Caused him to break off his engagement

142 thousand dirhams for a "model" in compensation for his image

Dubai Courts obligated a company to compensate Model.

Photography: Patrick Castillo

After a legal dispute between a model and a real estate company over a picture of him that the company used in advertising for its projects, the Dubai Civil Court of Appeal ended up awarding him 142,000 dirhams.

The exhibitor demanded compensation of six million dirhams, claiming that his image was exploited for a period longer than the contract signed between them, and the addition of amendments to it that caused the annulment of his engagement, due to the placement of a ring on his hand, which complicated his personal life.

In detail, an Arab viewer resident filed a lawsuit against a real estate company on the basis of saying that one picture of him was used for a year in marketing for one of the company's projects, pointing out that the picture had already been used in the project's brochure, but he was later surprised that it placed his pictures on its billboards in areas tourism and commercial activities to promote its projects.

He said that the company used his image for three years, and it was modified in violation of the truth, as a ring was added to one of his fingers to show him in the image of a man associated with an engagement, which harmed his personal life and pushed his fiancée to separate from him.

When he notified the company of the legal violation, it rushed to upload his pictures of the ads, and offered him 50 thousand dirhams in compensation, which is an implicit indication of its recognition of its responsibility, but he considered the offered amount not commensurate with the damages he sustained.

The company pleaded not to hear the case due to the passage of time, as more than three years have passed since the incident.

After considering the case by the Court of First Instance, it awarded him a compensation of 213 thousand and 750 dirhams, and the company appealed against the judgment, as well as the bidder who was not satisfied with the amount of compensation.

The litigation phase began in the Court of Appeal, and ended with amending the amount of compensation to 142,500 dirhams, a ruling that the two parties did not accept as well, and they appealed to the Court of Cassation, which in turn overturned the ruling and re-addressed the case again by the Civil District Court.

A new stage of litigation began, and the court rejected the company's request not to accept the case due to the passage of time, affirming the plaintiff's right to file his case and ruling him in the amount of 400,000 dirhams in compensation for moral and material damages, after seeking the assistance of an expert.

The two parties did not accept the judgment, and the company appealed against it before the Civil Court of Appeal, confirming that there was no evidence that the model was entitled to the amount of compensation, while the bidder insisted on his position and in turn appealed against the judgment, demanding six million dirhams.

After considering the case by the Court of Appeal, it ended in rejecting the company’s request not to accept the case on the pretext of the passage of time, because the plaintiff learned of the incident from his friends who had accidentally seen his pictures on the fronts of huge billboards, and responded to its request to reconsider the amount of compensation that the Court of First Instance ruled, And it decided to amend the amount to be 142,500 dirhams.

• The bidder demanded 6 million dirhams in compensation for the damages he sustained.

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