Stephen W. Clark v. Dillard's Inc. and the Campbell Agency

460 S.W.3d 714, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 2817, 2015 WL 1346099
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided March 25, 2015·No. 05-13-01503-CV·Published·Cited by 33 cases

Opinion

OPINION

Opinion by

Justice Myers

This case involves claims by a fashion model, Stephen W. Clark, against a department store, Dillard’s, Inc., and a modeling agency, The Campbell Agency, Inc. (TCA). Clark sued Dillard’s and TCA after pictures of Clark were used without his permission on packages of underwear that were sold in Dillard’s stores nationwide. Based on the jury’s verdict, the trial court awarded Clark damages of $4,500 against Dillard’s for unjust enrichment and ordered that Clark take nothing on his other claims.

Clark brings seven issues on appeal, contending the trial court erred by (1) denying Clark’s motion for summary judgment on misappropriation of likeness; (2) granting Dillard’s motion for summary judgment on some of Clark’s claims against it; (3) granting- TCA’s motion for summary judgment on all of Clark’s claims against it; (4) constructively striking Clark’s expert witness; (5) failing to take judicial notice of past pleadings; (6) refusing to consider requiring Dillard’s disgorgement of profits as a remedy in this case; and (7) overruling Clark’s objections to incorrect and inconsistent jury questions. Dillard’s brings a cross-appeal, contending the trial court erred by granting judgment for Clark because Clark’s claims of misappropriation of likeness and unjust enrichment were barred by the statute of limitations.

We reverse the trial court’s judgment in part and render judgment that Clark take nothing on his claim against Dillard’s for unjust enrichment, and we affirm the trial court’s judgment in all other respects.

BACKGROUND

In 1998, Dillard’s hired Mollie McKool Photography, Inc. in Dallas to submit photographs of men modeling underwear from Dillard’s house brand, Roundtree & Yorke. McKool contacted TCA to provide a model. Clark was a fashion model and used TCA and other modeling agencies to .obtain modeling jobs. TCA contacted Clark about the modeling job, and Clark agreed to do it. McKool paid TCA Clark’s standard rate for two days of modeling, and after deducting its commission, TCA paid Clark. The testimony showed it was customary for models in Dallas to be paid a bonus in addition to their standard rate if their picture from the photo shoot was used for product packaging. Clark testified he was not paid anything for further use of the photos and that he did not agree to Dillard’s commercial use of the photos for product packaging.

*718 Beginning in about 2001 or 2002, Dillard’s used photographs showing Clark from the tip of his nose to his waist on its packaging of Roundtree and Yorke men’s underwear. In September 2005, Dillard’s changed its packaging and used pictures showing Clark from midthigh or waist to the top of his head and showing Clark’s entire face. Dillard’s used these pictures on the packaging of Roundtree & Yorke underwear from September 2005 to September 2011. Clark testified he never went into a Dillard’s store until December 2009 and was unaware of Dillard’s use of his image on packaging for Roundtree & Yorke underwear.

In November 2009, while Clark was living in Europe, a friend in the United States told him she had seen his photograph in a Dillard’s store on its products. The next month, when Clark traveled to Arkansas, he went to a Dillard’s store and saw his image on the packaging of Round-tree and Yorke underwear. He contacted his “mother agency” in New York to investigate. In January 2010, that agency contacted Dillard’s. Dillard’s asked the agency to provide a contract from the 1998 photo shoot, but Clark no longer had the paperwork. In 2011, Clark contacted Nancy Campbell, the president of TCA, for assistance in pursuing his claim against Dillard’s. Campbell told Clark she had shredded all documents from 1998 and that TCA no longer had the vouchers and other documents from the photo shoot. Campbell refused to write to Dillard’s, but she agreed to search TCA’s premises for any records from the 1998 photo shoot; she found no records.

In September 2011, Dillard’s changed its packaging on Roundtree & Yorke underwear, including changing the image on the packaging by using new photographs and a different model. Dillard’s paid the model $4,500 for the right to use his image on the packaging for the life of the products.

On October 5, 2011, Clark filed his original petition against Dillard’s and TCA for misappropriation of likeness, unjust enrichment, and other claims. Clark later amended his petition, including adding claims against TCA for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty. Clark, Dillard’s, and TCA each moved for summary judgment. The trial court denied Clark’s motion. The court granted Dillard’s motion for summary judgment on all of-Clark’s claims except misappropriation of likeness and unjust enrichment. The court granted TCA’s motion as to all of Clark’s claims and rendered judgment that Clark take nothing on his claims against TCA.

The court held a jury trial on Clark’s claims against Dillard’s for misappropriation of likeness and unjust enrichment. The jury found Dillard’s misappropriated Clark’s likeness and that his damages for the unauthorized use of his image were $9,000. However, the jury also found the misappropriation of his likeness “was excused as a result of a mistake.” 1 On Clark’s unjust-enrichment claim, the jury found Dillard’s was unjustly enriched and that Clark’s damages were $4,500. On Clark’s assertion of the discovery rule to Dillard’s defense of the statute of limitations, the jury found Clark “should ... have discovered the benefits obtained by Dillard’s” by December 6, 2009. The court’s judgment ordered that Clark take nothing on his misappropriation-of-likeness claim and ordered that Clark recover *719 $4,500 from ■ Dillard’s, presumably on Clark’s unjust-enriehment claim.

DILLARD’S CROSS-APPEAL

In its cross-appeal, Dillard’s contends the trial court erred by not dismissing Clark’s misappropriation-of-likeness and unjust-enrichment claims as barred by the statute of limitations. Dillard’s moved for directed verdict on the ground of the statute of limitations, and the trial court implicitly denied the motion. Because the trial court rendered a take-nothing judgment on the misappropriation-of-likeness claim and the only relief granted Clark was on his claim for unjust enrichment, we consider the question of the statute of limitations only on the unjust-enrichment claim.

Standard of Review

Claims of unjust enrichment are governed by the two-year statute of limitations in section 16.003 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Elledge v. Friberg-Cooper Water Supply Corp., 240 S.W.3d 869, 871 (Tex.2007) (per curiam); see Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem.Code Ann. § 16.003(a) (West Supp.2014). Because the statute of limitations is an affirmative defense, the defendant has the burden to plead, prove, and secure findings to support the defense. See Tex.R. Civ. P. 94 (limitations is affirmative defense); Woods v. William M. Mercer, Inc., 769 S.W.2d 515, 517 (Tex.1988) (affirmative defense of limitations must be proven by asserting party).

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Stephen W. Clark v. Dillard's Inc. and the Campbell Agency, 460 S.W.3d 714, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 2817, 2015 WL 1346099 (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

460 S.W.3d 714 (Stephen W. Clark v. Dillard's Inc. and the Campbell Agency) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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