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 filed suit in February, claiming that Kimmel’s show tricked him into recording absurd videos that were then broadcast in a segment titled “Will Santos Say It?”
Santos claimed that Kimmel infringed his copyright and violated Cameo’s terms of service.
In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote dismissed the lawsuit, finding that Kimmel used the videos to make political commentary and was therefore protected by the “fair use” doctrine.
Santos was expelled from Congress last December after a series of scandals that culminated in a 23-count indictment. He then joined Cameo, the platform that lets fans hire celebrities to send personalized video greetings.
On the “Jimmy Kimmel Show,” the host played several videos that his staff had commissioned from Santos for $400 each.
“Hey Brenda!” he said in a video. “I wanted to congratulate you on the successful cloning of your beloved schnauzer, Adolf.”
When Santos threatened to sue, Kimmel was grateful.
“Can you imagine if George Santos sued me 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 else and then broadcast it on television in violation of the Cameo agreement.
“If this were the law, it would protect anyone who could get an artist to make art, as long as the primary purpose and aim is to ridicule the artist,” his lawyers argued. “This is contrary to the purpose of copyright law.”
But the judge found that argument “finds no support in copyright law.” She held that Kimmel’s use of the Cameo videos had a “transformative” purpose — namely, political commentary — and was therefore protected by a lawsuit.
“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 alleged fraudulent activities, including enriching himself through a fraudulent donation scheme – to say absurd things for money,” the judge said.
Santos pleaded guilty on Monday to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 7.
