Rock drummer and reality TV star Travis Baker is suing Rockstar Beverage Company for using a photo of him to promote its energy drink. According to the complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rockstar “published a prominently placed picture on its website of Mr. Barker holding a can of one of Rockstar’s beverages, and identifying him and his endorsement by name.”
Baker came to fame as the drummer for pop-punk band Blink-182. He later was featured on MTV’s “Meet the Barkers.” He alleges invasion of privacy by commercial misappropriation and seeks unspecified damages. Rockstar’s famous slogan is “party like a rockstar.”
The online world has provoked all sorts of complex commercial misappropriation claims, though this case seems more like drumming in 4/4 time.
In other commercial misappropriation news: Clint Eastwood has filed a complaint in Los Angeles Federal Court alleging that Palliser Furniture is selling a “home theater chair” called “The Eastwood.” We’re still waiting for tennis star Lindsay Davenport to file suit over her couch.
