16 Apr Katherine Heigl Sues Duane Reade for Twitter Post

She has been in “Grey’s Anatomy” and movies like “27 Dresses” and “The Ugly Truth.” Emmy award winner Katherine Heigl now has new headlines – suing drug store chain Duane Reade last week for $6 million over a Twitter post including a paparazzi picture of her carrying bags coming out of a Duane Reade store (see above). The caption: “Love a quick #DuaneReade run? Even @KatieHeigl can’t resist shopping #NYC’s favorite drugstore.” They have since taken the post down.

Her legal claims are under both federal and NY law. The federal Lanham Act claims would require her to prove her reputation was injured by false or deceptive advertising which deceived consumers into not wanting to conduct business with her brand. The NY claim is under the right of privacy law, which makes it illegal to use someone else’s name or image for advertising without their permission. She claims any money she gets from the suit will go to a charity she set up in honor or her late brother.

So the interesting question in the age of Twitter – was Duane Reade’s social media post “advertising”? Or just information protected by the First Amendment where no one should have perceived she was endorsing the store? A similar case in 2009 caused a court to stop a retail chain from running an ad congratulating Michael Jordan on his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame without his permission.

My take? As they say in law school, on the other  hand… To hear more about my opinion on the Heigl case, tune into Socialfly Sessions on Spreecast on Thursday, April 17th @ 12pm EST. Click here to sign up and watch http://bit.ly/socialflysessions3.