Naked Cowboy Sues M&M's
National News
"This is the case of The Naked Cowboy versus The Blue M&M," afederal judge wrote in allowing The Naked Cowboy's lawsuit against Marscandy and Chute Gerdeman ad agency to proceed. "Plaintiff Robert Burckis a 'street entertainer' who performs in New York City's Times Square,wearing only a white cowboy hat, cowboy boots, and underpants, andcarrying a guitar strategically placed to give the illusion of nudity."He claims Mars & Chute Gerdeman based a Times Square billboard adon his character, "featuring a blue M&M dressed 'exactly like TheNaked Cowboy,' wearing only a white cowboy hate, cowboy boots, andunderpants, and carrying a guitar."
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin kindly attached photos of the two characters at the top of his ruling.
Burck,who has registered The Naked Cowboy as a trademark, claims defendants'animated cartoon ad on two enormous billboards in Times Square violatedhis trademark and his right to publicity.
Chin dismissed thetrademark complaint, finding that New York law "protects the name,portrait, or picture of a 'living person,' not a character created or arole performed by a living person. Burck may proceed, however, with hisfalse endorsement claim, for he plausibly alleges that consumers seeingdefendants' advertisement would conclude - incorrectly - that heendorsed M&M candy."
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Does a car or truck accident count as a work injury?
If an employee is injured in a car crash while on the job, they are eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. “On the job” injuries are not limited to accidents and injuries that happen inside the workplace, they may also include injuries suffered away from an employee’s place of work while performing a job-related task, such as making a delivery or traveling to a client meeting.
Regular commutes to and from work don’t usually count. If you get into an accident on your way in on a regular workday, it’s probably not considered a work injury for the purposes of workers’ compensation.
If you drive around as part of your job, an injury on the road or loading/unloading accident is likely a work injury. If you don’t typically drive around for work but are required to drive for the benefit of your employer, that would be a work injury in many cases.
If you are out of town for work, pretty much any driving would count as work related. For traveling employees, any accidents or injuries that happen on a work trip, even while not technically working, can be considered a work injury. The reason is because you wouldn’t be in that town in the first place, had you not been on a work trip.
Workers’ compensation claims for truck drivers, traveling employees and work-related injuries that occur away from the job site can be challenging and complex. At Krol, Bongiorno & Given, we understand that many families depend on the income of an injured worker, and we are proud of our record protecting the injured and disabled. We have handled well over 30,000 claims for injured workers throughout the state of Illinois.