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Sony and Kevin Butler Actor Resolve Their Differences

By
Posted on January 17, 2013 AT 11:00am

After taking the actor to court last September for playing a Wii in another commercial, Sony and Jerry Lambert have finally settled their lawsuit.

Jerry Lambert made quite a name for himself playing Sony spokesperson “Kevin Butler.” Then he (the actor, Jerry) did a Bridgestone commercial in which he was seen playing a Wii. Sony did not like this, so on September 11, 2012 they sued him for “trademark infringement,” claiming the character he portrayed in the Bridgestone commercial seemed a little too similar to Kevin Butler.

As part of the settlement, Lambert admitted that playing a Wii while appearing in the Bridgestone commercial might have been confusing to some audiences (I guess … the ones who don’t realize that actors are people and not their roles?). He has agreed not to appear in marketing for “any other videogame or computer entertainment system or videogame company” for two years. For two years after that, Lambert must provide Sony with details about any videogame marketing he’s involved in so that they may “assess whether or not Lambert’s intended performance violates [Sony’s] rights in the Kevin Butler character.”

Despite settlement, the Sony/Bridgestone case continues in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Source: Media Post

Chris Holzworth, Editorial Intern
Chris Holzworth has wanted to report on and critique games all his life. He first cut his teeth writing for enthusiast sites such as RPGFan, then took a break from gaming to study English, creative writing, and linguistics at Rutgers University. Started out as EGM's obligatory east coast correspondent before selling out and moving to the west coast. Chris is particularly keen on examining narrative structure, character development, and writing in video games. Frequently opens mouth, inserts foot, often where twittery things happen: @chrisholzworth. Meet the rest of the crew.

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