Paris: President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, have won a lawsuit against Irish low-cost airline Ryanair, which was ordered to pay a total of USD 88,975 for an advertisement featuring a photo of the couple.

Sarkozy and Bruni filed separate lawsuits that were heard together in a court session in Paris, seeking damages for the carrier's use of the image for commercial purposes without permission.

Bruni, a former model turned singer, was awarded USD 88,974 - less than the USD 741,450 she had sought. Sarkozy asked for a symbolic one euro, which the court granted. Thierry Herzog, a lawyer for the couple, said Bruni had decided to donate the court award to Restos du Coeur - a network of charity soup kitchens well-known in France. Speaking to reporters, Herzog called the ruling "satisfactory" and noted "the effect of buzz," which carried word of the newspaper ad into cyberspace.
 
Airline spokesman Peter Sherrard also said the case had been "settled satisfactorily," and that Ryanair had offered to double-up by giving another euro60,000 to a charity of Sarkozy s choice "(i)n light of the extraordinary worldwide publicity generated by this single advert.

The advertisement, which appeared in Le Parisien newspaper on January 28,shows Sarkozy and Bruni gazing skyward, with a think bubble over Bruni s head reading, "With Ryanair, my whole family will be able to attend my wedding."

Ryanair said late last month that it had sent a written apology to the president with a promise not to publish the ad again and an offer to donate USD 7,400 to his favorite charity.

Source : PTI