"If publicists came to photograph me and broadcast some of the pictures live, so I would know when not to wipe my nose or do other things, I would not have intervened. But if they know that there is a live broadcast of the entire campaign directly to the Tapuz website, which is owned by Ilan Ben-Dov, I would have gotten up and walked out," testified Bar Refaeli in the Tel Aviv District Court today in her NIS 4 million lawsuit against Suny Electronics Ltd. (TASE: SUNY), controlled by Ben-Dov, over the ad campaign that she made for the Samsung mobile phone importer in 2006.
One of Bar Refaeli's central claims is that Suny used her image and photographs for purposes that were not mentioned in her contract with her, when it broadcast live on the Tapuz portal, owned by Suny, the advertisement's pictures, without her knowledge, and "without any editing to preserve her modesty and prevent harm to her dignity."
In defense, Ben-Dov's lawyers today presented the court with video clips which allegedly show that Bar Refaeli and her mother, Tzippi Refaeli, knew of the intention to air the Samsung launch event live on the Internet, and that Refaeli was told this during the shoot. This contradicts the Refaelis' testimony. In her testimony today, notwithstanding the video evidence, Refaeli repeated that she did not know about the live broadcast during the entire day of the shoot.
"If, as part of the public relations, someone chose to broadcast something live, that's OK; but not during the rest of the shoot. I was not told that was being broadcast live to hundreds of thousands of viewers who see everything that I do. All I was told by Ben-Dov is that there is something on YouTube. I never imagined that the preparations for the clip would be broadcast. If Ilan Ben-Dov wanted to inform me about what was happening, he would not have mentioned YouTube," testified Bar Refaeli.
At this point, Ben-Dov's attorney told Bar Refaeli that in her previous testimony, she explicitly said that she knew nothing about a live broadcast. "Do you stand on this answer," he asked. She replied, "That's what I thought at the previous hearing. I did not remember the video clips that you presented after my testimony. That's what I remember."
Later, Suny's attorney told Bar Refaeli that Moshik Galamin was the broadcaster of the live broadcast, and he asked her if she knew that. "I met Galamin in all kinds of situations that day, but I did not know that he was the broadcaster of the live broadcast," she answered.
Suny's attorney then showed Rafaeli video clips from the day of the campaign in which she is seen talking with Galamin. The lawyer said that immediately after she ended her conversation with Galamin, the director is heard saying, "We're starting the live broadcast."
Refaeli answered, "I didn’t hear him. I thought that Moshik Galamin was there on behalf of the public relations, and I had no idea that he was making a minute-by-minute live broadcast. Publicists are allowed on the set for a limited time. As I said, I thought that this was public relations, and I did not know that there was a live broadcast all day."
Judge Avi Zamir said that Ben-Dov had admitted in his testimony that this was the first time that a campaign of this kind was broadcast live, and it was therefore logical that Bar Refaeli could not have understood that all the pictures were being aired live. "The burden of disclosure should have been enhanced in this case," Zamir said, referring to Suny.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 15, 2013
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