NEW YORK: American Apparel Inc settled film director Woody Allen's lawsuit over the company's use of his image in advertising for $5 million, Allen said on Monday as the case was about to come to trial.The American film director sued the clothing company more than a year ago after his image appeared on billboards in New York and Los Angeles. Allen says his reputation was damaged and the image from his film "Annie Hall," which showed him dressed as a Hasidic Jew, was used without his consent."Five million dollars is enough to discourage American Apparel or any one else from ever trying such a thing again," Allen said outside federal court in Manhattan.Allen, 73, who says he does not sell his image for commercial profit in the United States, said depositions revealed American Apparel believed fear of publicity would keep him from taking action. But American Apparel founder Dov Charney had argued that the ads, which also appeared on the Internet, fell under free speech rights and were intended for comic satire and not commercial profit."The billboards were designed to inspire dialogue. They were certainly never intended to sell clothes," Charney said in a statement on his Web site.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
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