• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Hasbro says toy hamster looks nothing like Fox News anchor claiming likeness stolen

Status
Not open for further replies.
DOWN

DOWN

Banned
Harris Faulkner claims a toy hamster of the same name is using her likeness, in name and appearance.

1493097506328081299.jpg


I'll just let Hasbro's response get it done
http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/ha...e-fox-news-anchor/ar-BBmtJpZ?ocid=ansmsnent11
"First, Ms. Faulkner is an adult, African-American, human, female newscaster; the Hamster Toy is an inch-tall, cartoon-like plastic animal, which has no apparent gender or profession, or even clothing that might identify its gender or profession," Hasbro responds.

"Second, contrary to Plaintiff's allegation, the Hamster Toy does not have the same 'complexion' as Ms. Faulkner," continues Hasbro. "The animal depicted by the Hamster Toy has 'fur' (not skin), which is golden yellow, a wisp of 'hair' that is medium-brown, a pink nose,and a muzzle that is white."

"Third, despite Plaintiff's claim, neither the 'shape' of the Hamster Toy's eyes, nor the 'design of its eye makeup' misappropriate Ms. Faulkner's likeness," Hasbro puts forth. "Ms. Faulkner has brown, almond-shaped eyes; the Hamster Toy has large, circular blue eyes."

And if that's not convincing, Hasbro's attorneys at Frankfurt Kurnit tell the judge that Faulkner's Fox News world is "so completely at odds with the Hamster Toy's imaginary world of Littlest Pet Shop that the court should treat the stark contextual difference as a 'minus' factor warranting dismissal."
Click to expand...
EDIT:
Their request for dismissal line too which tackles the name issue
Because name-sameness is not enough to state a claim for a violation of one's right of publicity under well-established law, and because Ms. Faulkner's attempt to claim that the hamster toy misappropriates her likeness is implausible on its face, Ms. Faulkner's Third Cause of Action alleging a violation of her right of publicity fails to state a claim for which relief can be granted and should be dismissed with prejudice.
Click to expand...
 
D

Dennis

Banned
"First, Ms. Faulkner is an adult, African-American, human, female newscaster; the Hamster Toy is an inch-tall, cartoon-like plastic animal, which has no apparent gender or profession, or even clothing that might identify its gender or profession," Hasbro responds.
Click to expand...

In a sane world, this should settle it.
 
C

Chariot

Member
The "hair" of the toy is really irritating me. Like somebody ate a chocolate eyes and dropped it on the prototype and didn't wanted the boss to know that he did it and just claimed that was part of the toy.
 
N

Nokagi

Unconfirmed Member
Is she insane?

Edit:Wait. It has the same name as her? Well okay maybe she's not totally insane.
 
S

stump sock

Member
lol, that defense. I thought the lady's complaint was silly until I realized the toy's actual name is "Harris Faulkner," which, uh
 
H

helloresolven

Member
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ne...oy+Hamster+Looks+Nothing+Like+Fox+News+Anchor

Faulkner, a 6-time Emmy winning journalist and anchor of Fox Report Weekend, contends in the lawsuit that the plastic hamster doll, just a few inches-tall (deemed a "CHOKING HAZARD" on its packaging), with large cartoonish eyes and a butterfly resting on its head, has "caused substantial commercial and emotional damage to Faulkner" and implies "falsely Faulkner’s association with, approval, and endorsement of Hasbro and/or the Harris Faulkner Hamster Doll and has violated Faulkner’s right to control the use of her name and likeness."

...

The lawsuit, which asserts that Hasbro "willfully and wrongfully appropriated Faulkner’s unique and valuable name and distinctive persona for its own financial gain"
Click to expand...
Seems like she's more upset with the name than the appearance.
 
J

jstripes

Banned
The toy has the exact same uncommon name as her?

Looking nothing like her aside, that's a bit of a weird coincidence.
 
C

Chezzymann

Member
I mean their response makes sense, but.... why is the toy named Harris Faulkner? Thats oddly specific and i could understand thinking that its an abstract characature or something
 
H

HylianTom

Banned
She should play a joke on her husband: get one of those toys, tuck it into bed with only the head peeking out from the sheets, and hide in the closet. He won't know the difference! 😂
 
DOWN

DOWN

Banned
ItIsOkBro said:
Now I hope she wins because Hasbro's response completely avoided what the real issue was.
Click to expand...
Look at it both ways. She also tried to milk her chances by throwing in claims about the appearance that are totally nonsense. She tried to make it more of an issue in ways that it wasn't for her legal gain. She got smacked by Hasbro's unusually scathing PR response for trying to take advantage of them instead of actually aiming for resolution.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Judge says gender discrimination suit against PlayStation is light on facts
2
52
5K
nush replied
  • Poll
My HONEST Thoughts On Acquisitions & Market Consolidation
Opinion Poll Analysis 2 3
131
9K
Deleted member 471617 replied
Fox News Contributor Says Rape Allegation Blacklisted Her
32
5K
Renegade Frost replied
  • Locked
Trump Told Fox News to Frame Dems for Seth Rich Murder, Lawsuit Claims
11
3K
Tovarisc replied
  • Locked
Fox News hit with new racial discrimination lawsuit
2
73
10K
cackhyena replied
Top Bottom