Saturday June 5, 2010
By NURBAITI HAMDAN
nurbaiti@thestar.com.my


KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has ordered the case of model and actress Zahnita Dorothy Hussein Wilson (pic), who sued textile giant Gulatis Exclusive Sdn Bhd for RM2mil, to go to full trial after dismissing with costs an application to strike out the suit.
Judicial Commissioner Lee Swee Seng ordered the case to go on trial because there were many issues to clarify in the suit and fixed Aug 17 for case management.

On Feb 17, Gulatis submitted an application to strike out the suit filed by Zahnita on the grounds that the model did not hold the rights to the pictures.Abdullah Abd Rahman, who represented Gulatis, submitted to the court that Zahnita had said in her statement of claim that the pictures belonged to Kumpulan Karangkraf Sdn Bhd and therefore she did not have the rights.Zahnita’s lawyer T. Kumar submitted that his client did have proprietary rights over the photos.

“Otherwise, Gulatis would not have offered a contract to her for the use of the photos,” he said.On Dec 11, 2009, Zahnita filed a suit against Gulatis over the use of her image for the company’s advertisement.She is suing Gulatis for allegedly using her pictures on its posters and advertisements without her permission.

She claimed the action resulted in her suffering huge losses when other textile companies cancelled their projects with her.Besides seeking RM2mil in general damages, exemplary damages, interest, cost and other relief deemed fit by the court, she also wants Gulatis to stop using her pictures in any of its advertisements and to make a public apology in the local newspapers.In her statement of claim, Zahnita stated that she had given permission to Kumpulan Karangkraf to use her pictures in three magazines – Pesona Pengantin, Nona and Keluarga – from January 2008.

She claimed that on July 23, 2008, Gulatis had asked her permission to use her pictures from Kumpulan Karangkraf collection, but she had refused.However, she claimed that on July 30, 2008, she discovered that Gulatis had used her pictures on its posters, banners and advertisements without her permission.

Source


http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/5/courts/6410612&sec=courts