Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Riku Rose » Mon Oct 08, 2012 6:45 pm

Crimson Ryan wrote:
Bluecast wrote:He isn't under contract. He's an actor so he has to pay the bills and he isn't being sued. Bridgestone is

Actors sometimes have stipulations that they cannot advertise a rival product for a certain period of time even after said contract has ended.


This. No one knows his contract with Sony so calling them dicks is a bit premature. They could have said that he couldn't promote a rivals product for 10 years for all we know.
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Bluecast » Mon Oct 08, 2012 6:59 pm

I never called Sony a dick and again he is NOT being sued. Bridgestone is. Didn't stop me from buying me a PS3 today
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby MiTT3NZ » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:37 pm

Share the wealth n buy me one. Still wanna play the Uncharted games, and despite the negatives, Heavy Rain's a game I've gotta try out.


EDIT:

Sony fanboy...

MiTT3NZ has received a thanks from: Bluecast
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Bluecast » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:42 pm

MiTT3NZ wrote:Share the wealth n buy me one. Still wanna play the Uncharted games, and despite the negatives, Heavy Rain's a game I've gotta try out.


EDIT:

Sony fanboy...

:lol:
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Who Really Cares? » Tue Oct 09, 2012 2:58 am

Bluecast wrote: I never called Sony a dick and again he is NOT being sued. Bridgestone is. Didn't stop me from buying me a PS3 today



Again HE IS.

Lambert is the president of Wildcat Creek which is also being sued by Sony.




Bridgestone has responded to Sony's lawsuit against the tyre maker and the actor who plays Kevin Butler, the fictional Sony executive who has fronted PlayStation in the US for years.

Last month Sony sued Bridgestone and Jerry Lambert, the actor who plays Kevin Butler, after a US telly ad showed Lambert advertising tyres by playing the Nintendo Wii, which customers can receive as part of a gaming promotion. The ad, later edited to remove Lambert, can be seen at GoNintendo.

Sony, citing a breach in US trademark law, reckons the ad "depicts a Bridgestone employee who consumers reasonably perceive to be Kevin Butler promoting the Nintendo Wii, a product that competes directly with SCEA's PlayStation products".

To back up its claim, Sony said Kevin Butler has appeared in more than 30 ads, has a presence on Twitter (with a whopping 129,000 followers) and Facebook and has waved his arms about on stage at E3. A Kevin Butler costume is available for LittleBigPlanet Karting as a pre-order bonus.

In short, Sony reckons when we gamers see Jerry Lambert, we see Kevin Butler, and accuses Bridgestone of cashing in.

"With the intent of unfairly capitalising on the consumer goodwill generated by Kevin Butler, Bridgestone has used and is using the same or confusingly similar character, played by the same actor, to advertise its products or services in the commercial," Sony said.

In a response unearthed by The Hollywood Reporter, Bridgestone insists Kevin Butler did not appear in its ads at all, "and thus denies that he speaks or does anything whatsoever in the commercial".

Bridgestone will fight the suit and attempt to show that Sony has failed to register a trademark on Kevin Butler, that the character has not acquired secondary meaning and there is no likelihood of confusion among consumers.

There are other aspects of this case. The contract between Sony and Wild Creek, Lambert's company, was entered into on 7th August 2009 and contained an exclusivity clause that prevented Lambert from working for PlayStation competitors, such as Nintendo. The contract expired at the end of August 2012. The Bridgestone ads appeared on TV three days later. Sony said Lambert started work for Bridgestone in February 2012 while still under contract with SCEA, and so Sony claims a breach.

The case may be settled out of court. Sony has until 12th October 2012 to either withdraw its motion or see it through at a hearing.


http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012- ... s-he-wasnt
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Bluecast » Fri Oct 12, 2012 12:55 pm

I just saw him in another Bridgestone ad. So I guess he has a contract with them. This time had nothing to do with video games.
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Mitsuzuki » Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:32 pm

Sony, Wild Creek, Bridgestone and Polyphony Digital need to get together to make a single, hybrid commercial.

1: Kevin Butler wheels in with a supercar outfitted with the latest Bridgestone racing tires
2: He pitches the new car and others in an expansive paid-for DLC for GT5, only available on PS3
3: He makes a subtle, clever remark about the union, then exits in grand fashion
4: Everybody profits

There. Problem solved.
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Spokane » Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:35 pm

No, that would make more problems. Like the other tire companies featured in GT5 would be mad now (which I have no idea what those are) . There is no "everyone will be happy" in the business world. There will always be someone butthurt about others successes and shining achievements.
Last edited by Spokane on Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Crimson Ryan » Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:50 pm

Bluecast wrote: I just saw him in another Bridgestone ad. So I guess he has a contract with them. This time had nothing to do with video games.

Just why are Bridgestone advertising Wii games anyway?
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Sonikku » Fri Oct 12, 2012 1:56 pm

How DARE a professional actor find work with someone else after his contract is fulfilled and over with from his previous job. :lol:

Didn't Sony outright say the Nintendo Wii wasn't in competition with them? Why now are they all "HE'S PLUGGING OUR COMPETITION AND WE'RE TAKING DAMAGES!" ? :rotflmao:
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Who Really Cares? » Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:02 pm

Sony claim he recorded the ad while still under contract which is probably true as the ad aired 3 days after his contract ran out.

And Ryan they are giving away free Wii's with certain tires.
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Crimson Ryan » Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:04 pm

Who Really Cares? wrote:And Ryan they are giving away free Wii's with certain tires.

Just have to sign on the dotted line, do I? :see:
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Who Really Cares? » Fri Oct 12, 2012 2:49 pm

Yes and ignore that the tires probably had a nice price rise just as the deal came in.
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby Bluecast » Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:38 pm

Crimson Ryan wrote:
Bluecast wrote: I just saw him in another Bridgestone ad. So I guess he has a contract with them. This time had nothing to do with video games.

Just why are Bridgestone advertising Wii games anyway?

Some promo deal to get a free Wii
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Re: Sony suing Jerry Lambert AKA Kevin Butler

Postby ys » Fri Oct 12, 2012 5:35 pm

Who Really Cares? wrote:Hell they always said they didn't see the Wii as competition ;-)

Haha yeah. But companies always talk bullshit that fits the moment of course.


Spokane wrote: No, that would make more problems. Like the other tire companies featured in GT5 would be mad now (which I have no idea what those are) .

The answer is : none. Unlike Forza GT5 doesn't have a real brand for tires. Instead Kazunori gave us racing suits and helmets for the in game character ;)
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