Bodybuilder Jay Cutler sues supplement firm for using likeness
LOS ANGELES - A judge ordered trial in champion bodybuilder Jay Cutler's lawsuit claiming a nutritional supplement company used his image without permission.
Cutler filed a Superior Court suit on July 6, 2006, against Omaha, Neb.-based NDS Nutritional Products Inc. alleging misappropriation of image and likeness, invasion of privacy and unjust enrichment.
Superior Court Judge Paul Gutman on Tuesday denied a defense motion alleging Cutler wasn't the image depicted and the case was ordered for trial. A trial date wasn't set.
Cutler, 33, of Las Vegas is the reigning Mr. Olympia.
The lawsuit alleged NDS used an image of a photograph of Cutler taken at a bodybuilding contest and placed it on its products without paying him or getting his permission.
NDS attorney Michael M. Molinaro claimed the image wasn't Cutler.
"It's not Mr. Cutler, it's a computer-created image of a fanciful person who resembles no person on earth," Molinaro said.
The suit said the image was indisputably Cutler, who has granted a license to use his image to a number of bodybuilding-related companies.
The judge dismissed a fraud claim filed by Cutler attorney Roger Y. Muse and the judge denied a motion seeking punitive damages, although Muse was told he could amend the complaint, Muse said.
Cutler has won three consecutive Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic contests and he placed second for three consecutive years in the Mr. Olympia competition before winning the title last year, the lawsuit states.
