Image and brand identity are among the most valuable assets of players, clubs and commercial businesses. Preserving their integrity is of paramount importance. As part of our Intellectual Property expertise, we have considerable experience of assisting individuals and businesses in dealing with cases of false endorsement and false attribution.
If an identity, or images, are used without authority such that the public are likely to be misled into thinking that you approve of and/or sponsor a particular product or service, we can help the identity or image owner bring a claim for false endorsement. Such unauthorised use can include a visual likeness, vocal imitation or use of some other uniquely distinguishing characteristic.
We also have experience of dealing with cases of false attribution. Such a claim can be brought when a claimant has been falsely attributed with authorship of something. Examples include a quote that is falsely attributed to an individual or a misleading suggestion that an individual is responsible for a particular product or service.
Examples of our experience in this area include:
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representing a Premier League footballer where a false "Exclusive" interview was licensed and sold to a number of newspapers and magazines
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acting for a high profile football personality regarding use of his image without consent to advertise a leisure company
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representing an actress and model regarding images of her used without consent on an advertising campaign