Lithuanian marketer ordered to pay Clint Eastwood €200,000

A Lithuanian court has ordered the former head of liquidated online advertising company Mediaton to pay actor Clint Eastwood and rights holder Garrapata 200,000 euros in damages for using Eastwood’s image without permission to promote cannabis products.

The Court of Appeal of Lithuania on October 22 rejected an appeal by Giedrius Bučinskas, Mediaton’s former head and sole shareholder, largely upholding a lower court ruling. The decision took effect immediately but can still be appealed to the Supreme Court.

A panel of judges found that the damages had been properly assessed and clarified that the compensation must be split equally, with Eastwood and Garrapata each receiving 100,000 euros.

According to the court, Mediaton used Eastwood’s name and likeness on its websites to advertise cannabidiol, or CBD, products without the actor’s or his representatives’ consent. The company also published fabricated articles falsely claiming that Eastwood used and recommended the products.

The court found that Bučinskas had acted unfairly by illegally using the actor’s image and abusing the company’s liquidation process to avoid paying creditors.

It said Bučinskas had failed to list Eastwood and Garrapata among the company’s creditors, initiate insolvency proceedings or preserve the remaining corporate assets. Instead, he transferred those assets to himself, preventing the plaintiffs from recovering the damages owed to them.

The ruling marks the third time the Court of Appeal has considered the case after twice sending it back to the Klaipėda Regional Court for retrial.

In May, the regional court ruled that Mediaton had created the false impression that Eastwood endorsed and used CBD products.

A federal court in Los Angeles awarded Eastwood and Garrapata $6.1 million in damages against Mediaton in October 2021, equivalent to about 5.26 million euros at the time. After the Lithuanian company was liquidated, the plaintiffs sought to recover damages directly from Bučinskas.

The Lithuanian proceedings found that Bučinskas knew about the US case and liquidated the company to avoid paying the award.

Mediaton began the liquidation process in March 2021, shortly after Garrapata notified the company of legal claims over the unauthorised use of Eastwood’s likeness.

Founded in March 2017 in the Tauragė region of western Lithuania, Mediaton developed websites and had no long-term assets by the end of 2020.

Eastwood filed lawsuits in the United States in 2021 against multiple CBD manufacturers and online retailers, accusing them of fabricating news stories and manipulating search results to falsely associate him with cannabis products.