On the same day he pleaded guilty to federal crimes, former Rep. George Santos also lost a federal lawsuit he filed against Jimmy Kimmel over the use of his Cameo videos.
Santos sued in February, claiming that Kimmel’s show had tricked him into recording absurd videos, which were then broadcast in a segment called “Will Santos Say It?”
Santos alleged that Kimmel had infringed on his copyright and violated the Cameo terms of service.
In a ruling on Monday, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote threw out the suit, finding that Kimmel used the videos to make a political comment, and was thus protected by the doctrine of “fair use.”
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Santos was expelled from Congress last December after a series of scandals that culminated in a 23-count indictment. He subsequently joined Cameo, the platform where fans can commission celebrities to deliver personalized video greetings.
On “The Jimmy Kimmel Show,” the host played several videos that his staffers had commissioned from Santos at $400 apiece.
“Hey Brenda!” he said in one video. “I wanted to congratulate you on successfully cloning your beloved schnauzer Adolf.”
When Santos threatened to sue, Kimmel welcomed it.
“Can you imagine if I get sued by George Santos for fraud?” he said on his show. “I mean, how good would that be? It would be like a dream come true.”
Santos’ lawyers argued that the “fair use” doctrine does not allow someone to fraudulently obtain a video from someone, and then broadcast it on TV in violation of the Cameo agreement.
“Were this the law it would protect anyone who could trick an artist into making art so long as their overall purpose and use was to ridicule the artist,” his lawyers argued. “This is antithetical to the purpose of the copyright statute.”
But the judge found that the argument “finds no support in copyright law.” She held that Kimmel’s use of the Cameo videos had a “transformative” purpose — political commentary — and thus was protected by fair sue.
“In short, a reasonable observer would understand that JKL showed the Videos to comment on the willingness of Santos — a public figure who had recently been expelled from Congress for allegedly fraudulent activity including enriching himself through a fraudulent contribution scheme — to say absurd things for money,” the judge said.
Santos pleaded guilty on Monday to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud, and is due to be sentenced on Feb. 7.
