Legal Briefs: Naked Cowboy Sues Mars

The musician/tourist attraction says the company used his likeness on a video that played on the two huge billboards at the M&M's store.



He says the suit was filed after the company refused to deal with him.



"My manager had made the effort to initiate the adequate compensation for coopting with The Naked Cowboy," said "The Naked Cowboy." "But my understanding is they were not prone to that idea, and, in fact said, we would not work with that guy."



The suit seeks $2 million for violating the trademark and another $2 million for violating his "right to publicity."

For nearly a decade, Robert Burck has been a fixture in Times
Square, where he strums a guitar on a street corner while dressed
in his skimpy signature costume.

In a lawsuit filed this week in Manhattan federal court, Burck
said that two oversized Times Square billboards that promote
M&Ms used his look without compensating him.

“My initial response was like, ‘Wow that’s cool,’ ” said Burck, 37. “The artist seeks to create the world in his own image. Obviously I was overjoyed . . . . It took years for people not to say that’s a stupid idea. . . . All I’ve got is my underwear. It’s the most brilliant thing that’s ever been created from a marketing perspective. You can’t stop it.”