Lathrop & Gage attorney Lincoln Bandlow (Business Litigation - Los Angeles) has asked the full 9th Circuit to rehear its decision last month regarding a lawsuit brought by Paris Hilton against Hallmark Cards over the use of Hilton's image and catchphrase, "that's hot," in a birthday card. Mr. Bandlow has served as lead counsel for Hallmark in this matter since it was filed in 2007. In the petition for rehearing filed Friday, Mr. Bandlow argues that the greeting card is protected under the First Amendment. Paris Hilton v. Hallmark Cards.

At issue was a Hallmark greeting card that showed Ms. Hilton's face attached to a cartoon body serving up a plate of food to a customer with the exchange, "Don't touch that, it's hot." "What's hot?" "That's hot." Mr. Bandlow had argued that the card was protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution and that Hilton's right of publicity claim was subject to California's anti-SLAPP statute. In late August, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit agreed that the first prong of California's anti-SLAPP statute was met because the card related to issues of public concern, but decided not to dismiss the case, saying Hilton "has at least some probability of prevailing on the merits" at trial. Mr. Bandlow contends that the ruling departs with precedent by incorrectly limiting and failing to properly apply the transformative use test. Mr. Bandlow pointed out that the decision's "unprecedented finding that the publicity rights of an iconic celebrity may trump the First Amendment in the context of fully-protected speech that spoofs that celebrity" conflicts with numerous decisions of the Ninth Circuit and other courts and "will drastically chill speech if allowed to stand." The decision flies in the face of the concerns expressed by Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski about courts giving celebrities a "right to keep people from mocking them or their work."

"The opinion does exactly that" writes Mr. Bandlow, who has represented clients in the motion picture, television, publishing, broadcasting and advertising fields, and has represented several of the principal underwriters for the entertainment industry.

Mr. Bandlow practices sophisticated business litigation and specializes in litigating media, First Amendment, intellectual property and other entertainment-related matters. He has litigated and tried cases in both state and federal court in matters involving claims for copyright infringement, defamation, right of publicity, right of privacy, trademark infringement and related claims. In addition to practicing law, he has been a visiting professor at the Annenberg School of Journalism at the University of Southern California since the Spring of 1995, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in Media and Entertainment Law.

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