CVG

The defendant in a bizarre lawsuit filed by PlayStation US against its mascot, Kevin Butler, has retorted allegations of copyright infringement.

The PlayStation firm is suing Jerry Lambert, the actor who plays as Butler, for appearing in a separate advert that shows him playing on Nintendo's Wii console.

In September, Lambert was used in a Bridgestone tyres commercial video and was depicted enjoying a game on the Wii.

Lambert, whose likeness is has been so closely associated with his Kevin Butler character, was later scrubbed out of the advertisement using video editing tools.

On September 11, Sony Computer Entertainment America filed against both Bridgestone and Lambert's company Wildcat Creek.

The American arm of PlayStation said that the lawsuit claims are "based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship".

The company went on to allege: "We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he's become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years.

"Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony's intellectual property, creates confusion in the market and causes damage to Sony."

The Bridgestone advert aired just three days after the expiration of Lambert's contract with Sony, according to a new article in the Hollywood Reporter.

But the contract contained an "exclusivity clause" that prevented Lambert from providing his services or his likeness to competing gaming system manufacturers like Nintendo.

At the heart of the issue is whether Lambert appeared to be Kevin Butler in the Bridgestone advertisement. How PlayStation will attempt to prove this is unknown.

Bridgestone, in response, has denied that Sony has any protectable property interest whatsoever in any Kevin Butler. It also has denied the existence of Kevin Butler in its own commercial.

"Mr Lambert is one of the actors who appeared in the commercial as a Bridgestone engineer," the group says.

"Bridgestone denies that Kevin Butler appears in the Bridgestone commercial discussed herein and thus denies that he speaks or does anything whatsoever in the commercial."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/372155/that-isnt-kevin-butler-bridgestone-claims/

Yeah, no. Portraying that dude in a videogame commercial is clearly trying to eat from Sony's IP.

It was a commercial for Bridgestone who happened to have a promotion that month. 

Perhaps Holiday Inn should sue Sony for having their "Holiday Inn businessman" character stolen by Sony. Mr. Lambert starred in those commercials before the KB ads.

Sony really need to stop embarrassing themselves

And, was KB promoting the same thing mista holiday inn was promoting? No, so whats your point?

Was that KB in the Bridgestone commercial? No, it was a Bridgestone engineer, who appeared in other Bridgestone commercials before this one as well. He may look like KB, but he's not. Just like KB looks like the Holiday Inn businessman, but he's not.

Sony is going to lose this so bad.
The ad has nothing to do with Kevin Butler, except for the actor. It's ridiculous, in fact.

Especially considering they "borrowed" Kevin Butler from Geico. Mind you, I don't think that Geico should sue Sony or anything... but if Sony thinks that guy in the bridgestone ad is Kevin Butler, what would they think of this?

Ridiculous. And it's a tyre ad, too.

He is definetly the KB character in this commercial because he's promoting a videogame. The dude is directly associated with playstation over the years. It is trying to live from Sony's IP. No one would have problems if Jerry Lambert was in a commercial selling any other type of products.

Yeah. Without Sony, MKWii wouldn't have sold anywhere near 20 millions, let alone over 20 millions.

I'd say, 4 millions max.

Turkish I hope Sony is paying you well to make those posts, because if those are your real opinions I feel pity for you.

That's the kind of shit you find on N4G and youtube, and quite frankly it stinks up this joint.

Moderated,

-Mr Khan

Beaten to it; User was moderated for this post [RH]