Max Verstappen won a 6-year-long legal row with Dutch online grocery service Picnic over the driver’s image rights infringement by the company.
Max Verstappen’s hunt for his 2nd Championship crown is going well. The Dutchman has dominated on-track claiming 10 victories in the first 14 races of the season.
But his winning streak expands beyond his racing merits. Recently, the 2021 World Champion was victorious in settling a 6-year-long legal battle with Dutch online grocery supermarket, Picnic.
The case begins in 2016 when Picnic aired a commercial that took a dig at Verstappen. The video shows a Verstappen lookalike wearing Red Bull overalls walking past a Jumbo van and getting into a Picnic delivery van.
To thank Jumbo for their support throughout my career I signed special helmets for Frits and all of his family members for Christmas. pic.twitter.com/mZVFzk0ccI
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) December 25, 2016
Now, Jumbo is not only a competitor of Picnic but also a major sponsor of Verstappen. The ad by Picnic appeared a day after Jumbo aired a commercial with Verstappen.
And the 2021 World Champion was not happy seeing this. He sued Picnic for image-rights infringement and entered a legal case against the company.
Picnic stated that they only intended in having some fun and took the video down as soon as the driver objected. But they were summoned by The Amsterdam court in 2018 for violating his image rights.
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Max Verstappen files a case against Picnic
Max Verstappen was clearly unhappy when the competitors of his sponsor used a lookalike to promote their brand. He filed a case under Dutch copyright law for infringement of image rights.
At first, Verstappen was proven right by The Amsterdam court. The judge ruled that Picnic did not act according to the rules of the law and was ordered to pay the F1 driver $150,000 as compensation.
But the Supermarket chain appealed the decision at The Amsterdam Court of Appeal. And they were proven right. According to the judge, it was clearly visible that it was not Verstappen but an actor.
Being appointed an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau is an incredibly proud moment for me and came very unexpected for me so early in my career.
I want to thank my family and loved ones, but also Red Bull who have been like a second family to me. We achieved this together. pic.twitter.com/V1JI7Xdixh
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) September 1, 2022
The ruling stated that the use of a look-a-like does not constitute an infringement of image rights. But Verstappen took his case further to the Supreme Court in The Netherlands.
The Supreme court’s decision favoured Verstappen. The Court’s ruling claims that the Amsterdam Court of Appeal incorrectly determined that the lookalike has no bearing on image rights.
Due to Verstappen’s public recognition, many could believe that it could be the driver himself endorsing Picnic. And the win in court finally ended the 6-year-long legal back and forth for Verstappen.
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