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NC · jury_instructions

N.C.P.I.—Civil 800.76

INVASION OF PRIVACY - APPROPRIATION OF NAME OR LIKENESS FOR COMMERCIAL USE - DAMAGES.

activein force · 2001-05-01 – presentas-observed

The (state number) issue reads:

"What amount is the plaintiff entitled to recover from the

defendant for appropriating the plaintiff's [name] [likeness] for the

defendant's own commercial use and benefit without the plaintiff's

consent?"

If you have answered the (state number) issue "Yes" in favor of the

plaintiff, the plaintiff is entitled to recover nominal damages even

without proof of actual damages.1 Nominal damages consist of some

trivial amount such as one dollar in recognition of the technical damage

caused by the wrongful conduct of the defendant.

The plaintiff may also be entitled to recover actual damages. On

this issue the burden of proof is on the plaintiff. This means that the

plaintiff must prove, by the greater weight of the evidence, the amount of

actual damages caused by the wrongful conduct of the defendant.

(Here give appropriate instruction as to type of damage claimed if

supported by the evidence).

I instruct you that if you reach this issue,2 your decision must be

based on the evidence and the rules of law I have given you with respect

to the measure of damages. You are not required to accept the amount

of damages suggested by the parties or their attorneys. Your award must

be fair and just. You should remember that you are not seeking to

punish either party, and you are not awarding or withholding anything on

the basis of sympathy or pity.

Finally, as to this (state number) issue on which the plaintiff has

the burden of proof, if you find, by the greater weight of the evidence,

the amount of actual damages proximately caused by the wrongful

conduct of the defendant, then it would be your duty to write that

amount in the blank space provided.

If, on the other hand, you fail to so find, then it would be your duty

to write a nominal sum such as "One Dollar" in the blank space provided.

History

N.C.P.I.—Civil 800.76 (May 2001). Prepared by the North Carolina Conference of Superior Court Judges' Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions, assisted by the UNC School of Government; published by the School of Government.

Provenance

Source
sog.unc.edu
Retrieved
2026-09-24
Edition
2026-09-24
Content hash
d8b2dcc26079b0c11747fc0603ddf945c57f1639954406923f9ea7a15d81ed9a
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