Gauck v. Karamian

Case Summary: 11-cv-2346

On May 4, 2011, plaintiff Lauren Lee Gauck filed a verified complaint for injunctive relief and money damages in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee against defendants Nik Lamas-Richie and Dirty World, LLC. The complaint alleged claims for defamation, false light, misappropriation of names and licenses, intentional infliction of emotional distress, invasion of privacy, and civil conspiracy arising out of two separate posts on the website "thedirty.com," which included nude pictures of a woman falsely identified as the plaintiff and false and offensive comments.

Defendants denied the allegations in the complaint. Prior to the lawsuit, defendants removed the posts from the website. Plaintiff moved to prevent defendants from republishing the two posts at issue on the grounds that it violated her statutory right to publicity. The court heard oral argument on plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction on July 21, 2011.

On July 29, 2011, the court issued an order denying plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction on the grounds that plaintiff failed to sufficiently demonstrate that defendants used her name or likeness for the purpose of advertising or soliciting any goods or services. On October 31, 2011, the court dismissed plaintiff's claims after the parties reached a settlement and filed a Stipulation of Dismissal.

Case Highlights

• Complaint filed 5/4/2011 [Doc # 1]
• Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction filed 5/4/2011 [Doc # 4]
• Answer filed 5/31/2011 [Doc # 17]
• Sealed Opposition filed 7/1/2011 [Doc # 34]
• Hearing on 7/21/2011
• Order denying preliminary injunction filed 7/29/2011 [Doc # 46]
• Case Dismissed with Prejudice after stipulation of Dismissal filed due to settlement. 10/31/2011 [Doc # 50]

Case-related documents, including those referenced above, are available via the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) service. For more information, visit Pacer.gov.