George Santos Sues Jimmy Kimmel Over Use of Cameo Video

Not a great week for George Santos (left).  First, he had to plead guilty to wire fraud and identity theft. Now, he has lost his case against Jimmy Kimmel.

What do you do when you have been expelled from the House of Representatives and your campaign for re-election as an Independent has failed?  One option is to capitalize on your notoriety by posting personalized videos through Cameo.  Rudy Giuliani does it. Rod Blagojevich does it.  Why shouldn’t George Santos do it?  According to The Guardian, the money is good, and Mr. Santos has bills to pay.  As part of his plea agreement, he has to pay $375,000.

There is one down-side, of course.  Some mean-spirited people might use the videos to make fun of Mr. Santos.  According to the allegations of the complaint, that is what Jimmy Kimmel and his co-defendants did. Under the “guise of fandom,” the defendants intentionally deceived Mr. Santos, broadcast his videos on television in order to demean and humiliate him, and then bragged about how it would be a “dream come true” if Mr. Santos were to sue, alleging fraud.  Well, Mr. Santos knows a lot about fraud, and he did not hesitate to make Mr. Kimmel’s dreams come true.

Mr. Santos filed suit in Santos v. Kimmel in February, alleging copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.  The Complaint concedes that Cameo users can request videos licensed for personal or business purposes.  However, Mr. Santos claims, neither license permits the national broadcast of the videos.  Using pseudonyms, Mr. Kimmel allegedly created fourteen fake Cameo user accounts and solicited different personal videos from Mr. Santos for those fake accounts.  Mr. Santos claims to have provided videos for these accounts, subject to licenses for personal use.  Mr. Kimmel then broadcast five videos on his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and on various social media accounts in a segment he called “Will Santos Say It?.”  The answer, in every case is yes.  Some examples are below, starting at around 6:50 in.  Kinda lame actually.  Not great comedy.  Whatever.

Mr. Kimmel moved to dismiss the complaint, and Mr. Santos then amended the complaint.  I have not been able to find a link to the amended complaint online. Mr. Kimmel then renewed his motion to dismiss.  On August 19, the District Court dismissed the complaint based on the fair use doctrine.  Mr. Santos’s claims for breach of an express or implied contract were duplicative of his copyright claims and thus were also subject to dismissal.