Dec 18, 2008, 10:03 GMT
Paris - A court in Saint-Denis on the island of La Reunion ruled on Thursday that a local company must pay French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy 40,000 euros (58,400 dollars) in damages for having used her nude photo on a line of shopping bags, French media reported.
A court in Saint-Denis on the island of La Reunion ruled on Thursday that a local company must pay French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy 40,000 euros (58,400 dollars) in damages for having used her nude photo on a line of shopping bags, French media reported. EPA/YOAN VALAT / POOL
The court found that the Pardon company had used Bruni-Sarkozy's image without authorization and had caused her 'moral and patrimonial damage,' the online edition of the daily Le Monde reported.
The company is also prohibited from selling or otherwise distributing the bag and must pay 3,000 euros in court fees.
Bruni-Sarkozy had demanded 125,000 euros in damages, and has said that the money would be donated to a charity.
The head of Pardon, Peter Mertes, said he would appeal the judgment.
Executives at Pardon had justified the use of Bruni-Sarkozy's photo by saying that she was 'a public woman.'
The bag shows Bruni-Sarkozy, a former top model, posing nude but with her hands modestly covering her pubic region.
A voice balloon has her saying, 'My guy should have bought me a Pardon.'
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