Paris Hilton Can Sue Hallmark

Paris Hilton, an international celebrity who is a frequent target of the paparazzi, has been given the green light to file a lawsuit against Hallmark Cards after allegedly using her picture and catchphrase on one of their products.
According to the celebrity, the greeting card company used a picture of a scene from Hilton’s reality television show The Simple Life and the phrase “That’s hot” on a card. Hilton claimed the company violated her privacy and right of publicity.
The scene reportedly had a caption under it that read “Paris’s First Day as a Waitress” and shows Hilton’s face on a cartoon of a waitress serving a customer. Hilton tells the customer, “Don’t touch that, it’s hot.” The customer replies, “What’s hot?” and Hilton responds with ,” That’s hot.” The message inside the card reported read, “Have a smokin’ hot birthday.”
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Hallmark’s argument that its depiction of Hilton was protected speech.
Lincoln Bandlow, a Los Angeles lawyer who is representing Hallmark, told Reuters that “the analysis of the First Amendment defense is incorrect.” The attorney added that if upheld it would allow “a lot of speakers subjected to meritless right of publicity claims.”