Cliff Clavin - Lawsuit

Lawsuit

In 1993, plaintiffs John Ratzenberger and George Wendt filed lawsuit on defendant Host International, Inc., on account of infringing copyrights and trademarks and of violating actors' personality rights. In this court case, the company produced two robotic toys (one a "heavyset" and other a postal worker) that the actors claimed may resemble Cliff Clavin and Norm Peterson. The case was twice rejected by "a federal judge in California". In one hearing, before the case, the judge ruled that the defendant did not violate copyrights because Paramount Pictures already granted it license to produce Cheers-based themes and decors for mostly airport bars. In another, the judge ruled that these toys do not resemble these characters.

In 1997, however, "the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals twice reinstated" the case, titled Wendt v. Host International, Inc. In one hearing, it ruled that the "federal copyright law" does not triumph the California Celebrities Rights Act. In another, the 9th Circuit ordered a jury trial on the basis of publicity rights. The case resulted an undisclosed settlement in 2001 given by the company.