February 7, 2020 – San Francisco Superior Court judge Ethan Schulman today adopted the arguments of firm partner Nick Carlin and associate Kyle O’Malley, rejecting defendant Elite MD’s attempt to dismiss the bulk of firm client Anna DeAnda’s right of publicity lawsuit against it. The Court also rejected Elite MD’s attempt to strike the client’s request for an injunction prohibiting further use of her likeness and for punitive damages. As alleged in her complaint, Elite MD, a plastic surgery center in Danville, used “before and after” photographs of the client in an extensive advertising campaign on KRON 4—without her consent and despite her multiple attempts to get Elite and KRON 4 to stop. Nick Carlin commented: “Unfortunately, many companies take the attitude that it is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission—especially when it comes to the commercial use of images of non-celebrity, everyday people, whom these companies believe are without the professional representation necessary to enforce their rights. We believe it is important to show that this should not be the case—that it should instead be much more expensive to ask for forgiveness than to receive permission.”