Celtics guard Terry Rozier is being sued by the company behind the iconic “Scream” mask from the 1996 horror film, accusing him of selling his own merchandise using the copyrighted image.
Rozier, who goes by the nickname “Scary Terry” has been hawking shirts and sweatshirts featuring a cartoon image of himself wearing the mask from the slasher flick. MassLive in September reported that he sold over $100,000 in products.
“People don’t know that I don’t really like the name Scary Terry,” Rozier told GQ earlier this season. “I like it when the fans call me it. But outside of basketball, none of my friends call me Scary Terry. But I don’t want nobody to think it was just for that year. I feel like it’s kind of my name in the league now.”
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Fun World is seeking unspecified damages in addition to $150,000 per copyright infringement, The Blast reports. According to the lawsuit, “Scary Terry-fever hit” after the NBA star posted a photo of himself donning the mask on Instagram.
“Five hundred sweatshirts and T-shirts were printed. The only real advertising was done by Rozier on social media, and the entire allotment sold out in about two days,” Cleveland-based Verus Management wrote in an article about Rozier, according to court documents, nypost.com reports.
Rozier, who bags a $3.1 annual salary from the NBA, even bragged about the marketing scheme in a GQ article.
“ . . . One of the guys in my agency who does marketing sent me shirts. It had the Jason mask on there. And I was like, ‘We need to get the Scream mask on there,’” the complaint says.
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Fun World says the “Ghost Face Mask has become widely famous and remains a popular Halloween costume mask.”
The company accuses Rozier of using their design and copyright without permission and making a profit, claiming he has, “adopted the Ghost Face Mask design as his own mascot and paired the design with his alter ego “Scary Terry.”
In addition to monetary damages, Fun World wants an injunction prohibiting Rozier from continuing to sell ‘Scary Terry’ merchandise.