Clint Eastwood has been awarded $2 million in a lawsuit that accuses a CBD retailer of stealing his name and image to promote its products. The verdict is the second in the actor’s favor in a lawsuit against CBD manufacturers and marketers who fabricated news articles and manipulated search results to make it appear the actor endorsed their products.
“$2 million is a reasonable representation of the fair market value of Eastwood’s services in lending his influential and well-known name to secret meta-label campaigns for products he allegedly did not want to endorse in the first place,” the order read. . June 24th.
Eastwood has fought numerous legal battles throughout his career to protect his reputation. The Hollywood veteran, who rose to fame in westerns and Garrapata, who owns Eastwood’s rights to his likeness in the films, sued CBD companies in California federal court in 2020 to make it clear that he was never involved in the cannabis industry.
According to the lawsuit, which resulted in a $2 million prize, Eastwood said Norok Innovation perpetuated an online scam that illegally used its celebrities to drive traffic to a website selling CBD products. He criticized the way the company attracted online shoppers to its website.
“Without permission from Mr. Eastwood, online retailers of CBD products are strategically placing their name in blog posts and website meta descriptions (content that describes and summarizes the content of a given website for the benefit of consumers and search engines) as a means of promoting CBD products and directing consumers to an online marketplace that sells CBD products,” the complaint states.
US District Judge Cormac Carney issued a summary judgment in Eastwood’s favor, ruling that he had proved his trademark infringement claims. Although he did not grant the actor the $3 million requested, Carney concluded that “the amount requested is not unreasonable in light of the defendants’ unfair actions in exploiting and abusing the copyright for their own commercial purposes.”
The judge pointed to the fact that Eastwood only agreed once in 2012 to a Super Bowl television ad about the country’s recovery from recession. Eastwood claimed he received the $2 million market cap fee because he was so convinced of the ad’s message.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision because it recognizes the substantial harm caused by false endorsements,” said Jordan Sussman, the actor’s attorney. “This sends an additional message to these criminals that they cannot escape responsibility by ignoring the legal system.” It’s a decision we hope to make.”
Norok Innovation could not be found for comment.
In October, Eastwood received $6.1 million in another lawsuit against Lithuanian company Mediatonas UAB, which published a fake interview with the actor to pretend it endorsed its products. Likewise, a judge entered a default judgment in Eastwood’s favor after the company failed to respond to the lawsuit.
Actresses such as Sandra Bullock and Ellen DeGeneres have filed lawsuits in recent years against companies that misappropriated their names and images to drive e-commerce traffic.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
