George Santos’ Cameo copyright infringement lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel has been thrown out by a New York Judge. The late night host’s commissioned “Will Santos Say It” segment videos are protected by the doctrine of “fair use,” a ruling has determined.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote made the decision on Monday, stating that the ABC host’s publication of the former representative’s videos falls into the lines of “fair use,” which clears him of any legal violations.
The ruling comes six months after Santos sued Kimmel in February, stating that the late night host and his “Jimmy Kimmel Live” production team fooled him into creating what he thought were legitimate video requests on Cameo.com — a platform that allows fans to connect with their favorite stars by paying to receive specialized video messages. The show ultimately used those fulfilled requests at Santos’ expense.
On June 7, Kimmel moved to have the suit dismissed, saying the videos were used in fair use. But Santos’ legal team previously argued that fair use doesn’t allow a person to mislead a Cameo creator into producing video that would subsequently be broadcast on television.
Here’s an example of one of the video requests Kimmel’s team asked of Santos:
“George, can you please congratulate my legally blind niece Julia on passing her driving test. They said she couldn’t do it — even shouldn’t, but she’s taught herself to be able to drive safely using her other senses. She’s not a quitter! That said, the day after she got her license, she got in a really bad car accident, so if you could also wish her a speedy recovery that would be amazing. She’s in a bodycast and is very bummed out — but with help from Jesus and President Trump, soon she will be back on the road!”
The legal document outlined the timeline of when Santos began receiving requests from several fake accounts between Dec. 4-7, 2023.
“Defendants created multiple Cameo accounts using fake names and submitted at least 14 requests for Cameo videos from Santos using these accounts,” the decision reads. “Santos created 14 videos in response. This litigation relates to defendants’ public use of five videos on ‘JKL.’”
The document continued by breaking down the agreements users and creators must acknowledge and accept with the use of the app and/or website: “By creating accounts on Cameo, Talent and Users agree to be bound by Cameo’s Terms of Service, which are incorporated by reference in the FAC. The Terms of Service provide that by creating an account, the account holder agrees ‘not to create a Site account using a false identity or providing false information.’ Under the Terms of Service, Users may request personalized videos from Talent and obtain a license to use those videos. Cameo offers two types of licenses: personal use licenses and commercial use licenses. A personal use license grants the User a license.”
Each of the five videos Kimmel’s team aired were subject to personal use license restriction. Santos created the Cameo account shortly after he was expelled from Congress on Dec. 1, 2023, over wire fraud charges. On top of his legal battle loss, Santos also pleaded guilty to a slew of federal charges on Monday, including wire fraud and money laundering in relation to his 13-count federal indictment. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February; the ex-politician faces two years in prison.
