Fifty-Six Hope Road Music v. A.V.E.L.A., No. 12-17502 (9th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseHope Road, an entity owned by Bob Marley's children, granted Zion an exclusive license to design, manufacture, and sell t-shirts and other merchandise bearing Marley's image. Hope Road and Zion filed suit against multiple defendants who were involved in the sale of competing Marley merchandise, alleging claims arising from defendants' use of Marley's likeness. The court concluded that the district court did not err by denying defendants' post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law on the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1125(a), false endorsement claim where defendants waived several defenses to plaintiffs' claims by failing to properly raise them in the district court; the district court did not abuse its broad discretion in determining the profits for Defendants A.V.E.L.A., Freeze, and Jem where there was sufficient evidence to find Freeze willfully infringed plaintiffs' rights because Freeze's vice president of licensing testified that she knew that plaintiffs had the right to merchandising Marley's image before Freeze began selling similar goods; the Seventh Amendment does not require that a jury calculate these profits because juries have not traditionally done so, and a claim for profit disgorgement is equitable in nature; the district court did not abuse its discretion by ordering A.V.E.L.A. defendants to pay attorneys' fees; the court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendants on the right of publicity claim; there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that A.V.E.L.A. defendants interfered with prospective economic advantage; and the district court did not err in granting defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law on the issue of punitive damages.
Court Description: Lanham Act. The panel affirmed the district court’s judgment after a jury trial on claims under the Lanham Act and Nevada state law regarding the use of Bob Marley images on apparel and other merchandise. Affirming the denial of defendants’ post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law on a false endorsement claim, the panel held that sufficient evidence supported the jury’s finding that defendants violated the Lanham Act because they (a) used Marley’s image (b) on their t-shirts and other merchandise, (c) in a manner likely to cause confusion as to plaintiffs’ sponsorship or approval of these t-shirts and other merchandise. The panel held that defendants waived several defenses. It rejected the argument that allowing a plaintiff to vindicate a false endorsement claim based on the use of a deceased celebrity’s persona essentially creates a federal right of publicity. The panel held that the district court did not abuse its broad discretion in determining the profits for three defendants. There was sufficient evidence to find that defendant Freeze willfully infringed plaintiffs’ rights. The Seventh Amendment did not require that a jury calculate these profits. FIFTY-SIX HOPE ROAD MUSIC V. A.V.E.L.A. 5 The panel held that the district court did not abuse its discretion by ordering three defendants to pay attorneys’ fees to plaintiffs because (1) plaintiffs were prevailing parties, and (2) the case was exceptional, as these defendants’ conduct was willful. The panel affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to defendants on a right of publicity claim under Nevada law. The panel held that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding that three defendants interfered with plaintiffs’ prospective economic advantage. The panel held that the district court did not err in granting defendants’ motion for judgment as a matter of law on the issue of punitive damages. Concurring in part and dissenting in part, Judge Christen concurred in the result but did not join the reasoning in Subsection I.B.2 of the majority’s opinion, addressing likelihood of confusion. Judge Christen wrote that the narrow holding in Part I, concluding that the evidence presented at trial was sufficient for the jury to find that defendants violated the Lanham Act by using Marley’s likeness, was dictated by the standard of review on appeal, and by the defenses actually pursued by defendants. 6 FIFTY-SIX HOPE ROAD MUSIC V. A.V.E.L.A.
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