Sunday Times 2
Chubby Checker in a twist over phone app
View(s):By Sean O’Hare
It was a risque but light-hearted app that claimed to let ladies know what they can expect from a new man based on the size of his feet. But though it promised ‘no need for disappointment or surprise’, someone’s been left thoroughly unamused by the ‘Chubby Checker’ – the singer whose name it borrows. Now the 1960s’ rock ‘n’ roll star who’s famed for The Twist has filed a $500million lawsuit in the US against technology firm Hewlett-Packard, through whose software the app was available.
Lawyers for the singer – whose real name is Ernest Evans – claim the app developed by a company called Magic Apps, has done ‘irreparable damage’ to their client by associating the Checker name with ‘sexual connotation’. They said: ‘Purchasers of “the Chubby Checker” app and non-purchasing browsers of the associated web page are being misled into believing that plaintiffs have endorsed defendant’s app.’
The suit adds that the app ‘tarnishes’ the stage name which Evans trademarked in 1997. Willie Gary, Checker’s lawyer said: ‘We cannot sit idly and watch as technology giants or anyone else exploits the name or likeness of an innocent person with the goal of making millions of dollars. ’The Defendants have marketed Chubby Checkers’ name on their product to gain a profit and this just isn’t right.’
© Daily Mail, London
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