The Dr. Oz Show Launches "IT'S NOT ME" Campaign To Inform And Warn Viewers About Rogue Marketers Engaging In Copyright Infringement And Illegal Use Of The Dr. Oz Name

NEW YORK, May 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The two-time Emmy® Award-winning, nationally syndicated hit daytime series The Dr. Oz Show is launching an aggressive campaign to fight copyright infringement and illegal use of the Dr. Oz name, image and show beginning Monday, May 6.

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In an effort to inform viewers and protect them from rogue vitamin and supplement company marketing campaigns that illegally use the Dr. Oz name, beginning May 6, Dr. Mehmet Oz will end each show with a disclaimer that reads:

"If you receive an e-mail or any kind of direct marketing claiming to be from me selling a product with my name, my image or the show's name, you need to know IT'S NOT ME!  I consider anyone that uses my name or my picture to try to sell you a product or supplement reckless and dangerous. They are undermining my credibility with you and the trust you place in me.  More importantly, it could be dangerous to your health. Please go to doctoroz.com/oz-watch to report if you receive any messages that use me to sell you anything. To see a list of our trusted partners, please go to Dr. Oz.com."

Over 11,000 complaints have been logged through the OzWatch portal on www.doctoroz.com, which is devoted to detecting and enforcing infringement.

"Today I am taking back my name and protecting my viewers from people I consider dangerous, who try to mislead you into buying products I don't endorse," said host Mehmet Oz, M.D. "Anything you see on this show is part of a conversation I am having with you about your health.  We are always transparent about our trusted, official partnerships and a full list of these partners is available on our website."

Over the past several years, ubiquitous banner ads featuring Dr. Oz endorsements have saturated the internet, embedded through sites like Facebook, Google, Amazon and YouTube targeting consumers with misleading advertising for products that may have been seen on the show.  Recently, e-mail spamming, targeted ads and robo-calling have all been reported by viewers. As a result, the first show of Season 4 in September 2012 addressed this issue and launched "OzWatch" on the doctoroz.com web site, where viewers could report violations and turn in e-mails they received.

The Dr. Oz Show has produced close to 700 shows in four seasons that bring new actionable information that the perpetrators can deploy immediately. Items mentioned on the 700 "The Dr. Oz Show's" produced over the past four seasons that have resulted in the largest organized fraudulent efforts include green coffee bean extract, raspberry ketones and garcinia cambogia.

About The Dr. Oz Show

The two-time Daytime Emmy® Award-winning The Dr. Oz Show, hosted by the two-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning host, Dr. Mehmet Oz, is now in its fourth season.  The Dr. Oz Show, which is currently seen in 118 countries worldwide, debuted domestically in 2009 with the biggest ratings in nine years in daytime television.

Dr. Oz, the world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, served as health expert on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" since 2004, sharing advice with viewers to help them live their best life from the inside out. Dr. Oz has co-authored six New York Times Best Sellers including "YOU: The Owner's Manual", "YOU: The Smart Patient", "YOU: On a Diet", "YOU: Staying Young", "YOU: Being Beautiful" and "YOU Having a Baby" as well as the award-winning "Healing from the Heart". He has a regular column in TIME Magazine and O The Oprah Magazine. 

Dr. Oz is vice-chair of the Department of Surgery and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University.  He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital and performs 100 heart operations annually. His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, complementary medicine and health care policy. He has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books and has received several patents.

Cleared in over 99% of the country, The Dr. Oz Show is co-produced by Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and distributed by SPT.  The Dr. Oz Show is executive produced by Mindy Borman and Amy Chiaro.  The show is filmed in front of a studio audience in Studio 6A in New York's legendary Rockefeller Center.

About Harpo Studios

Harpo Studios is the multi-award winning production company which creates original television programming for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, including the popular series "Oprah's Next Chapter," "Oprah's Master Class," "Oprah's Lifeclass," "Iyanla: Fix My Life," and the Emmy® Award-winning "Super Soul Sunday."  Oprah Winfrey's creative instincts inform the brand, co-producing the highly-rated syndicated talk shows "The Dr. Oz Show," "Dr. Phil," and "Rachael Ray."  For 25 years, Harpo produced the number-one-rated, award-winning "The Oprah Winfrey Show."  Harpo Print, LLC and Hearst Magazines publish the monthly O, The Oprah Magazine publication, while Harpo Films is dedicated to high-quality scripted dramatic programming, and Harpo Radio, Inc. produces Oprah Radio on Sirius XM Radio (XM Channel 111 and Sirius Channel 204).

About Sony Pictures Television

Sony Pictures Television (http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com), a Sony Pictures Entertainment company, is one of the television industry's leading content providers. It produces and distributes programming in every genre, around the world and for a multitude of platforms.  In addition to one of the industry's largest libraries of award-winning feature films, television shows and formats, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) boasts a current program slate that includes top-rated daytime dramas and game shows, landmark off-network series, original animated series and critically acclaimed primetime dramas, comedies and telefilms. SPT has 18 wholly-owned or joint venture production companies in 13 countries outside the U.S. and also maintains offices in 33 countries. SPT's worldwide television networks portfolio includes 124 channel feeds available in 159 countries, reaching more than 840 million households worldwide.  SPT also creates original content for and manages SPE's premium video website, Crackle. Additionally, SPT owns production company Embassy Row and is a part owner of cable channel Game Show Network (GSN), 3D channel 3net, premier horror/thriller website and VOD service FEARnet and national U.S media sales company ITN Networks, Inc.  SPT advertiser sales is one of the premier national advertising sales companies and handles the commercial inventory in SPT's syndicated series as well as in U.S. digital businesses including FEARnet, DrOz.com and PlayStation.

SOURCE The Dr. Oz Show