I saw an interesting ad today on Telegram by a company promoting its services. But that isn’t what caught my attention – it was the graphic above the text, not only with the Playboy name but also the Playboy bunny logo.
This ad is implying they are somehow associated with Playboy magazine. They are not.
This is the text of her ad. If she had just used this text, she would have been fine, but that isn’t what she did.
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Playboy is recognized worldwide as a magazine. When people see the name Playboy, they think of all the centerfolds or maybe of Hugh Hefner himself (the founder). But to me, I know them differently. I know them to be one of the most litigious brands out there.
If you use their name, likeness, or logo, they will sue the shit out of you and your mother. And probably your grandma, too. They take their trademarks seriously because it’s their trademarks that keep the money rolling in. And they aren’t going to allow ANYONE to put that at risk.
I’m sure this “Ari” girl (fashkitty) probably had no idea what she was doing. The possible shitstorm she stepped in, but that’s the entire point of this post. I wanted to take a moment to remind you that actions have consequences.
You can’t try to profit from someone else’s brand. The potential consequences are huge. Courts often award millions in damages for copyright and trademark infringement, and that doesn’t even include the legal fees.
See, if you lose your case, and you probably will in a case like this girl’s Playboy ad on Telegram, she’ll also be held responsible for covering all of Playboy’s legal fees. The money they put out to sue you for stealing from them in the first place.
So now you have to spend your own money to defend yourself, and you have to pay their legal fees too. And if you don’t spend money to defend yourself, they’ll get default judgments, and trust me when I say that isn’t something you want.
A default copyright violation judgment is $250,000 per offense. So let’s say you stole 5 photos and used them without the copyright holder’s permission. $250,000 * 5 is what you are looking at if you don’t defend yourself.
I called a few lawyer friends of mine to find out how much it would cost to try and defend a trademark case. They said a simple case could be anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000. Bure complex cases could be anywhere from $250,000 to a million+.
That doesn’t even include the judgment against you that you’ll end up having to pay. That is why my friends won’t use someone else’s brand.
A simple rule to keep in mind — If you don’t own it, you can’t use it.
Theft is theft. It doesn’t matter what you are stealing, someone’s phone, someone’s shoes, someone’s content, someone’s logo. It’s not yours, so you can’t use it.
This girl doesn’t own that Playboy logo. Playboy does. And using it, even just once, could cost her more than she’ll probably even make in her entire lifetime.
Don’t be like this girl. THINK before you do something and always remember this one line …. If you don’t own it, you can’t use it.