>Mark Milotay wrote:
>I had my Spit repainted last Fall & it looks great. It has recently come to
>my attention from a number of my friends and a couple of strangers, that my
>car is being used in the body shop's tv ads. I checked over my
>contract/workorder from them and could not see anything that said by
>signing I was giving them permission to use my car in advertising. Any
>thoughts from the list on what I should do? Is this a normal or common
>practice? All advice will be gratefully appreciated.
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Sorry to intrude on the Triumph list, but I was lurking and saw this.
It's not normal to use a recognizable image (person or object) in advertising
without getting permission. Your next move depends on what you want out of
it.
If you just want them to stop using the car in the ads, ask them. Just the
thought of being sued will make them change the ads. If you want something
out of it, tell them that you saw your car in one of their ads, and thought
that compensation may be in order, since you didn't give them permission. You
might tell them that you regularly rent your car to photographers for catalog
and calendar shoots. If you were really satisfied with the job they did, and
they offer some compensation like a free spray of your next car, you might
throw in an endorsement.
Lastly, if you want to be really nasty, contact a lawyer and see if you can
sue them for using the car without permission. (I hope you don't choose this
route. There are too many law suits already.)
Allen Hefner
(I used to have a '67 TR4A IRS)
'77 MG Midget
'92 Mitsubishi Expo LRV Sport
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