Tag: Persona

Harris Faulkner Hamster Case Settles

No surprise here. As I predicted, Hasbro and Harris Faulkner have reached a settlement only a few months after a district court in New Jersey denied Habsro's motion to dismiss.  The claim that the toy hamster looked anything like the Fox news reporter was always a stretch, but because the name-based right of publicity claim...
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The Hamster Case Continues as District Court Denies Hasbro’s Motion to Dismiss

A district court in New Jersey denied Hasbro's motion to dimiss Fox news reporter, Harris Faulkner's right of publicity claim.  I wrote earlier about Faulkner's lawsuit against Hasbro for naming its hamster toy Harris Faulkner.  The real-life Faulkner claims that the toy violates her right of publicity by using both her name and likeness, and...
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Harris Faulkner Says It Doesn’t Matter that Hamster Toy Doesn’t Look Like Her

Fox News reporter Harris Faulkner filed her Opposition to Hasbro’s Motion to Dismiss her right of publicity claim earlier this week. Faulkner’s attorneys emphasize that Hasbro can’t use her name for its toy hamster even if the hamster looks nothing like her. Hasbro’s main argument in its motion to dismiss was that because the hamster...
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Hasbro Contends that Same-Named Hamster Does Not Evoke Newscaster’s Identity

Hasbro filed a motion Monday to dismiss newscaster Harris Faulkner's right of publicity claim against the toy maker for giving a stuffed hamster toy the same name as her. The defendant contends that because the hamster toy looks nothing like the newscaster and the use of her name alone does not evoke Ms. Faulkner's identity,...
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Character in WOLF OF WALL STREET Does Not Violate Real Person’s Publicity Rights

On September 30, 2015, a federal district court in New York dismissed a right of publicity claim brought by former Stratton Oakmont employee, Andrew Greene.  Greene was featured in convicted felon Jordan Belfort's memoir upon which the Martin Scorsese movie was based. The movie, however, did not use the plaintiff's name or likeness, but instead...
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