Hotmail
50 Cent sues ad company for $1 million
Claims they used his image illegally in an ad called ‘Shoot the Rapper’
 Diane Bondareff / AP (file) Rapper 50 Cent is suing an advertising firm for using his image in a game where the player pretends to shoot him. |
Celebrity video |
 The loss of dignity July 10: David Brooks of the New York Times talks about the loss of diginity in the public arena. |
NEW YORK - Rapper 50 Cent sued an Internet advertising company for $1 million Friday, claiming it illegally used his image in a game where the player pretends to shoot him.
The game, called “Shoot the Rapper,” shows 50 Cent walking back and forth in an ad across the top of a Web page while the viewer is encouraged to shoot him by aiming and clicking with the mouse, court papers say.
A successful shot results in a misty cloud of red, and the viewer is then directed to another Web page where the ad firm’s client sells goods and services, according to the lawsuit.
The rapper’s lawyer, Peter Raymond, says the game doesn’t use 50 Cent’s name, but “it looks like him, and there’s no doubt the character is intended to be him.”
The lawsuit names Traffix Inc. of Pearl River, N.Y., as the defendant. A lawyer for the company, Ezio Scaldaferri, said he had not been served with the papers and could not comment.
|
“For all those reasons, he is personally offended,” the lawyer said.
Raymond said the rapper learned about the ad after one of his management people saw the it on a MySpace page.
The rapper’s lawsuit asks at least $1 million in actual damages, a permanent injunction against the use of his image without permission, and unspecified punitive damages.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM CELEBRITIES |
 Celebrities Section Front |
| Add Celebrities headlines to your news reader: |
Sponsored links
Resource guide