Legal Advice On Advertising

[RLorenzen]

My web design company is currently designing a myspace page for a talent agency. They would like to display all of the areas they work in (ie. modeling, acting, singing, etc.) by displaying columns of pictures of people who are famous in those areas (ie. Heidi Klum, Brad Pit, Carrie Underwood, etc.), however they do not represent those people. Is this a form of false advertising? I would think so, but I'm not sure. Wouldn't this be the same as a web design company showing pictures of web sites on their site that they didn't design?

[BusinessAdviser]

Richard,

I'll be getting back to your email later today. In the meantime, to address your post, there are several issues of which to be aware:

Misrepresentation: If visitors are led to believe that such celebrities are clients fo the agency, than it could be grounds for a misreprentation claim, either by the celebrities or the clients.

Copyright infringement: If you use a photo, the copyright to which is owned by someone else and to which you have not been licensed to use in that way, you are violating copyright law.

My web design company is currently designing a myspace page for a talent agency. They would like to display all of the areas they work in (ie. modeling, acting, singing, etc.) by displaying columns of pictures of people who are famous in those areas (ie. Heidi Klum, Brad Pit, Carrie Underwood, etc.), however they do not represent those people. Is this a form of false advertising? I would think so, but I'm not sure. Wouldn't this be the same as a web design company showing pictures of web sites on their site that they didn't design?

[RLorenzen]

Misrepresentation: If visitors are led to believe that such celebrities are clients fo the agency, than it could be grounds for a misreprentation claim, either by the celebrities or the clients.

Thanks Jonathan.

[DJoshEsq]

If you have specific questions, I am available for a free initial consultation.

[BusinessAdviser]

If you have specific questions, I am available for a free initial consultation.

It's great to see an attorney on the site! Your advice will be very valuable to many. Consider spreading your wisdome here though. I think you'll find that by doing so you will be able to build your reputation here and actually attract more business than simply saying, "I am available for a free initial consultation."