Today in celebrity
lawsuits....Israel's top model, the beautiful Bar Refaeli,
made out with a nice 400,000 shekel this Wednesday after winning a civil lawsuit against Suny Electronics for the misappropriation of her image. Suny is owned by Israeli business tycoon Ilan Ben-Dov, and is the agent for Samsung phones and tablets- they had previously employed Bar as a celebrity presenter. In 2006, after a photo shoot, Bar claims that immodest photos were taken without her knowledge and consent, and then used as part of a live internet and theatre broadcast. None of this, she claims, had been specified in her contract. In this
lawsuit, Bar demanded NIS 4.4 million in damages for the breach of contract, an invasion of privacy claim, and for damages done to her reputation.
The Tel-Aviv District Court's Judge Avi Zamir,
ruled in favor of Refaeli, and agreed that Suny should have clarified in writing how they were going to use her images and photographs. However, he thought that the amount of damages she was requesting was too high. Basically, the good Judge ruled that any model MUST give explicit consent if their private assets (which include their names, bodies, and voices) are to be used for a commercial purpose.
So, Judge Zamir awarded our Bar a hearty sum of NIS 400,000 in damages...and then dismissed a defamation counter
lawsuit from Suny that had also been brought for NIS $2 million, which was based on upon Bar allegedly sabotaging their campaign. As usual, sticking up herself and continuing to fight it out...has paid off for Miss Refaeli! This is one of the many reasons fans across the world continue to adore her.
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