Playboy models sue strip clubs over use of their images

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It’s one thing to take your clothes off for Playboy — but quite another thing to be depicted as a stripper, a new Manhattan lawsuit charges.

Seven former Playboy Playmates and 18 other professional models filed suit in Manhattan Tuesday, saying their photos were “illegally” used in doctored ads for the popular clubs Lace, Stiletto and Diamond Club Gentleman’s Cabaret in New York and Jersey.

For example, the Stiletto Nanuet club altered a photo of Playboy model Brooke Taylor, 30, a “world-renowned model who has appeared in Playboy, FHM, Maxim and Stuff,” the federal suit says.

The ad shows the stunning blonde topless and clad in red wings and panties while shooting a bow and arrow, court papers say.

The nudie club tweeted the photo last year with the message: “Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us at Stiletto! Come grab yourself a girlfriend tonight.”

But the women’s lawyer, John Golaszewski, notes in the suit that “not only was this image altered to make it appear that Taylor was a stripper working at Stiletto, but the copy . . . also implies that patrons of Stiletto could come ‘grab’ Taylor and make her their ‘girlfriend.’ ”

Clothing designer Jessica Burciaga — who was crowned Playboy Playmate of the Month for February 2009 and dubbed Jennifer Lopez’s doppleganger — is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

She says she was used by Stiletto in an ad for a summer party at its Carlstadt, NJ, location.

The flier depicts Burciaga in a pink bikini top, giving a sultry stare.

It was also tweeted out by Stiletto Nanuet, even though she “has never been employed at any of the clubs [and] has never been hired to endorse any of the clubs,” court papers allege.

Photos of model Rachel Koren wearing a “sexually suggestive outfit” were used in at least two ads for the Diamond Club and Stiletto, the suit says.

She was misrepresented as being a stripper even though her résumé boasts appearances in the Steve Carell-Tina Fey comedy “Date Night” and a Midori liqueur advertising campaign alongside Kim Kardashian, documents state.

“Plaintiffs allege that any improper or unauthorized use of their images substantially injures their careers,” the suit says.

The women are seeking unspecified damages, as well as an injunction barring the clubs from using the images.

The defendants didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.

This article first appeared on NYPost.com.