Bar Refaeli victorious in lawsuit, protects use of image
Supermodel to receive NIS 400,000 in damages from Suny Electronic
Tel Aviv District Court ruled Wednesday in favor of Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli in a lawsuit against Suny Electronic, an importer of Samsung products to Israel.
Refaeli starred in the company’s 2006 campaign for Samsung cellphones, which was originally aimed for television but was also screened in cinemas and online without explicitly notifying the model. Refaeli filed a NIS 4 million lawsuit against the company and its owner, businessman Ilan Ben Dov, for unauthorized use of her image.
Judge Avi Zamir ruled in favor of Refaeli, and awarded her NIS 400,000 ($115,000), as well as an additional NIS 150,000 for her legal costs.
The judge concluded that Suny’s unauthorized use of the model’s image was not deceitful or malicious, but occurred because of a misunderstanding in the contract between the two parties.
A $2 million countersuit filed by Suny against Refaeli, blaming the model for defamation and sabotage of the campaign, was thrown out by the judge.