Henley. v. Dillard Department Stores

Don Henley (plaintiff), a rock musician formerly of The Eagles, sued Dillard Department Stores (defendant) after it ran an ad for 'henley-style' shirts captioned 'This is Don's henley'-a play on his name. Survey evidence showed 15% of respondents believed Henley had endorsed the product, and the ad's designer admitted the wordplay referenced Henley's name.

Whether an advertiser who uses a celebrity's name in a play on words within an advertisement infringes that celebrity's right of publicity.