than her husband who has sued over the use of his image.
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Are the vendors crazy? What is so hard to understand about ‘you are not supposed to make a profit off another person’s image without their permission.’ Why is that concept so difficult to understand?
That brings me to this question. Why were members of the Republican party able to use Obama’s image on degrading waffle boxes and other items which they sold – for their own profit? Do we or don’t we have a law that protects each and every citizen against the appropriation of our image without our consent?