Women lose Girls Gone Wild lawsuit
Star-Telegram.com ^ | 6/29/06 | DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR
DENTON - The bare facts proved enough for a Denton County jury.
Jurors decided Monday not to award damages to two North Texas women in their civil lawsuit against Mantra Films of Hollywood, Calif., the creator of Girls Gone Wild videos, and three area entertainment retailers.
Brittany Lowry of Little Elm and Lezlie Fuller of Frisco accused Mantra Films of misappropriation and fraud after the two were videotaped in March 2002 flashing their breasts during a vacation at Panama City Beach, Fla.
Fuller and Lowry, who were 17 at the time, and their parents contended in their lawsuit that a Mantra representative told them that he was shooting a private film. The lawsuit contends that Mantra profited from the video without the women's consent by distributing DVDs and videotapes.
The jury of six men and six women, however, did not see it that way.
"The plaintiffs knew what they were doing," said Richard Merrill of Houston, an attorney representing Mantra and the other companies. "The jury realized that there were no drugs, alcohol or coercion involved in what they did."
The civil lawsuit, filed in 2003, named Mantra, Hastings Entertainment, Sam Goody and Suncoast Motion Picture Co. as defendants.
"It was a fair trial, but obviously we disagree with it," said Roger Yale of Denton, an attorney for the women, who are now 20. "The girls and their parents are disappointed."
The women had been seeking an unspecified amount of money.
Fuller and Lowry were approached in Panama City Beach by a Mantra official who offered them tank-top shirts with a Girls Gone Wild logo if they flashed on camera, according to the lawsuit and Merrill.
The girls, who lied about their age, resisted being videotaped but agreed when they were told that it was a private film, according to the lawsuit.
Fuller and Lowry also contended that they signed a document ensuring that it was a private film, the lawsuit stated.
But jurors determined at trial that the document was actually a valid consent form.
The women admitted in the lawsuit that they told Mantra officials that they were both over 18.
Since the taping, Mantra officials have distributed the images of Fuller and Lowry throughout the United States in videos and DVDs, the lawsuit stated. Hastings, Sam Goody and Suncoast were retailers that distributed the videos, the lawsuit stated.
Girls Gone Wild is a series of videos of topless and nude women.
The trial in state District Court 211 lasted six days. The plaintiffs called nine witnesses.
"The judge applied Florida law because it had occurred there," Yale said. "In Florida, minors can be videotaped as long as they are on public land."
Fuller and Lowry were in Florida with their mothers, but they didn't tell their parents about the video until December 2002, when one of their friends said he had seen them on a DVD, attorneys said.
Defendants had asked the jury to award them $160,000 in attorney fees, but jurors declined. |
