The actors who portrayed Norm and Cliff on the long-running TV sitcom Cheers have settled their lawsuit against Paramount Pictures over look-alike robots that the studio installed in airport theme bars.
The right-of-publicity lawsuit, which went back and forth between federal and appellate courts since 1993 and was denied a US Supreme Court hearing last year, was settled last week, according to Mr William Rintala, lawyer for Paramount.
Mr Rintala declined to comment on the terms, or how many rounds of beer it would buy George Wendt and John Ratzenberger. The two actors portrayed Norm and Cliff, loveable oafs who seemed to spend all of their time on bar stools in Cheers. The series also starred Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, Kirstie Alley and Kelsey Grammer.
Mr Wendt and Mr Ratzenberger alleged in their complaint that the studio and Host International, which operates the Cheers airport bars, violated their publicity rights by using their likenesses without their permission.
The actors cited a California state law that gives people exclusive control over the use of their own likenesses or voices for profit.
Paramount, which owns the intellectual property of Cheers, argued that federal copyright laws allowed them to create derivative products from the sitcom. The studio said actors hired to perform a role did not win legal rights to a character.
The actor John Thaw said yesterday that he was suffering from cancer but hopes to get back to work when he recovers.
The star of the TV crime drama Morse and the current TV series The Glass said that he and his wife, the actress Sheila Hancock, appreciated the support and understanding they had been given "but would now be very grateful if our privacy as a family could be respected , particularly during the period of my treatment and recovery".