Brill v. Walt Disney Company
Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals
246 P.3d 1099 (Okla. Civ. App. 2010)
Race-car driver Mark Brill (plaintiff) had driven a red car numbered 95 in yellow since 1995, and sued Disney, Pixar, and a screenwriter (defendants) over the character Lightning McQueen in the movie Cars — an animated, driverless talking car that was also red, numbered 95 in yellow, with a lightning bolt design. Brill claimed the similarities misappropriated his likeness and violated his right of publicity; the trial court dismissed the claim, and Brill appealed.
Whether a claim for invasion of privacy based on the right of publicity requires the plaintiff to show the defendant appropriated the plaintiff's own name or likeness, as opposed to merely a similar-looking object associated with the plaintiff.