We posted about this case two years ago, not long after it first arose. Here’s a quick summary from the original complaint:
Using pseudonyms, Jimmy Kimmel allegedly created fourteen fake Cameo user accounts and solicited different personal videos from former Member of Congress George Santos (below) for those fake accounts. Mr. Santos claims to have provided videos for these accounts, subject to licenses for personal use. Mr. Kimmel then broadcast five videos on his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, and on various social media accounts in a segment he called “Will Santos Say It?.” The answer, in every case is yes.
Mr. Santos filed suit in Santos v. Kimmel in February, alleging copyright infringement, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. The Complaint concedes that Cameo users can request videos licensed for personal or business purposes. However, Mr. Santos claims, neither license permits the national broadcast of the videos.
The District Court found no liability on the copyright claim under the “fair use” doctrine, and it found that Mr. Santos’s remaining allegations failed to state a claim for a violation of state law. Back in September, 2025, in Santos v. Kimmel, the Second Circuit affirmed.
Fair use is a flexible concept. One consideration is whether the allegedly infringing use is “transformative,” that is, whether it adds something new, with a further purpose or different character. In this case, Mr. Kimmel said he did add a new purpose, which was “to comment on the willingness of Santos . . . to say absurd things for money.” Mr. Santos countered that he also had that purpose in making the Cameo recordings, but the Court found that a reasonable observer might conclude that Mr. Santos’s intention was to express “feelings of hope, strength, perseverance, encouragement, and positivity.” Nor did Mr. Kimmel’s allegedly infringing use usurp the market for Mr. Santos’s original publication.
Mr. Santos’s contract claims were arguably preempted by the Copyright Act, but the Court also found that they failed to state a claim. It appears that Mr. Santos is arguing that Mr. Kimmel violated Cameo’s Terms of Service (ToS). However, Mr. Santos is neither a party to those ToS nor a third-party beneficiary of their relevant terms, and under governing Illinois law, it takes an express statement to overcome the presumption against third-party beneficiaries to terms of service. Here, some portions of the ToS do create third-party beneficiary rights, so the parties knew how to do so when they so intended. New York law governs Mr. Santos’s claim that Mr. Kimmel breached an implied contract, but Mr. Santos has not alleged any implied agreement that Mr. Kimmel would abide by the ToS.
So things did not go so well for Mr. Santos, but at least the Court identified him as a Former Congressman. It could have identified him as Wikipedia does: “He is the sixth member of the House to be expelled, the only Republican, and the only member expelled without first being convicted of a federal crime or having supported the Confederacy.” But he is also a convicted felon, having pled guilty in August 2024 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Although he was sentenced to 87 months in prison, he served less than four before the President commuted his sentence and for some reason also forgave his fines. But that happened after the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of his claims against Mr. Kimmel.
Mr. Santos continues to make news, and it’s not congressional. As Joseph Gedeon reports for The Guardian, Mr. Santos made money on Kalshi, the prediction market platform by promising to attend the President’s State of the Union Address in 2026, “predicting” that he would not attend, and then not attending. Citing Mr. Santos refusal to cooperate in Kalshi’s investigation into the matter, Mr. Santos became the first person to receive a lifetime ban from Kalshi. The company also imposed a fine of over $70,000. In addition, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) found Mr. Santos’s conduct to constitute market manipulation. Mr. Santos settled the action with the CFTC, agreement to pay $35,000 and to a three-year ban from trading on any platform.
Mr. Santos admitted to no wrongdoing. Does he even need to at this point? The man can barely introduce himself without lying about something. Mr. Santos is now reportedly working hard on Cameo to pay down $800,000 in campaign debts. He says that he has no plan to run for office again in the next ten years. But in three years, I predict that he will announce that he has changed his mind and form an exploratory committee, then go on Polymarket betting that he won’t run. Imagine the killing he will make there!
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