B.J. Novak’s Face Is on Products Worldwide. He’s Not Sure Why.

Ad Blocker Detected

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

For the past few many years, any Swedes who procured a bottle of Calvin Klein’s Come upon cologne ended up almost certainly greeted by the piercing gaze of an American actor.

Exact same for any one who bought specific brand names of deal with paint in Uruguay, electric powered razors in China or knee-size ponchos in Europe.

One thing about the man’s familiar countenance enchanted product or service makers from about the globe, who selected his inventory graphic out of thousands and thousands to function on their packaging. But the male in the photograph, B.J. Novak, a 42-12 months-old actor most effective acknowledged for his position on “The Business office,” didn’t select to be the deal with of perfume or confront paint or ponchos.

Anyone else selected his photograph and then uploaded it “years ago” to a internet site where by it turned portion of the general public domain, he explained on Instagram on Monday.

Mr. Novak could not be achieved for even further comment by way of his associates. He is greatest known for his character from “The Place of work,” Ryan Howard, who rose from a considerably-abused temp to a company government for the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Business. Off digicam, Mr. Novak was a writer, director and govt producer for the hit U.S. sitcom, based on the British collection of the very same identify. He has absent on to other projects in film and tv, which includes “The Premise,” the Forex on Hulu anthology series.

Mr. Novak appeared to be taking his stock photograph fame with very good humor. On Instagram, wherever he posted the images of himself on various solution packages, he saved the visuals in a collection he named “modeling.”

Mr. Novak is in hallowed company, as stock photos like “Hide The Suffering Harold” and “distracted boyfriend” have been employed and reused all around the planet.

The actor Simu Liu has generally joked about the time he modeled for inventory visuals in 2014. He mentioned he was paid $120 to shoot the pics, which have considering the fact that appeared in every little thing from textbooks to Y.M.C.A. fliers. “That stock image shoot often finds a way to arrive back and haunt me LOL,” Mr. Liu said on Twitter in 2018.

Updated 

Oct. 27, 2021, 12:52 p.m. ET

Most probably, Mr. Novak has not produced any income off his photograph, as photos in the general public domain are free of charge to use. But Marc Misthal, a principal law firm at Gottlieb, Rackman & Reisman, a New York legislation firm, stated that, at the very least in the United States, Mr. Novak has a range of doable authorized options to go after — if he wants to.

His law firm can mail stop-and-desist letters to the firms that applied his image, or he can escalate the issue by suing the firms, explained Mr. Misthal, who specializes in copyright and trademark legislation.

On the other hand, Mr. Misthal stated he thinks the actor is much more most likely to pursue a scenario versus the businesses who produced dollars off the image than the individual who uploaded the picture to a public area web page.

“It’s definitely the reality that his experience or likeness is associated with a particular item, due to the fact they’re making use of his likeness in get to catch the attention of buyers and mainly make income,” Mr. Misthal said.

But, if Mr. Novak’s Instagram article on Monday is any sign, he has no programs to choose lawful action versus any person.

“I am as well amused to do anything about it,” he wrote.

He has identified about his double daily life as a “model” since at least 2014, when he posted a photograph on Instagram of his picture on cologne containers, exhibiting five sets of his eyeballs staring down Swedish shoppers.

He joked at the time, “I am #blessed to announce the launch of my fragrance, available now in a Swedish office retail outlet.”