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Norway star Haaland sues airline over ponytail image
Filed 53m ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk
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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0
Photo: Chumaceroyovana · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland is suing Norwegian Air Shuttle over what his lawyer calls unlawful use of his likeness in ticket promotions during this summer's World Cup, where Norway reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1998. The dispute centers on a photomontage, since deleted, showing one of the airline's planes sporting a ponytail resembling the hairstyle Haaland wore before cutting his hair, captioned 'We've never looked more Norwegian.'
The airline says it finds the lawsuit hard to understand, describing its posts as spontaneous support for the national team inspired by social media trends, and says it hopes for a 'reasonable dialogue.' A hearing is scheduled for October 9 at Oslo District Court.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.
✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK
An airline painting a ponytail on a plane and calling it team spirit is the kind of thing that seems harmless until the lawyer's letter shows up. Companies love borrowing a famous face for free, right up until the famous face borrows a courtroom back. If the hairstyle was recognizable enough to make the joke land, it was recognizable enough to ask permission first.
