VIRGINIA M. HERNANDEZ COVINGTON, District Judge.
This matter comes before the Court upon consideration of Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. # 161) and Defendants The Bottle Club, LLC, Eyes Wide Shut, LLC, BYOB Club, Inc., Andrew Harrow, and Susan Harrow's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 162), filed on February 28, 2018. The Motions have been fully briefed. (Doc. ## 174, 186, 188, 195). For the reasons that follow, Defendants' Motion is granted and Plaintiffs' Motion is denied.
This case involves the unauthorized use of models' images on marketing materials for adult-oriented businesses. The twenty Plaintiffs are Amber Lancaster, Brittany Cripliver, Brooke Taylor Johnson, Cielo Jean Gibson, Cora Skinner, Gemma Lee Farrell, Heather Rae Young, Irina Voronina, Jesse Golden, Jessa Hinton, Joanna Krupa, Katarina Van Derham, Maysa Quy, Paola Canas, Sandra Valencia, Sara Underwood, Tiffany Selby, Tiffany Toth, Vida Guerra, and Kim Cozzens. They are all models or actresses and the unwilling subjects of some of Defendants' advertisements. (Doc. ## 161-2-161-21). All Plaintiffs make a living, or have in the past, by promoting their images "for the benefit of various clients, commercial brands, media and entertainment outlets." (Doc. # 161-2 at ¶ 4). Plaintiffs "rely on [their] professional reputation[s] to book modeling and advertising jobs," making their reputations "critical to the opportunities that [they are] offered." (
Defendants are various adult-oriented business entities and the owners or managers of those entities, Andrew and Susan Harrow. BYOB Club, Inc., was created with the intent to open a "bottle club" but those plans never reached fruition — BYOB Club has never operated and has no business activity. (A. Harrow Dep. I Doc. # 165-1 at 41:13-42:8, 44:11-45:13). The Bottle Club, LLC, does business as Eyz Wide Shut II and is a bar and nightclub for swingers. (S. Harrow Dep. Doc. # 165-3 at 16:2-24, 104:22-105:3). Susan is the owner and managing member of the Bottle Club. (
The Bottle Club and Eyes Wide Shut market their events, including themed nights and drink specials, through their shared website and on social media pages on which they post flyers. (S. Harrow Dep. Doc. # 165-3 at 51:19-52:8; A. Harrow Dep. I Doc. # 165-1 at 38:23-39:3, 70:1-12). Defendants' employee Anita Richards was the webmaster who created Defendants' website and "created all graphics and flyers for the website." (Richards Aff. Doc. # 165-4 at ¶ 2; A. Harrow Dep. I Doc. # 165-1 at 59:7-60:16, 66:10-70:20). Although Susan Harrow insists she was not involved in advertising for the club or hotel, Andrew Harrow admitted that he proofread the flyers created by Richards, to check the dates and prices listed and sometimes to demand that a prettier girl be used on the advertisement. (S. Harrow Dep. Doc. # 165-3 at 24:16-21, 51:10-18; A. Harrow Dep. I Doc. # 165-1 at 36:11-17, 67:23-68:3, 136:18-137:13; A. Harrow Dep. II Doc. # 165-2 at 279:14-280:1, 282:4-284:6). Both Andrew and Susan Harrow were aware that releases are required to use someone's image in their marketing, as they had obtained releases from individuals appearing in a photoshoot or video taken on the club's premises in the past. (S. Harrow. Dep. Doc. # 165-3 at 98:2-99:16; A. Harrow Dep. I Doc. # 165-1 at 77:23-78:17).
Each Plaintiff's image was used at least once in Defendants' advertisements, some on flyers, and others on the website. (Doc. # 161-26 at 54-152). But Plaintiffs never licensed the use of their images to Defendants. (Doc. # 161-2 at ¶¶ 13-15). Andrew Harrow acknowledged in his deposition that Defendants never contacted Plaintiffs for permission to use their images, or paid Plaintiffs for the use of the images. (A. Harrow Dep. I Doc. # 165-1 at 98:13-18, 130:20-131:11). Rather, he averred Richards had informed him that Plaintiffs' images were procured through a royalty-free website, so no licenses or releases were necessary. (
Plaintiffs initiated this action on March 16, 2017. (Doc. # 1). On June 6, 2017, Plaintiffs filed their Amended Complaint, asserting claims against Defendants for false advertising and false endorsement under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), right of publicity (unauthorized misappropriation of name/likeness) under section 540.08, Fla. Stat., a common law claim for right of publicity (unauthorized misappropriation of name or likeness), Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, Fla. Stat. § 501.204, civil theft under sections 812.014 and 772.11, Fla. Stat., unjust enrichment, and conversion. (Doc. # 38). The Harrows and the Bottle Club moved to dismiss the Amended Complaint (Doc. ## 41-42), but the Court denied their motions on July 14, 2017. (Doc. # 46). All Defendants subsequently filed their Answers. (Doc. ## 52, 86-87).
