• Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, May 19, 2009 11 AM

American Apparel will pay Woody Allen $5 million for using an image of the writer/director/actor dressed as a Hasidic Jew. Allen had sued for $10 in damages for unauthorized use of the image in an ad campaign.

The settlement was announced in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, where Allen filed suit last year. It generated publicity for the trendy Los Angeles-based clothing company, Nicholas Casey points out, which has cultivated a rep for provocative advertising.

Allen said he hoped the large settlement would discourage other advertisers from "doing this type of thing to myself and others"; the unrepentant American Apparel attorney says the retailer wanted to go to trial on First Amendment principles but its insurance company made it settle.

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