Flynt wins partial victory in fight over his name
LOS ANGELES, CA
The jury of four men and four women rendered its verdict after a
four-day trial, during which they sat next to a big-screen TV that
was used to repeatedly display blown-up photos of porn DVD boxes
featuring naked women on the front and people engaged in all sorts
of contortions on the back.
They listened as Flynt, who was paralyzed when he was shot by a
white-supremacist sniper in 1978, sat in his gold-plated,
velvet-lined wheelchair on Tuesday and Wednesday and testified that
in the porn business his name stands for quality. His nephews, he
said, were besmirching it by putting that name on "trashy" adult
movies.
"The junk they publish hurts my reputation, which in turn hurts
my revenue," the gruff, gravelly voiced porn king testified.
As both sides debated what constitutes an elegant sex film as
opposed to a trashy one, jurors sat stone-faced, observing posters
for films with titles like "Hot Showers" and "Sex at Your
Service."
After about three hours of deliberations Friday, they concluded
that Flynt's nephews, Jimmy Flynt Jr. and his brother, Dustin
Flynt, did indeed infringe on their uncle's trademark when they
produced films with just the word "FLYNT" in large capital
letters above the titles.
At the same time, the jury rejected Flynt's contention that his
nephews invaded his privacy, a ruling their attorney, Dan DeCarlo,
said holds Flynt responsible for all attorney fees.
Overall, both sides claimed victory.
Flynt's attorney, Mark Hoffman, said all his client wanted was
to maintain his good name in the porn community, adding that he
never asked the jury for monetary damages.
"This has been very hard on Mr. Flynt," he said. "He never
wanted to go this far. All he wanted to do was the right thing."
Meanwhile, Jimmy Flynt Jr. said he has already launched a new
Web site that he believes meets the requirements of the jury's
ruling. Called flyntnation.com, it contains both his and his
brother's first names, as well as the disclaimer, "Larry Flynt is
not affiliated with and does not endorse this."
"No one wins in this thing," said Jimmy Jr., who bears a
striking resemblance to his square-jawed uncle. "It's sad that the
family is in this dispute, but we felt strongly that we should be
allowed to use our name in our business."
The nephews launched their own company after their uncle fired
them from executive positions at Larry Flynt Publications in
November 2007. Jimmy Jr., 37, had worked there for 17 years,
starting in the mailroom. His 34-year-old brother had been there 10
years.
"I felt they were doing a horrible job," their 67-year-old
uncle testified.
Larry Flynt, who started in the porn business more than 40 years
ago, owns Hustler magazine and other publications, operates
Internet sites and retail stores, produces films, owns pricey real
estate and even markets a line of clothing.
Although his privately held company is said to be worth tens of
millions of dollars, he fired his nephews' father, Jimmy Flynt Sr.,
last year, saying he needed to save money to sue Jimmy Sr.'s sons.
"I told him that this lawsuit was going to be expensive to
finance it, and the only way I could was to not have him working
for the company," Flynt testified during the trial.