A Lithuanian citizen was ordered to pay the actor €200,000 for the unauthorized use of Clint Eastwood's name and likeness

On Friday, the Klaipėda District Court awarded the celebrity from Tauragėskis €200,000 for the illegal commercial use of the name, image and fame of the famous Hollywood actor, Oscar winner Clint Eastwood.

The damages were awarded against businessman Giedrius Bučinskas.

The Klaipėda Regional Court, as the court of first instance, heard a civil case on compensation for property damage. The claim against the Lithuanian citizen was brought by the 95-year-old actor and the company „Garrapata“, which owns the rights to his image.

As the court reported, the case established that the company „Mediatonas“, managed by the defendant G. Bučinskas, had used the name and image of the famous actor and his alleged endorsement of the advertised products without the plaintiffs' consent when advertising CBD products (cannabidiol, one of the substances found in the cannabis plant). The publication on websites of articles and alleged statements by the actor which were untrue, giving the false impression that he himself uses and is helped by CBD products and that he recommends them to other consumers.

The defendant contested the action, disputed the ownership of the websites by the company, the authenticity of the publications and relied on the grounds for exemption from liability set out in the Law on Public Information.

After re-examining the case in accordance with the clarifications provided by the Lithuanian Court of Appeal, the court first assessed whether the plaintiffs had proved the company's unlawful acts, damage, causal link and fault.

„The court found that the company violated the provisions of the Civil Code and the Law on Advertising, because in the advertisement, without the plaintiff's consent, the company used his name and image and attributed to him statements that he had never uttered," the Klaipėda Regional Court said in a statement.

The judgment notes that the use of the name, reputation and image of a world-famous person for advertising purposes has an independent economic value on the market and is normally remunerated. In the present case, the Court found that the damage in question arose specifically from the unlawful commercial use of Mr Eastwood's image in advertising without his consent and without remuneration for such use.

The Court also took into account the fact that the actor is not generally involved in commercial advertising and has only exceptionally consented to the use of his name and likeness in an advertising campaign during his career.

When assessing the amount of damages, the court noted that the US court decision in the case, which awarded the Lithuanian company more than EUR 5 million in damages, does not have any preliminary or enforceable effect in Lithuania, but is to be considered together with the other evidence in the case, as a source of data for determining the extent and economic value of the unlawful commercial use.

The use of the plaintiff's name and likeness for advertising purposes is objectively costly and valued in the marketplace because of its worldwide renown, its outstanding reputation and its extremely rare presence in commercial advertisements. The material damage suffered was assessed in terms of loss of remuneration for the unlawful commercial use of the applicant's name, image and reputation.

Taking into account the scale of the advertisement, its accessibility to internet users and the applicant's reputation and commercial purpose, the court found that the applicants had proved the existence of material damage. The Court held that an award of EUR 200,000 in respect of material damage was fair and proportionate in the present case.

The case also establishes that the defendant was the company's manager, sole shareholder and liquidator. The Court found that the defendant was aware of the legal proceedings in the US, but that, despite this, the company was liquidated, potential credit claims were not registered and the remaining assets of the company were distributed to the sole shareholder. The Court held that the defendant was subject to all the conditions for civil liability and ordered the defendant personally to pay the damages suffered by the applicants.

The court partially upheld the applicants' claim and ordered the defendant to pay EUR 200,000 in damages, procedural interest and costs.

The decision may be appealed against within 30 days from the date of its adoption to the Court of Appeal of Lithuania through the Klaipėda Regional Court.

The entrepreneur's company „Mediatonas“, which was engaged in the development of websites, has been liquidated.

C. Eastwood has won four Oscars and an equal number of Golden Globes during his career.

For his work in „Menantis malice“ (1992) and „A Girl Worth a Million“ (2004), he won the Oscars for Best Director, Best Cinematography and was nominated in the Best Actor category.