Sony and Jerry Lambert, the actor who played Kevin Butler in numerous PlayStation advertisements, have settled their lawsuit in regards to Lambert's appearance in a Bridgestone tire commercial.
According to MediaPost, Lambert admitted that the commercial could be confusing that he was promoting a Nintendo product when his contract with Sony specifically stated that he could not promote other video game company products.
As a result, Lambert has agreed to not appear to promote any other video game or computer entertainment system or video game company” for the next two years. Once this two-year "sentence" is up, Lambert must let Sony know in advance before he appears in any competition's advertisement for two years after.
Sony originally filed the lawsuit in September 2012 after Lambert appeared in a Bridgestone tire commercial, playing a Nintendo Wii. At that time, Bridgestone was holding a Nintendo Wii promotion with its stores. Sony alleged that Lambert seemed to be Kevin Butler, the character Sony owns, despite the fact that Sony has not used the character is quite some time. Therefore, since he seemed to be portraying Kevin Butler, he was violating their non-compete clause in Lambert's Sony contract. Bridgestone denied that Lamber was Kevin Butler, but Sony continued to press that it could be construed that Lambert was playing Kevin Butler.
Even though Sony and Lambert have settled this lawsuit, Sony is still battling it out with Bridgestone.
