Not a bad day’s earnings ...
Michael Jordan outside the Chicago courthouse on Thursday. Picture:
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times Media via AP
Source: AP
A US jury has ordered a defunct grocery store chain to pay Michael Jordan $US8.9 million (AU$12.12 million) for using his name without permission.
It was a big win for the former Chicago Bulls basketball player, who was
smiling after the verdict was announced on Friday night.
Jurors had to calculate how much the now-defunct grocery chain Dominick’s should pay Jordan for invoking his name in an ad without permission.
They sent one note to the judge, saying: “We need a calculator.”
In his closing argument, Jordan lawyer Frederick Sperling appealed to Chicago’s city pride, saying about Jordan as he sat nearby: “He gave us six (NBA) championships.”
Jordan’s lawyer suggested the ad was worth $US10 million.
In his prime ... Jordan scores for the Chicago Bulls in a 1996 game.
Source: AP
Dominick’s lawyer Steven Mandell said he’s as proud as anyone about the championships Jordan brought to Chicago. But he said jurors should award him no more than $US126,000.
Jordan testified earlier in the week that his image is precious to him, which is why he filed a lawsuit against Dominick’s Finer Foods, which has acknowledged it wasn’t authorised to use Jordan’s image in a 2009 magazine ad.
One witness testified that Jordan made $US100 million from his identity last year, even though he last played in the NBA in 2003.
The ad, which ran in a commemorative edition of Sports Illustrated, congratulated Jordan on his Hall of Fame induction and included a $US2-off coupon above a photograph of a sizzling steak.
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