Top 5 ways film/TV product placement causes lawsuits

By Eriq Gardner

Hollywood has increasingly turned to brand integration as a way to recover revenue lost to piracy and technologies that let users zap commercials.

Naturally, the rise of product placement means more lawsuits when things don't go as planned. The most recent example is a lawsuit filed late last week in L.A. Superior Court by publisher Gambling Times against poker player turned movie producer Scott Lazar for failing to live up to a promise to make a "highly visible" product placement in a film called "Deal," starring Burt Reynolds. The plaintiff is suing for $1 million even though the film grossed less than one tenth that amount.

Product placement lawsuits increasingly have been clogging courts. Other types include:

• Producer suing sponsor for failure to pay--Earlier this year, Millennium Films filed a lawsuit against watch manufacturer Tutima for failing to pay $50,000 after the Robert De Niro-Al Pacino film "Righteous Kill" featured Pacino sporting one of the company's watches per an agreement. 
• Producer suing the middle man--Three years ago, Mark Burnett Prods sued Madison Road Entertainment for $7 million, accusing the company of lying to advertisers such as Crest toothpaste, Levi's and Mars candy bars about getting their products onto "The Apprentice."
• Sponsor suing producer over unflattering portrayal--In 2007, Emerson Electric sued NBC after the show "Heroes" caused "irreparable injury" to its InSinkErator waste-disposal brand when a character stuck her hand in one and pulled it out mangled and bloodied.
• Sponsor suing producer over no real agreement--In March, fashion house Louis Vuitton settled a lawsuit with rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs over unauthorized use of the company's intellectual property in music videos of a girl group signed to Bad Boy Records. 
• Producer suing sponsor over no real agreement--And last but not least, who can forget Guns N' Roses' reaction when Dr. Pepper tried to tie an advertising promotion to the release of the band's long-awaited album, "Chinese Democracy"?