Doug Somers Loses Legal Battle with WWE

Judge Marvin H. Shoob of The United States District Court, Northern Division in Georgia ruled yesterday in favor of a motion filed by WWE several months back, dismissing the court case brought against the company by former AWA World Tag Team champion Duane "Pretty Boy Doug Somers" Somerson.

In November 2011, Somers filed suit against WWE regarding their usage of AWA footage containing his likeness and matches on four DVDs, WWE Classics on Demand, books and other materials without his personal consent.

This past October, WWE moved to have the case (which at that point, had been moved from federal court to the United States District Court in Georgia) dismissed. Their motion at the time cited that Somers was a public persona and any material related to him used by the company was newsworthy and factual. The company argued that any usage of Somers' name and likeness were related to telling a factual, newsworthy story and would fall under the First Amendment, just as a news broadcast or article would be protected. The company even used the court ruling of the late Nancy Benoit and her nude photos being published by Huster Magazine as one of the legal precedents in their favor.

Somers responded to that, claiming that WWE is not reporting on Newsworthy events on their website, but are using the website as a springboard to promote themselves and professional wrestling. Somers also claimed that WWE's cited legal precedents couldn't be applied since their stories weren't factual but were instead a "fictionalized narrative created by the Defendant." Somers also noted that in Georgia, "the commercial use of a person's identity is actionable when it is done for commercial gain," claiming that the only reason WWE maintains their website is for their own commercial gain. Therefore, their use of his image in WWE.com articles "can only be used for purposes of marketing and/or advertising its product."

Somers also claimed that WWE was trying to create a "self-reporting" exception as their defense for using his name in marketing WWE and asked the court to deny the motion.

WWE promptly responded, claiming Somers' lawsuit was in "full retreat" and asking the court to end the suit. They claim that Somers has failed to bring up any merchandising that allegedly used his name beyond DVDs, which the court already ruled did not fall under his "right to publicity" claim, throwing that out.

WWE responded to Somers' complaints about his name being used on the WWE website, noting they are a "handful of textual references to Somerson's name in the context of historical information" about the AWA and AWA wrestlers. They noted that the references would fall under protected speech and freedom of expression.

WWE also cited that Somers has complained about his privacy being violated in the same lawsuit where he refers to himself as a "highly successful professional wrestler and entertainer." The company also cited that no references to Somers were used to advertise or suggesting any false endorsement by Somers of the WWE product.

It took several months for a decision on the motion to be made, but in the end, the court ruled in favor of WWE and that WWE recover the costs of the legal case from Somerson.

The court noted that Somerson cannot claim invasion of privacy when he had noted he spent years of his life becoming a famous pro wrestling and performed in front of thousands of fans. It also ruled that WWE's usage of his name on their website were a "timeline" of his activities in pro wrestling. It also noted that while Somerson claimed WWE had put his image on a DVD to sell, it was actually only a listing of a match he was included on in a listing that was only available inside the DVD after it was purchased. It also noted that the Somerson's appearances on old AWA tapes would fall under the copyright of the original owner (the AWA) and that WWE has acquired those rights.

The court also noted that Somerson's failure to respond to certain WWE arguments showed he did not have opposition to WWE's motion to dismiss.

source: pwinsider.com

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