Discovery proceeded tensely. Each side filed various motions to compel better responses or depositions, as well as motions for orders to show cause. (Doc. ## 90-91, 103, 117, 130, 159). Plaintiffs moved to extend the expert discovery deadline based on Defendants' alleged recalcitrance in turning over a supposed membership list for the nightclub and hotel. (Doc. # 70). The Court extended Plaintiffs' expert report deadline to December 8, 2017, in light of Plaintiffs' concerns. (Doc. # 76). Plaintiffs also filed a petition for ex parte temporary restraining order with asset freeze and motion to disqualify Defendants' attorney (Doc. # 118), arguing that Andrew Harrow had admitted after his deposition that he was hiding assets and intended to file for bankruptcy to foil Plaintiffs' recovery. The motion was heard before the Honorable Julie S. Sneed, United States Magistrate Judge, and was subsequently denied. (Doc. ## 145, 154, 168).
After discovery ended, Plaintiffs moved to exclude Defendants' damages expert. (Doc. # 157). That motion was referred to Judge Sneed and subsequently granted. (Doc. ## 158, 187, 194). On March 13, 2018, Defendants moved to strike Plaintiffs' expert Martin Buncher, and the Court also referred that motion to Judge Sneed. (Doc. ## 171-72). Judge Sneed issued a Report and Recommendation on April 5, 2018, recommending that Buncher's Supplemental Report be stricken as untimely, but the original Declaration not be stricken. (Doc. # 193). The Court adopted the Report and Recommendation on May 4, 2018, and struck Buncher's Supplemental Report but declined to strike the original Declaration. (Doc. # 200). Some of the parties have mediated — six Plaintiffs failed to appear at mediation — but reached an impasse. (Doc. # 184).
Both Plaintiffs and Defendants moved for summary judgment, at least in part, on February 28, 2018. Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. # 161) seeks summary judgment on the Lanham Act claims and the statutory and common law right of publicity claims against three Defendants only, The Bottle Club, Eyes Wide Shut, and Andrew Harrow. Defendants responded in opposition to Plaintiffs' Motion, and Plaintiffs have replied. (Doc. ## 174, 186). Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. # 162) seeks summary judgment on all claims. Plaintiffs, in turn, responded to that Motion, and Defendants have replied. (Doc. ## 188, 195). The Motions are ripe for review.
Summary Judgment is appropriate "if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A factual dispute alone is not enough to defeat a properly pled motion for summary judgment; only the existence of a genuine issue of material fact will preclude a grant of summary judgment.
An issue is genuine if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the non-moving party.
If there is a conflict between the parties' allegations or evidence, the non-moving party's evidence is presumed to be true and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in the non-moving party's favor.
Finally, the filing of cross-motions for summary judgment does not give rise to any presumption that no genuine issues of material fact exist. Rather, "[c]ross-motions must be considered separately, as each movant bears the burden of establishing that no genuine issue of material fact exists and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law."
Defendants argue that they are entitled to summary judgment on all of Plaintiffs' claims, while Plaintiffs assert they are entitled to summary judgment against The Bottle Club, Eyes Wide Shut, and Andrew Harrow for the Lanham Act claims and the statutory and common law right of publicity claims. The Court will address the Lanham Act and state law claims separately.
Under the Lanham Act,
15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). "Section 1125(a) thus creates two distinct bases of liability: false association [or endorsement], § 1125(a)(1)(A), and false advertising, § 1125(a)(1)(B)."
Count I of the Amended Complaint asserts a claim for false advertising. (Doc. # 38 at 51). "To succeed on their Lanham Act false advertising claim, Plaintiffs must ultimately prove `an injury to a commercial interest in sales or business reputation proximately caused by the defendant's misrepresentations.'"
"The first element of a false advertising claim is `satisfied if the challenged advertisement is literally false, or if the challenged advertisement is literally true, but misleading.'"
Plaintiffs insist Defendants' advertising was literally false. (Doc. # 161 at 12-13). According to Plaintiffs, "Defendants' advertisements necessarily conveyed or implied each Plaintiff's association with, endorsement of, and support for Eyz Wide Shut Swingers Club and Eyz Wide Shut Sex Hotel and the swinger lifestyle activities that were known to take place on Defendants' premises." (
The Court disagrees. As another judge in this district explained in a virtually identical case, "[t]he images are not literally false just because the Defendants slightly altered the Plaintiffs' photographs to include them in the advertisements."
Regarding the assertion that the advertisements necessarily imply that Plaintiffs are involved in the swinger lifestyle of Defendants, the advertisements do not identify Plaintiffs by name or claim that Plaintiffs will attend or have attended Defendants' events. "Without more, such use is not literally false."
Plaintiffs alternatively argue the advertisements with their images are misleading. (Doc. # 161 at 13). The Court agrees the meaning of the advertisements featuring Plaintiffs' images are ambiguous and therefore misleading.
