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Tag: Duane Reade

  • Katherine Heigl Drops Lawsuit Against Duane Reade

    Katherine Heigl decided to drop her lawsuit against the drugstore chain Duane Reade. Heigl had filed the lawsuit because Duane Read had used a photo of her in their advertisements without asking her.

    The photo showed Heigl exiting a Duane Reade pharmacy and was allegedly taken by paparazzi without Heigl’s knowledge or consent.

    The drugstore had been using the photo in advertisements online and Heigl accused them of using her image to make money and of violating the false advertising provision of the Lanham Act as well as New York civil rights statutes protecting use of likenesses for purpose of trade.

    Heigl and the drugstore chain came to an agreement this week and Heigl’s attorney turned in the paperwork to dismiss the lawsuit on Tuesday.

    Heigl’s attorney released a statement about the dismissal saying,

    “Katherine Heigl and Duane Reade have worked out a mutually beneficial agreement. Ms. Heigl has voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit, and Duane Reade has made a contribution to benefit the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. The parties have agreed to keep the terms of the agreement confidential.”

    The Jason Debus Heigl Foundation was created by Katherine in memory of her brother, who was killed in a car accident in 1986. The charity promotes animal welfare.

    The terms of the agreement or the amount of money that was donated by the drugstore chain were not revealed and the dismissal comes with prejudice, meaning that Heigl can’t later sue against the drugstore chain again, if they ever try to use her photos without her consent.

    Do you think the lawsuit was ridiculous in the first place or was Heigl right to sue the store?

  • Katherine Heigl Sues Duane Reade For $6 Million

    A tweet and a Facebook post may cost Duane Reade $6 million. Former Grey’s Anatomy actress Katherine Heigl is suing the national drug store chain because it tweeted a paparazzi picture of her shopping at one of the Manhattan stores and then used the photo for promotional purposes. The federal lawsuit accuses Duane Reade of using Heigl’s image without proper consent.

    The pic used by Duane Reade was taken from Just Jared and posted on Duane Reade’s Twitter on March 18. The suit also contends that the drug store then “ignored as written demand that it stop this unlawful activity.”

    The tweet posted by Duane Reade on their Twitter account read, “Love a quick #DuaneReade run? Even @KatieHeigl can’t resist shopping #NYC’s favorite drugstore”

    The same picture of Heigl was also posted on the store’s Facebook page. “Don’t you just love a quick #DuaneReade run? Even Katherine Heigl can’t resist shopping at #NYC’s most convenient drugstore!”

    The posts have since been removed.

    The suit filed by Heigl’s legal team:

    Use of Plaintiffs image under these circumstances improperly exploited Plaintiffs name and likeness, as a celebrity, for Defendant’s commercial advertising and purposes of trade, without authorization. Such use was done knowingly and willfully, as evidenced by Defendant’s manipulation of and changes to the Duane Reade advertising messages in the captions, after Defendant had intentionally stripped out all evidence of the original news context to the Heigl Photograph.

    The lawsuit also asserts that if Heigl does win the judgement that the money will go to an animal charity that the actress started in memory of her brother who passed away in a car crash when he was a teenager. It’s called the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation.

    We’re still in a sort of Wild Wild West phase in terms of internet law, especially pertaining to social media. The judgement on Heigl’s case will certainly set precedent on corporations using celebrity tweets for promotional purposes.

    Since leaving Grey’s Anatomy in 2010, the actress has had an up and down run in the movie industry. After potential star making comedy turns in Knocked Up and 27 Dresses, Heigl’s reputation around Hollywood has taken a nose dive. A source who worked with the actress on the 2010 film Life As We Know It, slammed Heigl for her on-set behavior. “She can cost you time every single day of shooting. Wardrobe issues, not getting out of the trailer, questioning the script every single day.”

    Image via Katherine Heigl, Twitter

  • Katherine Heigl Sues Duane Reade Over A Tweet

    Dr. Isobel Stevens, supermodel surgeon with a heart of gold (aka Katherine Heigl), filed suit Wednesday against Duane Reade, alleging the drugstore chain utilized her image as a promotional photo without her consent.

    Heigl wants $6 million in compensation for a tweet they posted last month of Heigl holding several Duane Reade bags with a caption claiming she “can’t resist” shopping at “NYC’s favorite drugstore.” The suit states Heigl is a “…highly recognized celebrity…When plaintiff chooses to endorse a product or service, she is highly selective and well compensated.”

    Should Heigl be victorious in court, the suit will provide an interesting precedence regarding how the law defines free speech over social media. Heigl’s defense cites the Lanham Act, which contains provisions against false advertising. This will require evidence of Duane Reade’s commercial intentions, which may be difficult to prove considering the nature of the medium.

    Interestingly, Heigl’s suit comes on the heels of a public plea for funding made last month for her indie film Jenny’s Wedding. She ruffled some feathers when she jumped on the bandwagon of wealthy celebrities participating in crowd sourcing for their pet projects. However, Heigl’s plans to donate any winnings to the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation (an animal charity named for her late brother) should appease naysayers.

    Perhaps Duane Reade’s mistake was directly tagging the celebrity in the tweet, as it’s doubtful the Katherine Heigls of the world follow their local drugstore chains on Twitter. But no matter the outcome of the lawsuit, the media coverage will provide a much needed publicity boost for Heigl, who has several upcoming projects besides the flailing Jenny’s Wedding, including animated feature The Nut Job and film North of Hell.

    Whoa, maybe that was her intention all along.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Katherine Heigl Sues Duane Reade for $6 Million Over Use of Photo

    Actress Katherine Heigl filed a $6 million civil suit in a New York federal court on Wednesday against Duane Reade for using her name and a paparazzi photo in promotional material without her permission.

    In the complaint, Heigl said she was photographed in March near a Duane Reade store in New York while filming a new television series. Duane Reade posted the photo on its Twitter and Facebook account with captions to “imply falsely that Plaintiff endorses Defendant,” the complaint said.

    A post on Duane’s Reade’s Twitter account on March 18 read: “”Love a quick #DuaneReade run? Even @KatieHeigl can’t resist shopping #NYC’s favorite drugstore.”

    The post, which is currently still live, includes a photo of the 35-year-old actress carrying two Duane Reade shopping bags, and a link to an item by Just Jared  that notes the actress visited the drugstore in Manhattan on March 16.

    “The Heigl photograph is a typical ‘paparazzi’ shot, depicting plaintiff walking on the street in New York City, in a private moment looking away from the camera,” the complaint said in court documents.

    “Use of plaintiff’s image under these circumstances improperly exploited plaintiff’s name and likeness, as a celebrity, for defendant’s commercial advertising and purposes of trade, without authorization,” Heigl’s suit charges.

    The actress, who won an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy for her role in Grey’s Anatomy, asserts in her lawsuit that she is “a highly successful television and motion picture actress, producer and celebrity” who is in “high demand in the entertainment industry,” and therefore is due not less than $6 million for the use of her celebrity name.

    According to the complaint, Heigl issued a “strenuous objection” to the use of her photo before she filed the suit, but that he objection went unheeded.

    Peter Haviland, Heigl’s lawyer, said that they ” expect Duane Reade to pay for its willful misuse of Katherine Heigl’s name and likeness.”

    Haviland also said that Heigl intends to donate any money awarded in the The Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, a charity that was established in 2008 after her brother was killed in a car accident.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons