Vuitton’s “Hangover II” Lawsuit
Studio Warner Bros has already been forced to settle with a tattoo artist who said comedy blockbuster “The Hangover Part II” stole his design, along with a stuntman who claimed he suffered brain trauma during a stunt gone wrong. Now it has gone to court to fend off claims from the fashion house Louis Vuitton that the sequel to Todd Phillips’s 2009 sleeper hit, about a group of friends who travel to Thailand for a highly eventful stag do, created consumer confusion by depicting a counterfeit handbag branded a “Lewis Vuitton”.
Warner representatives last week told a New York federal court that its use of a fake bag made by the Chinese-American company Diophy, which Louis Vuitton is also suing, was justified by a 1989 US court decision in which Hollywood star Ginger Rogers was denied compensation over a film about two fictional Italian cabaret performers who recreated her routines with Fred Astaire for comedy effect.
