Safeguarding an Image

Wow. That's a lot of money.

GLENDALE, California (AP) -- A jury has awarded $15.6 million to a man whose image was used for years without his permission on Taster's Choice coffee labels.

Russell Christoff, a former model from Northern California, posed for a two-hour Nestle photo shoot in 1986 but figured it was a bust -- until he stumbled across his likeness on a coffee jar while shopping at a drug store in 2002.

A legal dispute with Nestle USA ensued, during which Christoff, 58, declined the company's $100,000 settlement offer, and Nestle USA turned down his offer to to settle for $8.5 million.

Last week, a Los Angeles County Superior Court jury ordered Nestle USA to pay Christoff $15.6 million for using his likeness without his permission and profiting from it. The award includes 5 percent of the Glendale-based company's profit from Taster's Choice sales from 1997 to 2003.

I think the verdict is a bit frivolous, but I don't have much sympathy for Nestle USA; if you use someone's likeness to make a profit, you need to pay them for it. It's surprising, though, that it took fifteen years for this gomer to find out that his face was on a label. Maybe the lawsuit itself was a bit frivolous?