Legal Dogfight Over 'Sammy And The City'
July 1 2012, Published 6:32 a.m. ET
It's not quite Katie Holmes vs. Tom Cruise, but it could be just as bitter a legal battle. A New York man has launched a lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend after she allegedly stole their online business about his cute little Pomeranian, Sammy, who has become an Internet sensation.
Scott Smith, his sister Jessica and Smith’s ex-girlfriend Anna Camara had come up with the fun idea to have the adorable caramel-colored canine give his “doggie views” on New York on a site called Sammy and the City.
Pictures of the seven-year-old pooch at various landmarks became so popular that it garnered 40,000 visitors a month to their website, 51,000 on Instagram, 8,500 Facebook fans and 3,000 followers on Twitter.
Smith and Camara initially continued to work together after their romance ended but then Anna attempted to trademark Sammy and the City in her name only. That's when the doggie wars began.
Scott Smith claims in papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court last week that Camara, 44, muzzled his involvement in the venture by stealing the passwords and online IDs to the various social networking sites and even stole his iPad so she could delete all the images before returning it to him with all the information changed so he no longer had access.
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He wants $500,000 in damages and has launched a replacement venture on Facebook called Sammy and the World.
“This is my dog, this is my project, and not one bit of it is in my name,” Smith, 43, told the New York Post.
“Anna’s a brilliant photographer; what she lacks is business ethics. This is one of the biggest atrocities that has ever happened to a family.”
Smith is also now setting up a new website – everybodylovessammy.com - which will show the pooch doing things like reading the Sunday papers, strolling around Central Park and cozying up to tourists like in the original venture.
Camara is denying the allegations.
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