Jordan v. Dominick's Finer Foods

115 F. Supp. 3d 950, 97 Fed. R. Serv. 1626, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95921, 2015 WL 4498909
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 23, 2015
DocketCase No. 10 C 407
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 115 F. Supp. 3d 950 (Jordan v. Dominick's Finer Foods) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jordan v. Dominick's Finer Foods, 115 F. Supp. 3d 950, 97 Fed. R. Serv. 1626, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95921, 2015 WL 4498909 (N.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

John Robert Blakey, United States District Judge

Before the Court are: (1) Plaintiffs Motion to exclude opinion of Rodney Fort [281]; (2) Defendants’ Motion in Limine No. 12 to exclude the expert testimony of Andrew Zimbalist [278]; (3) Plaintiffs motion to exclude evidence of cease and desist letters [205]; (4) Plaintiffs motion to exclude evidence of what Defendants would have paid to use his identity [206]; (5) Defendants’ Motions in Limine 2-5, 7,10-11, 13 and 15[210]; and (6) Defendants’ Motion in Limine No. 1[211], Each motion \yill be addressed in turn below.

I. Background

In 2009, Sports Illustrated produced a commemorative issue honoring former Chicago Bull, Birmingham Baron and “Space Jam” star Michael Jordan’s induction into the Hall of Fame. The issue was titled Jordan: “Celebrating a Hall of Fame Career.” It was not distributed to the magazine’s regular subscribers; instead, it was made available only in participating retail stores, with the target markets being the Chicago area and some parts of North Carolina. Although Sports Illustrated has approximately three .million [954]*954subscribers, it only produced 140,820 copies of this commemorative issue, and only 41,513 copies were sold.

Sports Illustrated offered Safeway — a supermarket conglomerate and owner of the now defunct Dominick’s supermarket chain in Chicago — a free one-page ad in the commemorative issue in exchange, for, among other things, premium floor space at its Dominick’s locations for the display and sale of the magazine. Safeway agreed. The ad in question featured a basketball jersey at the top that read “Michael Jordan” and included the number 23 (ie., the number Jordan wore as a player). In the center of the ad it said ‘YOU ARE A CUT ABOYE,” and below that there was a photograph of a Rancher’s Reserve tender angus steak, and a $2.00 coupon for a Rancher’s Reserve steak at any Dominick’s location. Safeway reports that only two coupons were redeemed.

Jordan sued Safeway and Dominick’s for their unlicensed use of his persona. In an oral ruling, Judge Milton I. Shadur granted in part Jordan’s motion for summary judgment, holding that Safeway violated the Illinois Right of Publicity Act, 765 ILCS 1075/40 (“IRPA”), by misappropriating Jordan’s identity, and Jordan voluntarily withdrew his remaining claims against Defendants [126]. On June 20, 2014, this case was reassigned from Judge Shadur to Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr., and on January 27, 2015 it was reassigned to this Court. The parties are now in preparation for a trial on damages only, currently set to begin on August 11, 2015. [297],

A hearing was held on May 19, 2015, regarding all of the currently pending motions.' At that hearing, it became apparent that determining the proper manner of calculating “actüal damages” under the IRPA remains the principal issue in the case. Under that Act, the Plaintiff is entitled to “actual damages, profits derived from- the unauthorized use, or both.” 765 ILCS 1075/40. In support of their respective cases, the parties have proposed conflicting tests for actual damages under the IRPA, with each party naturally relying upon the data points that are most favorable to their own position. It is those tests and data points that are disputed in the currently pending motions. Because the issue of damages underlies all of the motions, the Court will first consider the appropriate calculation of actual damages under the IRPA, and then discuss each motion separately.

II. Damages under the Illinois Right of Publicity Act

The meaning of “actual damages” under the IRPA presents a question of statutory interpretation of .an Illinois law. More specifically, the question for the Court is how to instruct the jury regarding the meaning of “actual damages” under the IRPA. When applying or interpreting Illinois state law while sitting in supplemental jurisdiction, the Court is required to make its best prediction of how the Illinois Supreme Court would decide the issue. Research Sys. Corp. v. IPSOS Publicity 276 F.3d 914, 925 (7th Cir.2002). If the state supreme court has not spoken on a particular 'issue, then decisions of the intermediate appellate courts will'control “unless there are persuasive indications that the state supreme cohrt would decide the issue differently.” Lexington Ins. Co. v. Rugg & Knopp, Inc., 165- F.3d 1087, 1090 (7th Cir.1999). Finally, if there are no directly applicable state decisions at all, then the Court may consult “relevant state precedents, analogous decisions, considered dicta, scholarly works, and any other reliable data” that might be persuasive on the question of how the state supreme court would likely rule. See Pisciotta v. Old Nat’l Bancorp., 499 F.3d 629, 635 (7th Cir.2007) (citations and quotation omitted). In this case, even though the Illinois state [955]*955courts have not provided any specific guidance on the meaning of actual damages under the IRPA, they have provided a rubric for the interpretation of the statute.

a. Statutory Interpretation

The fundamental rule of statutory construction requires courts to determine and give effect to the legislature’s intent. General Motors Corp. v. Pappas, 242 Ill.2d 163, 180, 351 Ill.Dec. 308, 950 N.E.2d 1136 (2011).1 The statutory language, given its plain and ordinary meaning, best indicates the legislature’s intent. Id. When the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, a court must give- effect to the statute’s plain meaning without resorting to extrinsic statutory-construction aids. Id. Here, the term “actual damages” is not defined by the statute itself, nor is it defined by any applicable case law interpreting the statute.

In such an instance, it is “appropriate to employ a dictionary to ascertain the meaning of an otherwise undefined word or phrase.” Landis v. Marc Realty, L.L.C., 235 Ill.2d 1, 8, 335 Ill.Dec. 581, 919 N.E.2d 300 (2009). In fact, the Illinois Courts of Appeal have previously relied on Black’s Law Dictionary to define “actual damages” where it was undefined by statute. See Smith, Allen, Mendenhall, Emons & Selby v. Thomson Corp., 371 Ill.App.3d 556, 308 Ill.Dec. 803, 862 N.E.2d 1006, 1009 (2006). Black’s Law Dictionary defines “actual damages” as an “amount awarded to a complainant to compensate for a proven injury or loss; damages that repay actual losses — also termed compensatory damages; tangible damages; real’ damages.” DAMAGES, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed.201'4). While this definition explains what actual damages are generally, it does not explain what they are specifically for the infringement of the right of publicity. The phrase therefore requires additional interpretation.

Where a statute requires inter-' pretation and the exact legislative intent cannot be ascertained from the plain and ordinary meaning of its language alone, the court is guided by statutory history and' the rules of statutory construction. People v. Holm, 387 Ill.Dec. 616, 22 N.E.3d 1269, 1272 (Ill.App.Ct.2014).

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115 F. Supp. 3d 950, 97 Fed. R. Serv. 1626, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95921, 2015 WL 4498909, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jordan-v-dominicks-finer-foods-ilnd-2015.