The models claim a dozen clubs used their scantily-clad likenesses in ads without their permission.
Glamour models from around the U.S. and Great Britain are suing New Jersey strip clubs, alleging that the bar owners used the models' photos in ads without their permission.
The women have filed lawsuits against at least a dozen adult entertainment clubs in the state over the last four months, court records show.
They accuse the venues of "brazenly and repeatedly" using dozens of photos of the women -- often in bikinis or barely-there holiday-themed outfits -- on their social media pages to entice patrons. Among them is actress and model Carmen Electra, as well as many models who have appeared in men's magazines and on reality shows.
The latest spot hit with a suit is the only one that doesn't bill itself as a strip club. RolePlay Lounge of Atlantic City, currently closed and looking for a new location, describes itself as an "erotic couples playground" for those who want to drink, dance and swing with other people.
The suit claims that images like the one below of plaintiff Ina Schnitzer, known professionally as Jordan Carver, were posted on the club's Facebook page.
"None of the Plaintiffs has ever agreed, nor would they have agreed, to any use by Defendant of their images or likenesses to promote Defendant's business," California attorney Jonas P. Mann wrote in the suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court of New Jersey on behalf of seven models.
The civil complaint is nearly identical to ones filed by Mann's firm, Baron & Budd P.C., against the other 11 nightclubs in the state.
But the suits are not limited to New Jersey. Court records show Mann and other attorneys have filed civil complaints against strip joints all over the country, making similar claims on behalf of numerous models. News stories about the suits started popping up in 2015, including in Florida, Texas, and New York.
Whether the women will prevail remains to be seen. In several of the earliest cases in Florida, judges have denied clubs' motions to dismiss the suits, according to court records.
Mann argues that the women make their living by selling their likenesses to various companies and that the strip clubs' use of their images is"nfair competition and denies them of the compensation they are due.
The suits also claim that using the models' likenesses in connection with strip clubs damages their reputations and incorrectly implies that they endorse the clubs.
Mann included links to dozens of the images in the lawsuits, though some have been taken down from the strip clubs' social media pages.
In his first suit in the state, filed against the owner of Cheerleaders club in Gloucester City, Mann included screenshots he said proved the club posted the photos of three models on its Facebook page. They depicted Sara Underwood, a 2007 Playmate of the Year in Playboy; Cora Skinner, a Santa Monica, California model who has appeared in Maxim and Playboy; and Lucy Pinder, a British model who has been in FHM and on "Celebrity Big Brother."
This exhibit from the models' suit against Cheerleaders strip club purportedly shows a 2015 Facebook post that features a photo of plaintiff Lucy Pinder. In addition to Cheerleaders and the RolePlay Lounge, the strip clubs named in lawsuits include Sunrise Gentlemen's Club in Paterson, Taboo Men's Club in Linden, Satin Dolls in Lodi, Club 15 Gentlemen's Club in Lake Hopatcong, Pole Position Gentlemen's Club in Mays Landing, XXXV Gentlemen's Club in Sayreville, Looker's Gentlemen's Club in Elizabeth, Bare Den Adult Cabaret in Newton, and Sanctuary Gentlemen's Club and Kashmir Gentlemen's Club, both in Vineland.
The RolePlay Lounge has not answered the models' claims in court, and a message left for the lounge was not returned Monday.
However, in court papers seeking to dismiss the lawsuit against Taboo Men's Club owner Park Avenue Restaurant Group, the club asserts that women could not claim that using their images amounted to a false endorsement because the models are not well-known but simply a "pretty face" in an ad.
The photographs also did not include the models' names or any claims that they would be at the club, Taboo argued.
"A reasonable person would not see a posting for a gentlemen's [club] containing photos of women and be misled into thinking those same women would be at the establishment when the customers arrived, unless so stated," the motion said. "Such naivete shocks the conscience."
Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.