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Sony sues Kevin Butler

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In my humble opinion Kevin Butler is a large reason for the PS3’s resurgence in 2009/2010 as their previous marketing campaigns were abysmal, atrocious, disgusting, useless… I didn’t like them.

So who would have thought that a mere 2 years later Sony would actually be suing the Vice President of everything and Bridgestone because of that advert where he recommended the Wii.

It’s quite obvious why Sony didn’t like it but you would think that Sony would have put a clause in his contract that he couldn’t promote any other gaming console, ever.. however that doesn’t seem to have been the case and while working for Bridgestone he played on the Wii, but not as Kevin Butler.

Now I’m no lawyer but it seems cut and dry really, you can’t sue an actor for doing his job unless you have a contract tying him out. Sony’s official response is as follows

Sony Computer Entertainment America filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek, Inc. on September 11. The claims are based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship. We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he’s become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years. Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony’s intellectual property, creates confusion in the market, and causes damage to Sony.

But like I said, he isn’t acting as Kevin Butler or a VP in the Bridgestone ad so Sony are basically suing Jerry Lambert for looking like Kevin Butler?

Fair play from Sony or corporate bullying?

Last Updated: October 8, 2012

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