adminCHICAGO. — Chicago Bulls basketball great Michael Jordan testified on Tuesday that his image is precious to him, which is why he filed a lawsuit against a grocery store chain that used it without permission. “I have the final say-so on everything that involves my likeness and my name,” Jordan told jurors in Chicago. When his attorney asked him why he brought the case, Jordan said it was “to protect my likeness, my image . . . something I value very preciously.”
Dominick’s Finer Foods has acknowledged it wasn’t authorised to use Jordan’s image in a 2009 magazine ad. The jury will decide the fair market value of the infringement by the grocery chain, which has since gone out of business.
Frederick Sperling, Jordan’s attorney, has told jurors Jordan’s name was worth at least $480 million to Nike and that each commercial use of Jordan’s name is worth more than $10 million. A witness on Monday testified Jordan made $100 million from his identity last year, even though he last played in the NBA in 2003.
Steven Mandell, a lawyer for Dominick’s, has suggested Jordan’s attorneys overvalued Jordan’s name. It might be worth $10 million in some contexts, he said, but not necessarily in a one-off ad.
Jordan (52) displayed an amused discomfort with having to wear reading glasses while on the witness stand, jokingly saying “don’t look” when he put them on to read a page he was handed.
Jordan stood with his hands behind his back and smiled at the jury when they left the courtroom. Jurors have been able to submit written questions to witnesses, which are reviewed by the judge and the attorneys out of hearing of jurors. Only one juror question was submitted for Jordan and there was laughter from the gallery when the judge said it was juror question “number 23” in the case Jordan’s jersey number.
The juror wanted to know why Jordan had said he would never have entered into a deal with Dominick’s. — AFP.
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