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In an update regarding Tommy Gilbert, the father of Eddie Gilbert, suing WWE, PW Insider acquired a copy of the lawsuit that was filed last month in the Chancery Court of Henderson County, Tennessee, which was now moved to the U.S. District Court Western District of Tennessee (Jackson) at the request of WWE and ESPN.
It was noted that Doug Gilbert, the younger brother of Tommy was also involved in the suing row. Doug is suing WWE for using his likeness in the WWE library, without having the right to do so. Doug appears in the NWA Wrestlewar 1989 PPV going against The Great Muta and as The Dark Patriot in ECW and Global Wrestling Federation material that WWE owns and could potentially use for the WWE Network and other platforms.
Although the Gilberts are mostly going after WWE, they are also suing ESPN and ESPN Classics Inc; for utilizing footage of the late Eddie Gilbert as material from the Global Wrestling Federation, which is shown out of sequence regularly on ESPN Classics, has included Gilbert in the past.WWE now owns the Global library and ESPN has the rights to telecast old material that was once on the network. This is the reason why footage from the AWA and Global can be seen on their ESPN Classics cable network.
The lawsuit filed by the Gilberts claims that WWE and ESPN “violated the Gilberts’ rights of privacy and/or publicity by using their names and likenesses without permission or any license in order to obtain profits” including wrestling matches aired via television and the Internet, the WWE Encyclopedia and in the case of ESPN, airing matches featuring Doug and/or Eddie via television.
Gilbert family claims that neither Doug nor Eddie ever signed with WWE or ESPN releasing the rights to their names, likeness and matches, nor have their received compensation while WWE and ESPN have, “Upon information and belief, Defendants have obtained significant profits from the use of the Gilberts’ names and likenesses.”
It was mentioned in a filing on4/15 by WWE that it has had similar lawsuits in the court before, noting suits brought against the company in the past by Doug Somerson (former AWA Tag Team champ Pretty Boy Doug Somers) and Richard Blood (Steamboat).
