Dats’ a fake: NHL star sues adventurous souvenir seller

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Published time: February 05, 2013 22:47
Edited time: February 06, 2013 02:47

The NHL’s Detroit Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk is suing an American firm for selling hockey jerseys and other clothing containing his likeness without his permission.

A right of publicity lawsuit has been filed against Terrance Sullivan, the manufacturer of Pasha LLC and Pasha Sportwear brands.

It is claimed in the suit that Sullivan has been making and marketing Datsyuk-related products since at least early 2012, including red-and-white shirts with his Russian hypocorism "Pasha" and "13" – his changeless number at the Red Wings.

An unauthorized Datsyuk Facebook page offered, among other products, a T-shirt that read "moves like Datsyuk" — a rehash of the popular song "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5.

The first hearing, aimed at determining why Oakland Circuit Judge Martha D. Anderson should not make the action a permanent injunction, is scheduled for Wednesday.

"Pavel Datsyuk is more focused right now on playing hockey this season and bringing the Stanley Cup back to Detroit," the Detroit News quote his attorney Mahesh Nayak as saying. "But this is serious and we have to put a stop to it. This is confusing to his fans and damaging to him personally."

Datsyuk, 34, a two-time Stanley Cup winner, is considered one of the best two-way forwards in the NHL, having earned the fans’ esteem for his second-to-none techniques.