Posted on 06/30/2005 6:45:46 PM PDT by wagglebee
VIRGINIA BEACH — A jury on Wednesday ordered the company that produces the “Girls Gone Wild” videos to pay $60,150 for filming and using the image of a Virginia Beach woman without her written consent.
The jury ordered Mantra Films Inc. to pay $150 in compensatory damages and $60,000 in punitive damages.
The jury returned its verdict after deliberating for about two hours. The trial began Tuesday.
The California company travels the country to videotape young women exposing their breasts at events and venues such as Mardi Gras and spring break beach resorts.
“They needed a smack-down, and they got one,” said Kevin E. Martingayle, attorney for Debbie Aficial, 26. “Maybe they should stay in California from now on”
Aficial and a female friend attended a promotional event at Bar Norfolk in Waterside on Feb. 19, 2003. At the bar, members of Mantra Films asked Aficial and Aimee Davalle to go to a nearby location to participate in making a video.
In testimony this week, Aficial acknowledged giving her verbal permission to have her image used in the video. She did not expose herself but encouraged Davalle to participate and kissed Davalle on camera, according to testimony.
The video eventually was released under the title of “Girls Gone Wild: The Seized Video.” Davalle, who also is suing the company, exposed her breasts. Her image was used on the cover of the video.
Aficial said she was embarrassed and humiliated because of her appearance in the video. She said she did not know the video would receive worldwide distribution when, after drinking alcohol, she agreed to be a part of the production.
“I would never take my clothes off in front of people I didn’t know,” she said.
According to testimony, the company sold more than $1.3 million worth of the video. The company markets its videos on a Web site and in late-night cable television ads.
In February, Circuit Judge Frederick B. Lowe ordered the company to stop production of the video. He let the company continue selling inventory copies.
Under Virginia law, a person must give written consent to use his or her image in a commercial enterprise. Only a few states have this requirement, which is why Mantra Films can operate so freely, Martingayle said.
“These guys go around preying on people,” Martingayle said.
Martingayle said the company makes “tons of money” on videos and pays the women who appear in them with “beads and T-shirts.”
Ronald E. Guttman, chief operating officer for Mantra, testified that at the time of the Norfolk event, he did not know about the Virginia law requiring written consent.
Once Mantra Films learned that it had broken the law, Guttman said, the company followed Lowe’s order and stopped producing the video. “We were never in contempt of court,” he testified.
An attorney for Mantra Films, Shepherd D. Wainger, declined to comment on the verdict.
The owner of Mantra, Joseph R. Francis, did not attend the trial. He was in Europe for a wedding, according to Guttman.
I don`t know about that, I went to a strip club once where I saw a girl who had knockers just as big as that, it was freggin` crazy, and when she bent over at the waist and let them hang down, everyone was freaking out because they looked like they were going to rip right off her chest. They looked like two huge balloons streched to their limit with all the fluid on the bottom. That would have been something, "Call the EPA we have a major silicone spill!" I can just imagine how stretched her skin was if she ever got them taken out, she could probably tie them into knots.
Wouldn't you have to watch the entire series to put it in context?
My wife once bought a card for a friend that read:
Do your boobs hand low,
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie 'em in a knot?
Can you tie 'em in a bow?
Can you throw 'em over your shoulder,
Like a continental soldier?
Do your boobs hang low?
Inside the card said "That song's not as funny as it used to be."
Boob thread.
They are lawyers?
LOL!
“They needed a smack-down, and they got one,” said Kevin E. Martingayle,
what a joke... you know what these guys have grossed..?
10's of millions
Maybe the videos should be named "STOOPID Girls Gone Wild".
When she's old she'll look like Little Annie Fannie. ;o)
The jury ordered Mantra Films Inc. to pay $150 in compensatory damages and $60,000 in punitive damages.
Wow, that's going to leave a mark. /sarcasm
same here. Two twits make out and one exposes herself for some random guy with a video camera - what did they expect.
Honestly...
This Thread is useless without pictures: 
$150 in compensatory damages? Thaat's rather insulting. *snicker*
About $22,000 after paying income taxes (which are now assessed on the full amount, before the lawyer takes their cut, iirc)
That's quite a weekend for a college girl.
I don't care how stupid a woman has to be to appear in one of those videos...the guys who make these things are scum and need to be smacked down.
What the hell did you think they would do with the video?!
She thought they were just making personal copies.
I would have ruled against this stupid woman.
Me too, though it was a case of nut against nut and the bigger nut wins.
That gives to meaning to the term "blowup doll." Yeesh.
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