Hebrew University v. General Motors LLC

A. HOWARD MATZ, District Judge.

I. Introduction

Defendant General Motors LLC (“GM”) used an image of Albert Einstein in a November 2009 advertisement for its 2010 Terrain vehicle. The ad depicted Einstein’s face digitally pasted onto a muscled physique, accompanied by the written message “Ideas are sexy too.” The ad ran in only one issue of People magazine. Plaintiff Hebrew University of Jerusalem *933(“HUJ”), which claims to own Einstein’s right of publicity as a beneficiary under Einstein’s will and thus exclusive control of the exploitation of his name and likeness, brought suit against GM for…