Dr. Oz Fights Fraudulent Claims of Endorsement

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is taking the fight to the scam operators who have been duping the public using his good and extremely popular name. Indeed, the two-time Emmy Award-winning, nationally syndicated daytime series The Dr. Oz Show is launching an aggressive campaign to stop illegal use of the Dr. Oz name, image and show. This campaign dubbed “IT’S NOT ME,” began Monday, May 6, 2013.

As you may be aware, over the past several years the Internet has become overrun with advertisements featuring one or another product allegedly endorsed by Dr. Oz. On Monday Dr. Oz told viewers that he endorses none of these and he is going to fight to take back his name.

“Today I am taking back my name and protecting my viewers from people I consider dangerous, who try to mislead you into buying products I don’t endorse,” Dr. Oz told the audience. “Anything you see on this show is part of a conversation I am having with you about your health. We are always transparent about our trusted, official partnerships and a full list of these partners is available on our website.”

The Dr. Oz Show has produced close to 700 shows in four seasons. Unfortunately, with every new episode comes the opportunity that charlatans will find actionable information that they can use to exploit the unwary. The largest organized fraudulent efforts include green coffee bean extract, raspberry ketones and garcinia cambogia, but there have been others.

In all over 11,000 complaints have been logged through the OzWatch portal, which is devoted to detecting and enforcing infringement. OzWatch was launched in September 2012 to combat e-mail spamming, targeted ads and robo-calls reported by viewers of The Dr. Oz Show.

As a part of his effort to fight fraud and the misappropriation of his name and the name of his show, starting May 6, 2013, Dr. Oz will end each show with a disclaimer that reads:

If you receive an e-mail or any kind of direct marketing claiming to be from me selling a product with my name, my image or the show’s name, you need to know IT’S NOT ME! I consider anyone that uses my name or my picture to try to sell you a product or supplement reckless and dangerous. They are undermining my credibility with you and the trust you place in me. More importantly, it could be dangerous to your health. Please go to doctoroz.com/oz-watch to report if you receive any messages that use me to sell you anything. To see a list of our trusted partners, please go to Dr. Oz.com.

So will he be successful?

First, the announcement circulating from The Dr. Oz Show explains that he plan on fighting copyright infringement associated with those who are taking and using his name and the name of his show. This is almost certainly not a copyright issue. Copyrights protect expression, not names or likeness of an individual. Of course, if they are using excerpts from his television show that would be a copyright issue. If there is copyright infringement here there will be very little difficulty getting it under control thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Far more likely is that Dr. Oz will be resorting to the right of publicity and trademark law.

The “right of publicity” is the inherent right of every human being to control the commercial use of his or her identity. Please note these carefully chosen words. It is the right of “every human being,” not the right of every person. In many contexts we could substitute the phrase “every human being” with the word “person,” but it is important to remember that the right of publicity is an individual right. When the word “person” is used in the law we most often define “person” to include corporations or other similar entities. This is not the case with the right of publicity. The right of publicity does not protect the persona of a corporation, partnership, institution or other similar entities; it protects only the human identity. See, for example, Eagle’s Eye, Inc. v. Amber Fashion Shop, Inc., 627 F.Supp. 856, 862 (E.D. Pa. 1985).

The first time the term “right of publicity” was used was by Judge Jerome Frank in Haelan Labs., Inc. v. Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., 202 F.2d 866 (2d Cir. 1953). Shortly thereafter The Right of Publicity, 19 Law & Contemporary Prob. 203 (1954), which is the seminal law review article in the area, outlined the right of publicity. The concept of a property right in one’s identity evolved initially from the tort of invasion of privacy. As the right of publicity matured it became recognized as a right independent from the right to be left alone embodied in the tort of invasion of privacy. As the right of publicity became its own, independent cause of action it increasingly became associated with copyright and trademark law. Given the evolution of this doctrine, and the fact that it is largely both a commercial tort and a form of unfair competition, the right of publicity is properly characterized as an intellectual property right.

