Fed up with Friendfinder
I asked and asked nicely for them to stop using my pics……
For Immediate Release – Los Angeles, California
PRESS RELEASE
ADULT SUPERSTAR VICKY VETTE SCORES LEGAL VICTORY IN BATTLE AGAINST PENTHOUSE’S ONLINE DATING GIANT ADULTFRIENDFINDER
“I’m Not GROOVY232 in Your Neighborhood”! Says the Star
Adult Superstar & current XBIZ Webstar of the Year 2012 Vicky Vette (http://www.twitter.com/vickyvette & http://www.vickyathome.com) has just scored a significant legal win in her battle against online dating giant AdultFriendFinder & Danni.com (owned by Penthouse). Vette sued AdultFriendFinder (& Danni.com) arising out of claims AdultFriendFinder is stealing her likeness to use on thousands of worldwide banners and advertisements identifying her as ‘Groovy232’ looking for a ‘date’. Vette asserts that AdultFriendFinder is actively using pictures of a number of adult stars without their consent, knowledge or payment, to lure members of the general public into joining dating websites. On Thursday, March 29, 2012, a Court in Los Angeles completely denied a Motion by AdultFriendFinder & Danni.com to dismiss Vette’s case and is allowing the popular star’s claims to proceed to trial. AdultFriendFinder argued in a Motion filed with the Court that the image of Vette it used for banners was shot by Vette for Danni.com & that it got the permission from Danni.com to use her picture. Vette is one of the world’s best known adult stars. She is the #1 Followed Active adult star on twitter with over 286,000 followers. She is the #1 Followed Norwegian in the world as is in the top 1700 followed twitter users worldwide. Vette was recently nominated by AVN for Solo Girl Website of the Year 2012 was named by XBIZ as one of the Top 100 Newsmakers in adult in 2011.
Vicky Vette is quoted as saying: “I’m thrilled we won this significant ruling & that AdultFriendFinder can’t use model releases to get the case dismissed. I shot for Danni.com to be their Girl of the Month – not to be used as bait in AdultFriendFinder. No, I’m NOT Groovy232…. and no….. I am not in El Paso, Tucson, Santa Clarita or anywhere else seeking a casual fling in your neighborhood (*shock*). It is outrageous that AdultFriendFinder can think it it’s ok to use my image without even letting me know. I think it’s a scam on me & the general public. I am not sure where this ranks in the ‘annals’ of jurisprudence but I am happy with the result in Court. I know of at least three other girls in the business they are doing the exact same thing to, including Bibi Jones, Carmen Valentina & Gisele. I had nothing but respect for Danni and Penthouse (which owns AdultFriendFinder) so I am a bit stunned they would treat adult stars this way. They should pay girls if they are going to put them in advertising saying things like ‘Gets Double Teamed’. You’d think someone would have called me saying ‘hey, do you mind if we put you on thousands of worldwide websites saying you are looking for a ‘date’?’ I can’t wait for my day in Court and thank the Judge for giving it to me.”
Vette is represented by Beverly Hills attorney Michael Kernan, Esq. who added, “Lots of adult Companies think they can do anything they want with a model release, but they do not understand release language. Endorsement language is very specific, and it is not in most model releases. AdultFriendFinder argued it had model releases barring any claims, but the Court was not convinced anything covered the image in question. Anyone who may have seen Vette’s images in AdultFriendFinder advertising are also encouraged to contact my office at MKernan@Kernanlaw.Net.”
The matter is anticipated to proceed to trial sometime this year. FriendFinder announced last week that its CEO Marc Bell was stepping down on the heels of a $10million loss for the 4th quarter of 2011. It has been trying to go public since May 2011. Vette comments “Maybe AdultFriendFinder and the companies that run it are trying to save a few bucks by not paying the models they use as the face of their websites. You’d think they would want to take care of girls they use to get them memberships.”
Vicky Vette can be reached for comment at:
http://www.twitter.com/vickyvette
Vicky@Vickyathome.com
http://www.vnagirls.com
Michal Kernan, Esq. can be reached for comment at kernanlaw@Gmail.com
& (310) 490 9777
Well done, Vicky…way to take a stand for performers not seeing their images exploited without fair compensation.
It’s bad enough that producers can take an image and show it over and over again via compliations without the original performer getting a red cent of royalties or residuals…but to deliberately LIE about a performer’s or model’s image like that? Horrendous.
Someone may want to find Danni Ashe and get her to remind these fools how a company should be run.
Anthony
Yeah I am positive Danni Ashe never intended and never would have condoned her pics being used as endorsements for completely unrelated items.