Former Playboy Playmates and other “well-known” professional models are suing a former Massachusetts strip club for allegedly using their photographs as advertisements without their knowledge and consent.
Orange Lantern, which operated the Magic Lantern in Monson, outside of Springfield, is under fire for posting photos of the scantily clad women to promote their business before it turned into a cannabis dispensary earlier this year.
A total of 31 models filed a complaint against the Orange Lantern in federal court on Friday, seeking damages, injunctive relief and refunds for attorneys’ fees relating to the corporation’s “misappropriation and unauthorized publication and use” in posting their photos for financial gain.
“Moreover, in every case this misappropriation occurred without any Plaintiff’s knowledge, consent or authorization, at no point did any Plaintiff ever receive any remuneration for Orange Lantern’s improper and illegal use of their Images,” the suit states, “and Orange Lantern’s improper and illegal use of Plaintiffs’ Images have caused each Plaintiff to suffer substantial damages.”
Magic Lantern is the latest strip club in Massachusetts to face scrutiny for allegedly using photographs of models without their permission.
Six professional models in June 2021 filed a complaint in federal court alleging that a Stoughton adult entertainment establishment, Club Alex, used images of themselves scantily dressed in a series of Facebook posts to make it seem like they worked there.
A federal judge in Boston reached out to the Supreme Judicial Court last December to see whether the state’s discovery rule should apply to the question of the timeliness of tort claims, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reported at the time.
That came after four models, two of whom are plaintiffs in the Orange Lantern case, filed a similar suit against clubs in Springfield, also in 2021, alleging the same actions.
The models filing suit against Orange Lantern are based in California, Arizona, Nevada, Germany, England, Hawaii, New York, United Kingdom, Florida, Texas and Puerto Rico.
Some of them include Andra Cheri Moreland, Playboy’s Playmate of the Month in October 2015; Arianny Celeste Lopez, a UFC octagon girl; and Jaime Edmonson-Longoria, Playboy’s January 2010 playmate and a participant in the competitive reality TV series “The Amazing Race 14.”
“Orange Lantern used Plaintiffs’ Images and created the false impression that they worked at or endorsed Magic Lantern to receive certain benefits therefrom,” the suit states, “including but not limited to: monetary payments; increased promotional, advertising, marketing, and other public relations benefits; notoriety; publicity; as well as an increase in business revenue, profits, proceeds, and income.”
