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CA Supreme Court Considers Publicity Publication Rule

By Mike McKee
June 29, 2009

Former male model Russell Christoff didn't think much of it when a woman standing in line with him at a Home Depot store in May 2002 told him he looked just like the guy on her coffee jar. But two months later, Christoff was startled when he, indeed, saw his picture on a jar of Taster's Choice in a Rite-Aid store. The photo had been taken at a photo shoot in Canada 16 years earlier and Christoff had all but forgotten about it.

Christoff's lawyer, Colin Claxon of San Rafael, recently went before the California Supreme Court to argue that Nestle USA Inc., the maker of Taster's Choice, owes his client millions of dollars in damages for using Christoff's image without the plaintiff's consent. Christoff v. Nestle USA Inc., S155242.

A Los Angeles County jury in 2005 awarded Christoff, who was then a teacher, more than $15.6 million. But L.A.'s Second District Court of Appeal tossed the award in 2007 after finding that Christoff's suit was governed by the state's single-publication rule, which limits damages to one cause of action even if the offending statement or photo was published hundreds or thousands of times. Christoff v. Nestle USA Inc., 152 Cal.App.4th 1439 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 2007).

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