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Best Publicity Rights And Lanham Act

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1. Best Publicity Rights and Lanham Act Claims for Tripper against Topcat and AND1.

Topcat’s “My Trip with Tripper violates Woody’s right of publicity and the Lanham Act, because Topcat is using Tripper’s plaintiff’s character and likeness for Topcat’s purely commercial purposes without consent, and he is using Tripper’s trademark in ways that imply Tripper’s endorsement of Topcat’s poster. Thus, Tripper should be afforded a permanent restraining order to prevent Tripper and AND1 from selling the poster, and he should additionally be awarded the monetary damages for the losses from the inability to secure other endorsement deals and a poster agreement with Panini due to Tripper’s damages reputation that resulted from Topcat’s …show more content…

Id; See Abdul-Jabbar v. Gen. Motors Corp.; Eastwood v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Here, Tripper clearly represents a famous athlete due to his winnings, signature trappings, and his social media presence during the NCAA incident and after that. Furthermore, Topcat’s sale of the posters to AND1, as well as, dissemination of posters along with Tripper’s shoes indicates that Topcat’s primary purpose is to commercialize Tripper’s image for his own gain. Tripper should also assert a policy argument stating that he needs to be afforded protection against false suggestions of endorsement or sponsorship because it is imperative for athletes, such as himself, to protect their valuable existing and potential contracts to prevent the brands from dropping out of the contracts with the athletes due to their tarnished or diluted image and likeness. See RPA at 127; and class discussion about Michael Jordan litigating abroad to protect his signature shoes. Similarly to Michael Jordan, Tripper has a signature shoe and has a signature style on the court that contributes to his likeness and image in the eyes of consumers. Furthermore, the indefinite halt of his potential poster contract with Panini signifies that Topcat’s posters prevent Tripper from entering into a legitimate contract with Panini. Moreover, the other companies retracted from offering Tripper endorsement

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