In the United States, the right of publicity is largely protected by state common or statutory law. Approximately half the states have distinctly recognized a right of publicity. Of these, many do not recognize the right by that name, choosing rather to protect it as part of an individuals right of privacy. The Restatement (Second) of Torts recognizes four types of invasions of privacy: intrusion, appropriation of name or likeness, unreasonable publicity and false light. Under the Restatement’s formulation, what we commonly think of today as the right of publicity is closest to the unauthorized appropriation of one’s name or likeness. See Restatement (Second) of Torts § 652C, comments a & b, illustrations 1 & 2. Other states protect the right of publicity through unfair competition laws.

On the federal side of the equation, if a person can establish an aspect of his or her identity as a trademark, protection may be provided by Federal law. U.S. trademark laws can also provide protection where a person’s identity is used to falsely advertise a product or designate its origin. A quick search of the USPTO trademark database shows that there are a number of trademarks associated with Dr. Oz. For example there is a trademark covering The Dr. Oz Show (Registration No. 3953442) and several that cover Dr. Oz (i.e., Registration No. 3852288).

Infringement of the right of publicity can be triggered by any unauthorized use in which the plaintiff is “identifiable.” A plaintiff is identifiable by name, nickname, stage name, pen name, picture, photograph, voice (particularly a distinctive voice) or any object closely identified with a person. Trademark infringement can be triggered with any unauthorized use of a trademark, or even use that is not identical but likely to mislead the consuming public. It certainly seems that the fraudulent operators in this space are running afoul of these rights.

It seems that the law is on the side of Dr. Oz, so legally he shouldn’t have much difficulty. But legal matters are only one part of the overall equation. It seems as if Dr. Oz may have waited a rather long time to take action, which can make it difficult to eradicate. When an individual’s name or business name is involved swift action to address misappropriation is virtually mandatory. Real damage to reputation and good-will can occur far more quickly than a good reputation and positive good will can ever be created.

If Dr. Oz wants to fight the fight he should be successful. He is a big enough personality that Internet companies should take notice and should help to ferret out unscrupulous and unauthorized uses of his name. Indeed, in the Fall of 2012 both Facebook and Amazon expressed at least some willingness to clamp down.

However, the Facebook statement from September 2012 is a mixed bag really. The company told Dr. Oz:

Facebook respects the intellectual property rights of others and is committed to helping third parties, including Dr. Oz, protect their rights. Our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities prohibits users from posting content that violates another party’s intellectual property rights. No content or ads may include content that infringes upon or violates the rights of any third party, and upon notice of such impermissible content, we stand ready to respond including by removing the content from Facebook.

That said, with over 955 million users posting copious amounts of content daily, it is not possible to proactively monitor uses of Dr. Oz’s intellectual property. Furthermore, only a rights owner is in a position to identify when it believes its intellectual property rights are being violated with respect to any specific content on our site.

Accordingly, in order to facilitate rights owners’ ability to report content that they believe infringes their rights, we provide easy-to-use web forms for reporting such content and maintain a robust infrastructure to review specific content that is reported to us, and if necessary, to remove content that violates our policies. Additionally, we have technical systems in place to identify and remove suspected fake accounts based on anomalous site activity. We are constantly iterating on these systems and developing new ones, to provide an even better experience for the people who use our service.

So they are committed to respecting intellectual property rights, but aren’t all that interested in proactive measures. This can be a real problem. Facebook and others on the Internet have an incentive to sell advertising that gets people to click through. So portals and search engines will help those intellectual property owners who help themselves. Thus, an aggressive policing campaign needs to be a part of the bag of tricks for those, like Dr. Oz, who are susceptible to having their name and likeness misappropriated.

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9 comments so far.

  • [Avatar for Jane Britton]
    Jane Britton
    March 28, 2014 02:49 pm

    I have just been scammed out of 95 UK pounds by agreeing to a monthly supply of equinox by ordering a free sample for the cost of P& P. I do not seem to stand much of a chance of getting my money back in the UK in spite of having many expensive trans-atlantic phone calls. I am a nurse and have spent my life helping people only to be treated like this. There was nothing on the UK website to suggest I had signed up to this scam, as the small print had been excluded, and I know because I read it all just to be cautious. Surely there is something the US government can do to stop this company as I seem to be powerless in the UK. They must be laughing all the way to the bank.

