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A group of ageing Olympic stars have come together to complain about Samsung, which they claim has stolen their faces to help promote its Olympic Facebook app.
Samsung’s Olympic app is a weird thing it calls the US Olympic Genome Project, which it says is a way of telling if/how closely a person is related to some famous Olympic stars. Problem is, 18 of those Olympic stars claim Samsung’s profiting from using their likenesses without permission, ruining their potential for sponsorship with other cash-rich tech giants.
Richard Foster, the attorney for the angry Olympians, said: “They’re using names and images to sell products, and they’ve admitted in interviews that they’re trying to create a more positive image for Samsung … California law says you can’t use anybody’s name or image to market a product unless you have their consent.”
Samsung claims it sent all the athletes involved an email letting them know they were going to be included and giving them the chance to opt out, although the lawyer says not all of them received the notification — and some that opted out have been included anyway. [Wired]
Hmmm. Wouldn’t any pictures of people competing in Olympic events be the property of the IOC, same as the TV rights? Thus if Samsung had cleared it with them (for a price no doubt) then the athletes would have no recourse. Since to take part in the olympics you have to be an “amateur” (in the sense that you aren’t getting paid for it) surely you can’t use pictures of you competing to make money.
“They argue in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles that Samsung is using their names and faces to create the impression they endorse Samsung products, including Galaxy tablets and phones. Samsung is profiting from the app and “denying plaintiffs compensation for the use of their names and images,” according to the suit.”
It does not mean they want to be seen as a spokesperson for Samsung products
If you actually try using the app, more than just once too, then it would become quite obvious that this was created solely for the purpose to bring awareness to Olympic athletes which would seem more relevant to you based on info from your profile. The athletes which you make connections with are entirely unique from everyone else, and the display of them is randomized.
Not only are they not trying to make money off this, but they are giving away free stuff as prizes which are obtainable simply by playing the game.
Free publicity and more exposure, not to mention the potential for greater deals and endorsement opportunities, are what the athletes in the app will receive, plus the chance to connect more closely to their fans if they care to do so. There is even plans to add a way to use the Tokens earned in the app to donate money to Team USA.
No negative repercussions can come to the athletes that I can see. And since this is not driving any kind of sales of any kind for products made by anyone, this should be considered as a gift to the athletes, from a very generous and loyal SPONSOR of the Olympics.
It seems like just yesterday everyone loved the app and was amazed by how cool and original the idea of it was. Shows how quickly people can forget. Perhaps even just how selfish some can be too. Not surprised Samsung is disappointed by this fact as they have stated.