It’s Maxim, not MaXXXim!
Maxim magazine has filed a $5 million lawsuit against a modeling agency it says ripped off its name “in connection with a pornography website and business.”
In papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court, the men’s mag says the owners of Maxim Modeling are “improperly and misleadingly (using) the MAXIM trademark to solicit young women to pose for and/or appear in ‘softcore’ and ‘hardcore’ pornographic images and videos.”
While the magazine is known for racy photo shoots of models and celebrities, there’s a difference between sexy and smutty, the suit says.
The magazine “made a conscious decision and effort to avoid nudity, and in particular, any pornographic images in their magazine.” In its American editions, “neither nipples nor genitals (male or female) are shown,” the suit says.
“The term ‘Maxim Model’ has become synonymous with Maxim and with the type of women and photographs featured in Maxim — beautiful, fit women features in tasteful, attractive and nonpornographic photographs,” the suit says.
Maxim Modeling, meanwhile, offers models for “Boy/Girl, Boy/Boy/Girl, Boy/Girl/Girl, Girl/Girl” work — and for specific unprintable sex acts.
The company’s site offers prospective models between the ages of 18 and 55 the chance to “earn up to $2,000 per day” doing “adult acting/modeling.”
The modeling site also links to a companion site called Sin City Angels, which features revealing pictures of “real first-time models who have never posed nude on camera ever before,” as well as hardcore sex.
The magazine’s lawyer, Arthur Jacobs, said the knockoff is clearly trying to trade on Maxim’s reputation.
The suit notes that Maxim Modeling’s logo is in all caps, in a font that’s “virtually identical” to the one used by magazine, in an apparent bid to trick consumers into thinking they’re affiliated with each other.
The suit seeks a court order forcing Maxim Modeling to change its name, and over $5 million in damages.
A phone listing for Maxim Modeling was out of service, and the company’s owners could not be reached.