  • [Avatar for Sandra Harris-Tancredi]
    Sandra Harris-Tancredi
    February 20, 2014 03:25 pm

    Sheridan Labs (RVTL and anti-aging serums) scamed me out of $192.00 in products which were advertised as free trial samples for the cost of SH only! No where in their advertisement did they mention anything about joining a membership or charging $93.00 and $99.00 if the order wasn’t cancelled within 14 days. I called Sheridan Labs (1-877-316-1859), the company responsible located in Sparks, NV. The man I spoke to was from Saudi Arabia and his name was Jared Scott (sounds made up to me). He was rude and wouldn’t allow me to speak with anyone else. I’m not going to stop fighting this on principle alone. My next step is to call the BBB in Sparks and the Attorney General. I would like to know how many others have been taken in by this company and its products. By the way, they have since changed their website to reflect the “14-day membership” part that wasn’t included in the web page I ordered from. Isn’t that called “bait and switch”.

  • [Avatar for Jill]
    Jill
    November 8, 2013 04:43 pm

    It’s easy to believe the fraudulent ads using Dr. Oz, since he really does endorse bogus products.
    Raspberry Ketones, for example.
    Web MD writes, “There is no reliable scientific evidence that it works for improving weight loss.”
    A sensible person would know that anyway.

    BTW, I love it when Dr. Oz wears scrubs in ads, like he’s going to examine a patient at the hospital afterwards.

  • [Avatar for JustMe]
    JustMe
    October 15, 2013 12:48 pm

    What about someone sending a message to you claiming to be from the show to be a guest? I am unaware of producers trolling forums for guest. Is that legit? I got a message on a forum asking for more info about myself and condition.

  • [Avatar for Lorraine]
    Lorraine
    October 6, 2013 11:57 am

    I am convinced Dr. Oz bears some responsibility by using his TV show to live off of the despairing winkle-up aging masses.

  • [Avatar for Gene Quinn]
    Gene Quinn
    September 19, 2013 01:20 pm

    Deloris-

    Why would you want to post what you call fraudulent to IPWatchdog.com?

    We do not allow commercial comments.

    -Gene

  • [Avatar for Deloris Cross]
    Deloris Cross
    September 19, 2013 01:08 pm

    How do I move these fraudulant e-mails using Dr. OZ as endorsing their product. I can’t seem to paste them or attach them to your site. Clue me in. I get two a day.

  • [Avatar for Eileen Brieaddy]
    Eileen Brieaddy
    September 17, 2013 07:39 pm

    Since you recommended this product on your show it has been showing up everywhere advertising free for $4.95 shipping and handling for a 14 day trial which this must be printed so small because I never saw it. Thousands of other people didn’t see the 14 day thing either and we all are getting ripped off for a billing charge on our credit cards before the 14 days are even up for $99.98. The company refuses to refund your money with one excuse after another. I am so sorry I ever ordered this product and for everyone who posts on FB it doesn’t even work as it didn’t for me. Please can you make an announcement about it on your show before this company becomes a trillion dollar company with all our hard earned money? Also of course they are using your name snd picture. They won’t give an address except a place to return the product got a small partial refund and I’m told its their warehouse at 10701 Abercorn St. Savannah, Georgia. 31420. Unit 61553. It’s probably an empty hole in a wall. Phone # 877-523-2198. I posted a message on FB warning about the company.

  • [Avatar for EG]
    EG
    May 8, 2013 09:20 am

    Gene,

    When I last checked this (back in 2002), there were 16 states that had right of publicity statutes on the books: California (Code Sections 990 and 3344); Florida (Section 540.08); Massachusetts (Chapter 214, Section 3A); Rhode Island (Section 9-1-28.1); Indiana (IC 32-13); Kentucky (Section 391.170); Nebraska (Chapter 20-202); Nevada (NRS 597.770 to 597.810); New York (Sections 50 & 51); Ohio (ORC Section 2741); Oklahoma (Section 12-1448); Tennessee (Section 47-25-1101 et seq.), from efforts by Elvis Presley estate; Texas (Section 26.001 et seq.); Virginia (Sections 8.01-40 & 18.2-216.1); Washington (Washington Act ESHB 1074); and Wisconsin (WRS 895.50 et seq.) In California and New York in particular, you’ve got an interesting combination of common law and statutory rights of publicity.