For the record, Darius Rucker does not recommend acai berries.

The lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish was recently featured in a series of Web ads in which a woman claimed to have lost weight by eating the berries at his recommendation. Before and after photos allegedly showed her weight loss.

Gus Gusler, a Raleigh attorney who represents Rucker, tracked down the advertisers and e-mailed them a cease-and-desist letter. The ads were taken down within 15 minutes.

"Darius has never used it. He knew nothing about it. He didn't know the girl in the picture," Gusler said. "But they were trying to use his name."

Because the ad was online, Gusler was able to cite other state laws prohibiting the use of a person's image without their consent to sell a product, but North Carolina does not have a so-called "right of publicity."

Two bills filed in recent weeks would create such a law. Nineteen other states, including California, Florida and New York, have an existing law, while 11 states recognize the right under common law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.