Strip Club Says Former Miss Oklahoma is Suing for Publicity

Lawyers for a Manhattan strip club say the 22-year-old beauty pageant queen whose photo they appropriated to advertise the club is just suing them to get attention. You may recall that back in April, former Miss Oklahoma Laci Kay Scott filed a lawsuit against Ten's Gentlemen's Club after she discovered that the club had been distributing cards on the street with her image—and without her knowledge. Scott, who's been trying to get her modeling career off the ground with gigs posing in prom dress ads, says being mistakenly perceived as a stripper could disqualify her from the pagaent circuit and damage her career. But Ten's owners think this lawsuit has been just great for her.

"Before this suit was filed, nobody had ever heard of her," a lawyer for Ten's tells the Post. "That's the reality. This is a nobody who filed a claim, a baseless claim, and has brought attention to her nonexistent career." Records show that Scott has made $24,000 from modeling, but it's unclear over what length of time. Speaking to the Daily News, Ten's lawyer argues that nobody would even have known Scott's image was promoting the strip club if she hadn't made such a big stink about it: "The only reason anyone actually knew about it was because of her shameless attempt at self- promotion, getting her name in every possible periodical." (And website!)

But Scott says she had to repeatedly deny her presence on the pole to friends, family and colleagues, who all apparently collect cards from street hawkers advertising strip clubs. And her lawyer tells the Post, "This case is not about Ms. Scott's career. It's about the fact that Ten’s used her photograph without her permission, which is a misdemeanor and a violation of New York's civil rights law ... She's frankly embarrassed to be associated with Ten's." Appearing in court yesterday, attorneys for Ten's blamed the snafu on the printing company, which they say pulled Scott's image off the Internet without their knowledge.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on December 1, 2009 9:54 AM

Comments [rss]

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Rocket666

She's not suing these scumbags to get publicity; she's suing them to get money and to make them stop stealing. I hope the courts give her the club.

NannyState

For anyone else, that whole prom/strip club thing usually gets settled by flipping a coin.

ANGRYGOD11

One would think a strip club could get a smarter lawyer than this one. Admitting your client didn't do the right legal thing to the press before going to court makes sense only if he's getting paid in lap dances and buffalo wings.

Sketto

I love the dude's reasoning: she's not a very well-known model, so we should be allowed to portray her as a stripper.

Snoopy

Are you crazy? She's the former miss Oklahoma, everyone in Tulsa knows her. She put that city on the map along with Witchita.

Snoopy

She's been illegally deflowered and now she has the right to ask for money.

Tower18

"This case is not about Ms. Scott's career. It's about the fact that Ten’s used her photograph without her permission

Exactly. The other lawyer is just throwing out red herrings.

grizzzly

Let's get to the more important issue here: unless the place is owned by someone named "Ten," or by the girls they are referring to as perfect tens, Shouldn't it be "Tens" instead of "Ten's"?

Sketto

You apparently did not get the puncutation memo - the purpose of apostrophes is to indicate that a letter S is coming soon.

Mordicai

Hey, uh, we're just over here illegally using this girl's picture, what! It is her fault-- she's like "hey, these guys are illegally using my picture to advertise their strip club" what! Hey! Real CONVENIENT is all I'm saying. Real LUCKY FOR HER that we stole her image to advertise our strip club with. You know, she's just another one of these attention hounds, you know, you steal their image illegally, use it to advertise your strip club, & suddenly WOAH you are the bad guy.

just saying

The strippers at Ten's aren't attractive enough to use on their own fliers?

NannyState

No, they're just never around long enough for a photo shoot.

farleft

She is right. Unless she approves in writing the use of her image in a commercial/advertising capacity, they have no right to use it in that manner.

Additionally, copyright always stays with the photographer...so the photographer can also sue them for using his/her image without legally buying licensing rights to the image.

These are basic photography licensing laws.

wingedearth

Why is this article reporting on what this girl is being accused of by lawyers for the defendants? They're just coming up with shit to make their strip club client look morally superior.

JenChungsBaby

They used her image in order to get attention for themselves, so even if she is using the lawsuit to get attention for herself what's the problem? The fact is they advertised her as a stripper when she's not, which should entitle her to a major judgement against them. This isn't just a case of using her image without consent or payment. They defamed her.

blackwhole

What do you expect the guy to say? He's a slimeball who got caught for being a slimeball. It's not like he's going to man up and pay.

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i guess they all want some publicity. their intention is quite obvious.

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S.D.

The owner is an idiot. Regardless of the publicity, Her lawyer is right, The bottom line is thety used her image without consent.

Blaming the Printing Company is irrelevant.