Booth v. Colgate-Palmolive Co.

362 F. Supp. 343 (1973)

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Booth v. Colgate-Palmolive Co.

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
362 F. Supp. 343 (1973)

SH

Facts

Shirley Booth (plaintiff) was a prominent actress who played Hazel, the titular character in a popular comedy television series. The series was based on a cartoon character of the same name, which was copyrighted by Ted Key. Colgate-Palmolive Company (Colgate) (defendant) ran commercials promoting a laundry detergent that featured a cartoon version of Hazel, pursuant to a licensing agreement with Key. In the commercial, Hazel was voiced by another actress. Neither the other actress nor Booth was identified or mentioned in the commercials. Booth filed suit against Colgate for common-law unfair competition. Among other grounds, Booth claimed that star performers have a property right in their performance that provides protection against others imitating the performer’s tone, inflection, timing, and style of performance. It was undisputed that the performance given in the commercial was an imitation of Booth’s performance. Colgate filed a motion for summary judgment.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Bonsal, J.)

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