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Irvine v Talksport Ltd, 2002 2 All ER 414

Irvine v Talksport Ltd, 2002 2 All ER 414


Citation:Irvine v Talksport Ltd, 2002 2 All ER 414

Link to case on WorldLII.

Rule of thumb:Can the likeness of a famous person, but not the actual person, be used in the marketing of a product? No, but these are difficult cases to argue.

Judgment:

Someone’s image is not allowed to be used on a product if it makes it look like the person has endorsed the product when they have not, ‘Merchandising is rather different. It involves exploiting images, themselves or articles which have become famous... It is not a necessary feature of merchandising that members of the public will think the products are in any sense endorsed... The reason large sums are paid for endorsement is because, no matter how irrational... those in business have reason to believe that the lustre of a famous personality, if attached to their goods and services, will enhance the attractiveness of those goods or services to target their market. In this respect, the endorsee is taking the benefit of the attractive force which is the reputation or goodwill of the famous person..If someone acquires a valuable reputation or goodwill, the law of passing off will protect it from unlicensed use by other parties. Such use will frequently be damaging in the direct sense that it will involve selling inferior goods or services under the guise that they are from the claimant. But the action is not restricted to protecting against that sort of damage. The law will vindicate the claimant’s exclusive right to the reputation or goodwill. It will not allow others to so use goodwill as to reduce, blur or diminish its exclusivity. It follows that it is not necessary to show that the claimant and the defendant share a common field of activity or that sales of products or services will be diminished either substantially or directly, at least in the short term. Of course there is still a need to demonstrate a misrepresentation because it is that misrepresentation which enables the defendant to make use or take advantage of the claimant’s reputation’ Laddie J at 9

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Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.