Soccer legend Pele is suing Samsung for $30 million for allegedly using his lookalike in an ad to sell TVs
Will Heilpern,Will Heilpern
World Cup winner Pele is often referred to as the greatest footballer ever.
Getty
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Getty
World Cup winner Pele is often referred to as the greatest footballer ever.
Brazilian soccer legend Pele is suing Samsung for $30 million in a lawsuit that claims the electronics company used a lookalike of his image in a newspaper ad to promote its televisions, without paying for endorsement rights, the Financial Times reports.The ad in question appeared in The New York Times last October and does not directly refer to Pele. However, the lawsuit says the Samsung ad shows a man who "very closely resembles" the Brazilian soccer player, as well as the image of another player performing a "modified bicycle or scissor-kick, perfected and famously used by Pele," according to the FT.
See the ad in the tweet below:![]()
Samsung had been in negotiation with Pele to use his image in 2013, but that the deal broke down and Samsung "never obtained the right to use Pele's identity in any manner or in any format," the lawsuit says, according to the FT.
A representative from Samsung declined to comment on the case when contacted by Business Insider.
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Getty
Pele's endorsement partners include Subway.
The complaint, brought by Pele's lawyer Frederick Sperling, said that the ad hurt the value of the retired sports star's endorsement rights - his main source of income.Pele has several endorsement deals with large companies including Subway, Volkswagen, and Emirates. He earned $25 million from endorsements in 2014, according to the FT.
"The goal is to obtain fair compensation for the unauthorized use of Pele's identity, and to prevent future unauthorized uses," Sperling told Fortune.
Sperling previously helped basketball player Michael Jordan win $8.9 million from supermarket chain Dominick's, after it used Jordan's name without permission in a magazine ad.
http://www.businessinsider.in/Soccer...d-to-sell-TVs/
Will Heilpern,Will Heilpern
World Cup winner Pele is often referred to as the greatest footballer ever.
Getty
GettyWorld Cup winner Pele is often referred to as the greatest footballer ever.
Brazilian soccer legend Pele is suing Samsung for $30 million in a lawsuit that claims the electronics company used a lookalike of his image in a newspaper ad to promote its televisions, without paying for endorsement rights, the Financial Times reports.The ad in question appeared in The New York Times last October and does not directly refer to Pele. However, the lawsuit says the Samsung ad shows a man who "very closely resembles" the Brazilian soccer player, as well as the image of another player performing a "modified bicycle or scissor-kick, perfected and famously used by Pele," according to the FT.
See the ad in the tweet below:
Samsung had been in negotiation with Pele to use his image in 2013, but that the deal broke down and Samsung "never obtained the right to use Pele's identity in any manner or in any format," the lawsuit says, according to the FT.
A representative from Samsung declined to comment on the case when contacted by Business Insider.
GettyPele's endorsement partners include Subway.
The complaint, brought by Pele's lawyer Frederick Sperling, said that the ad hurt the value of the retired sports star's endorsement rights - his main source of income.Pele has several endorsement deals with large companies including Subway, Volkswagen, and Emirates. He earned $25 million from endorsements in 2014, according to the FT.
"The goal is to obtain fair compensation for the unauthorized use of Pele's identity, and to prevent future unauthorized uses," Sperling told Fortune.
Sperling previously helped basketball player Michael Jordan win $8.9 million from supermarket chain Dominick's, after it used Jordan's name without permission in a magazine ad.
http://www.businessinsider.in/Soccer...d-to-sell-TVs/