Though it was the last thing she intended to do when she sent out a campaign newsletter, a Garland candidate for the Texas House finds herself tangled up in a feud with actor William Shatner.

Texas House candidate Brandy Chambers (Facebook / Facebook)

Brandy K. Chambers' online newsletter that went out Thursday featured a photo of herself with the Star Trek legend that was taken at a comic-con event.

The photo is under a write-up of what Chambers, a Democrat running to unseat Republican Angie Chen Button, says she stands for as a candidate, including being a proponent of LGBT rights and gun regulations. She also vows to be herself, regardless of what anyone thinks of her.

"If you think a grown woman going to Comic-Con and getting geeked out when she sees Captain Kirk is not what you want in a leader, that's fine, too. I'll be the first to admit I'm not for everybody," Chambers says in the newsletter.

But when someone shared images of the newsletter with Shatner on Saturday, the actor was not pleased.

He tweeted at Chambers saying that the use of a convention photo in a political ad is "NOT ALLOWED. That implies endorsement which never will happen. Please remove my photo and destroy all copies of whatever this is immediately. Am I clear?"

.@WilliamShatner FYI - are you endorsing @winemind17 in her run for TX House 112? pic.twitter.com/TpEmxLByaI — Marcus Who? (@_MarcusWho_) February 17, 2018

Chambers, whose website biography says she is a labor and employment counsel, replied from her personal account, apologizing for offending Shatner. But she said it was clear that there was no endorsement and that she and the star do not know each other.

In another reply, she added that she's "sincerely sorry you don't stand for women's rights and education."

From Twitter exchange between Texas House candidate Brandy Chambers and Star Trek star William Shatner. (Twitter / Twitter)

Replies to the tweets came from those hoping for a showdown as well as others who aren't sure what the big deal is.

"It never was my intention to imply that he was endorsing me," Chambers said. "I thought it was very clear from the context of the photo that I was just trying to show I think highly of him and I'm going to be me, I'm going to [go to] comic-cons and if people have a problem with that, maybe I'm not your candidate."

She said she paid $60 or $80 for the photo at an event in Dallas last year. She doesn't remember signing any disclosures or waivers when she bought the photo and the autograph on it.

The situation "was pretty upsetting to me because I was like, 'Captain Kirk doesn't like me,'" Chambers said.

Shatner, whose initial tweet mentioned the Texas Ethics Commission Twitter account, also tweeted at Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the attorney general's office.

Neither had replied to Shatner's tweet by Tuesday evening.

Seana Willing, executive director of the Texas Ethics Commission, said the election code statute that relates to political advertising does not address the issue of using a celebrity's image in campaign materials.

@KenPaxtonTX does the @TXAG look into political brochures that use a person’s image as implied endorsements without permission? This person took a convention photo with me & is now using it in her campaign ads as if I know her & endorsing her. I never gave permission for its use. pic.twitter.com/j4nivxjIeI — William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) February 17, 2018

Chambers said the entire ordeal has been distracting and stressful. She has since deleted a tweet linking to the newsletter and said she won't be using the photo in another newsletter.

"If I were to ever talk about going to comic-cons again, I would make sure [it] said this is not an endorsement just to avoid this controversy," she said.

PUBLIC NOTICE: I used a photo that I paid for w/@WilliamShatner at a Comic-con in my newsletter talking about going to Comic-Cons. @WilliamShatner has NOT and WILL NOT endorse me. I apologize to him for the use of the image that I purchased. @winemind17 — Brandy K. Chambers (@BrandyforTexas) February 17, 2018

But was Chambers wrong to use her photo with Shatner in the first place?

Lawrence A. Waks, a lawyer who serves on the Texas State Bar's council for the Intellectual Property Section, said there are several legal issues at play when a photograph with a celebrity is used publicly: Has the photographer granted permission to use the image in that way? Does a campaign newsletter count as personal use?

While putting a framed photo of yourself with Steve Martin on your mantle is likely considered personal use, deciding to run for mayor and putting that photo in a newsletter would be another thing, said Waks, a Dallas-based partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP.

Celebrities have the legal right of publicity, which is the right to control the commercial use of someone's name, image or likeness, he said.

"There's a reason why a candidate would use a picture of themselves and a celebrity in a newsletter because it might imply to someone or a reasonable person ... [that] a celebrity does endorse or support that candidate," Waks said.

To avoid any issue, the candidate should make sure he or she has the rights to the photograph and a celebrity's permission to use the image, he said.

Waks pointed to a 2006 Texas case featuring New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

Brees, who grew up near Austin, asked his mother, attorney Mina Brees, to stop using his picture in campaign commercials when she was running for a spot on the Texas appeals court. The TV commercials had a photo of the football star in a San Diego Chargers uniform to emphasize his mother's ties to football.

Drew Brees said at the time that his mother was using him in a campaign despite him making it known that he did not want to be involved. Mina Brees, who died in 2009, said she had not anticipated upsetting her son and started airing new commercials that did not mention him.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CORRECTION, 9 a.m., Feb. 21, 2018: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Seana Willing is interim executive director of the Texas Ethics Commission. She is the executive director.