"A plaintiff attempting to establish . . . that an advertisement is literally true but misleading, must `present evidence of deception' in the form of consumer surveys, market research, expert testimony, or other evidence."
The original Declaration remains for consideration. In it, Buncher discusses three surveys conducted in other cases involving models' images used in advertising for swingers' resorts and gentleman's clubs. (Doc. # 171-1 at 2-8). Regarding the images actually at issue in this case, Buncher writes that he has "studied the use of models" in Defendants' advertisements. (
(
Defendants argue the Declaration is irrelevant because it "lacks any survey, data or other information relating to the specific advertisements at issue in this case, or any resulting alleged deception." (Doc. # 162 at 9). The Court does not agree that the Buncher Declaration is irrelevant but nevertheless finds the Declaration insufficient to raise a genuine issue of material fact regarding consumer deception because Buncher did not survey actual consumers.
Importantly, the Buncher Declaration relies on surveys conducted with different images used by different entities. (Doc. # 171-1). True, the images from the other surveys share similarities with those at issue here — young scantily-clad women are depicted on flyers advertising events at adult-oriented establishments. (
Plaintiffs have not offered other evidence of consumer deception, like statements by Eyz Wide Shut patrons or others who have viewed the advertisements that they believed Plaintiffs endorsed the swinger activities or would be present at the club or hotel.
Even if the advertisements have the capacity to deceive, Defendants argue Plaintiffs have not shown the deception was material to any purchasing decisions because Plaintiffs rely exclusively on the Buncher Supplemental Report. (Doc. # 174 at 17). Under the materiality element, a plaintiff must "establish that `the defendant's deception is likely to influence the purchasing decision.'"
Again, the Supplemental Report has been stricken. And nothing in the Buncher Declaration supports that the use of Plaintiffs' images would have influenced consumers' decisions to patronize Defendants' businesses. The Declaration reports the results of the previous surveys in other cases, in which Buncher found that the majority of survey-takers "were more likely to at least consider the possibility of attending the activities at [the adult-oriented business] if the ads showed the models instead of not showing them." (Doc. # 171-1 at 5-6). But Buncher never applied those findings to the facts of this case. Although Buncher opines that he believes the images would lead individuals to believe Plaintiffs endorsed or are somehow affiliated with Defendants (Doc. # 171-1 at 8-9), Buncher does not make any prediction as to whether the advertisements would influence viewers' decisions about attending Defendants' businesses. Therefore, Plaintiffs have also failed to demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact regarding the materiality element of their false advertising claim.
Plaintiffs have not established a prima facie case of false advertising. Summary judgment is granted for Defendants on Count I.
Count VIII of the Amended Complaint asserts a claim for false endorsement. (Doc. # 38 at 62). To prevail on a claim of false endorsement, a plaintiff "must show (1) that it had trademark rights in the mark or name at issue and (2) that the other party had adopted a mark or name that was the same, or confusingly similar to its mark, such that consumers were likely to confuse the two."
Defendants do not challenge the first element, but they do challenge the second element. They contend Plaintiffs cannot prove likelihood of confusion, emphasizing that Buncher's Supplemental Report should not be considered and the Buncher Declaration "is wholly irrelevant, as it relates to three entirely separate cases." (Doc. # 162 at 11; Doc. # 174 at 18). Again, the Court has stricken the Supplemental Report and will not consider it in analyzing the likelihood of consumer confusion element.
Typically, to evaluate whether a likelihood of confusion exists, the court analyzes seven factors:
"Although likelihood of confusion is a question of fact, it may be decided as a matter of law."
Neither party has analyzed the seven
The Court finds that the Buncher Declaration is insufficient evidence of actual consumer confusion to create a genuine issue of material fact, as Buncher did not survey actual consumers.
Taking all the evidence in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs, there is no genuine issue of material fact regarding the likelihood of consumer confusion. Therefore, the Court grants summary judgment for Defendants on Count VIII, the false endorsement claim.
Plaintiffs' Lanham Act claims provided the sole source of federal jurisdiction in this case, as the parties do not meet the requirements of diversity jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Rather, the Court concludes that supplemental jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1367 supplies the only remaining basis for jurisdiction over the FDUTPA, civil theft, unjust enrichment, conversion and statutory and common law right of publicity claims, Counts II through VII.
"The dismissal of [a plaintiff's] underlying federal question claim does not deprive the [c]ourt of supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims."
Accordingly, because the Court grants Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment for the Lanham Act claims, and diversity jurisdiction does not exist, the Court in its discretion declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Plaintiffs' state law claims.
Plaintiffs' Lanham Act claims, Counts I and VIII, fail and summary judgment is granted for Defendants on those claims. With the federal claims disposed of before trial, the state law claims, Counts II through VII, are dismissed without prejudice so that Plaintiffs may reassert them in state court, if they wish.
Accordingly, it is