Page 19 - Aruba Today
P. 19
SPORTS B3
Wednesday 30 March 2016
Pele sues Samsung over improper use of image in newspaper ad
CHICAGO (AP) — Brazilian said Samsung pulled out
soccer legend Pele is of negotiations at the
suing Samsung in Chicago last minute “and never
federal court, claiming obtained the right to
the electronics company use Pele’s identity in any
improperly used his identity manner or in any format.”
in The New York Times. Sperling is the same
The lawsuit was filed earlier attorney who in August
this month by attorney helped former Chicago
Fred Sperling on behalf of Bulls star Michael Jordan
Pele, 75, claiming Samsung win an $8.9 million jury
used a Pele look-alike in verdict against the
an October advertisement former supermarket chain
for televisions. The ad’s Dominick’s. In that case,
wording doesn’t mention Jordan said Dominick’s
Pele, but claims the elderly improperly used his identity
black man pictured in it in a print ad.
“very closely resembles” “The goal is to obtain fair
Pele with a white soccer compensation for the
player performing a unauthorized use of Pele’s
“modified bicycle or identity and to prevent
scissors-kick, perfected and future unauthorized uses,”
famously used by Pele.” Sperling said.
The lawsuit says the ad Samsung spokeswoman
will confuse consumers Danielle Meister Cohen
and hurt the value of his said in an email Tuesday
endorsement rights. It seeks that the company has no
$30 million in damages. Pele comment on the lawsuit.
has endorsement deals
with other companies, In this Oct. 12, 2015 file photo,
including Volkswagen, Brazilian football legend Pele
Subway, Emirates and poses with a football during
Procter and Gamble. an interaction session with
The lawsuit says the ad students in Kolkata, India.
appeared after Samsung
broke off negotiations to Associated Press
use Pele’s image in 2013.
Specifically, the lawsuit
Continued from Page 1 the letter said, calling those concussion that was di- In this Nov. 19, 2014, file photo, NFL lawyer Brad Karp leaves
connections “far more agnosed by a team doc- federal court after a hearing on the proposed NFL concussion
In its letter, signed by concrete than the phan- tor,” Stallman said. “In fact, settlement, in Philadelphia.
league attorney Brad Karp, tom connections contrived our reporting showed that
the NFL said not only that by the Times purporting to more than 100 such con- Associated Press
the story did not establish tie the NFL to the tobacco cussions - including some
any meaningful ties to the industry.” sustained by star players
tobacco industry, but that The Times story - its lead - were not included in the
the headline was false item on the front page - re- data set, resulting in inac-
and incendiary, and that vealed that some concus- curate findings. “
a graphic attached to the sions that occurred in the But the NFL’s letter stresses
story was misleading. NFL were omitted from the that the fact the studies re-
An NFL search of 14 mil- league’s studies, despite lied on data that were not
lion documents from the NFL claims to the contrary. a complete count of all
tobacco litigation archives “The league has always concussions in the league
found “significant connec- maintained that the stud- was “repeatedly and ex-
tions” between the Times ies were based on a data pressly disclosed in the
and the tobacco industry, set that included every studies themselves.
