WENDT V. HOST INTERNATIONAL INC.
125 F.3d 806 (9th Cir 1997)
NATURE OF THE CASE: This was an appeal from a grant of summary judgment for Host (D)
against actors George Wendt and John Ratzenberger (P) dismissing their action for violations
of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.S 1125(a),
and California's statutory and common law right of publicity.
FACTS: P sued to over whether D violated their trademark and publicity rights by creating
animatronic robotic figures (the 'robots') based upon their likenesses without their
permission and placing these robots in airport bars modeled upon the set from the television
show Cheers. In the first appeal the court held that P's state law causes of action were not
preempted by federal copyright law and that disputed issues of material fact precluded
summary judgment because the district court's comparison of photographs of appellants. The
court concluded that the comparison must be decided without reference to the context in
which the image appears. Upon a remand from a first appeal, the district court granted
summary judgment for a second time after an in-court inspection of the robots. It held that
it could not 'find, by viewing both the robotics and the live persons of Mr. Wendt and Mr.
Ratzenberger, that there is any similarity at all . . . except that one of the robots, like
one of the plaintiffs, is heavier than the other . . . The facial features are totally
different.' The district court then awarded attorney's fees to Host and Paramount pursuant
to Cal. Civ. Code S 3344. This appeal resulted. Ps contend material issues of fact remain as
to the degree to which the animatronic figures appropriate the appellants' likenesses.
Appellants claim that the district court erred in determining that the robots were not
likenesses of the appellants because the 'likeness' need not be identical or photographic.
Further, they argue that the likeness determination is an issue for the jury to decide in
this case.
ISSUE:
RULE OF LAW:
HOLDING AND DECISION:
LEGAL ANALYSIS:
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