Team identities in movies

[Mingjai]

To keep the trademark you have to defend it even if it makes you look bad to part of the public - otherwise your trademark is worthless.

While this is true, and changes in case law in the 1990s led to a number of basically tragic instances of good corporate citizens being punished with the loss of trademarks for not being suit-happy hosers, it is not that case that a trademark holder is obligated to sue the pants off of everyone who tiptoes up to their trademarks every single time. If the Giants take a pass on stopping this movie from using their trademark, no maker of pirated Giants jerseys is going to be able to point to the lack of action to defend their wrongdoing when NFL properties sues them for trademark violation. By allowing an artist to depict your team in a work of fiction, you do not risk letting your trademarks fall into the public domain.

It might be enough for the Giants to send a letter to the producers saying that the Giants consider the films' use of the trademarks to be trademark/copyright infringement, however given legal considerations (i.e., Free Speech and fair use) and business considerations (i.e., bad publicity), they have chosen not to litigate. This would seem to be enough to preserve their rights, because the law wants to punish those who sleep on their rights, rather than those who know their rights but choose not to litigate.

[BlueSky]

The whole trademark and 'trade dress' thing took me back to something I'd forgotten from my airline days. Does this look ok to you?

It's not.

Note that it's not just the color and placement of the stripes but the way they're cut off at an angle just forward of the engine - it's all trademarked by AA as part of their trade dress. There was some kind of cease and desist action and you'll see some of the later CDs have different colored stripes. As a company you're in a tough spot though because making too big a deal just calls more attention to it and you're unlikely to get much more than you spend pursuing it in court.

Personally I think that band is a bunch of sick ****s anyway but whatever.

[pcgd]

I heard "Giants" and movie and thought we might be talking about "The Fan 2: Rayburn's Revenge"

How bout that movie? MLB allows the use of its trademarks in a movie where a stalker fan poses as an umpire and then is about to pitch a knife to a star player while security does absolutely nothing so he can have his movie ending monologue...

Oh and the stalker also killed another player...

WTF?

However the Cardinals still wore red hats on the road in that movie and it made me realize how good it looks...

Now I've got to watch it again...

[gordie_delini]

Major League Baseball has been very generous to Hollywood in the use of its trademarks. The Major League movies, Angels in the Outfield, Little Big League, Field of Dreams, For the Love of the Game, The Rookie, The Fan (as previously mentioned) all had MLB officially licensed trademarks and unis. Just a what for there.

[Bmac]

Shoudn't Patton Oswalt be in a Jets movie scince Spence and Doug Heffernan love the Jets? Well, technically Spence doesn't love the Jets, Doug does, Spence and Deacon just watch with him.

[fiasco!]

The whole trademark and 'trade dress' thing took me back to something I'd forgotten from my airline days. Does this look ok to you?

It's not.

Note that it's not just the color and placement of the stripes but the way they're cut off at an angle just forward of the engine - it's all trademarked by AA as part of their trade dress. There was some kind of cease and desist action and you'll see some of the later CDs have different colored stripes. As a company you're in a tough spot though because making too big a deal just calls more attention to it and you're unlikely to get much more than you spend pursuing it in court.

Personally I think that band is a bunch of sick ****s anyway but whatever.

You think the Beastie Boys are a bunch of sick :censored:s? Wow. You really don't get out much, do you? You do realize that they put out a :censored:load of music in the past twenty years or so and are probably one of the most influential acts of their generation, no?

[oakland ehs]

Its interesting. But take Every Given Sunday as a film.

Sorry, I stopped reading there

[leopard88]

The whole trademark and 'trade dress' thing took me back to something I'd forgotten from my airline days. Does this look ok to you?

It's not.

Note that it's not just the color and placement of the stripes but the way they're cut off at an angle just forward of the engine - it's all trademarked by AA as part of their trade dress. There was some kind of cease and desist action and you'll see some of the later CDs have different colored stripes. As a company you're in a tough spot though because making too big a deal just calls more attention to it and you're unlikely to get much more than you spend pursuing it in court.

Personally I think that band is a bunch of sick ****s anyway but whatever.

You think the Beastie Boys are a bunch of sick :censored:s? Wow. You really don't get out much, do you? You do realize that they put out a :censored:load of music in the past twenty years or so and are probably one of the most influential acts of their generation, no?

I suspect it has to do with the imagery depicted above, but I'll leave it to BlueSky to confirm my assumption.

[Sc8b]

Shoudn't Patton Oswalt be in a Jets movie scince Spence and Doug Heffernan love the Jets? Well, technically Spence doesn't love the Jets, Doug does, Spence and Deacon just wathc with him.

Honestly, I watch King of Queens way too much and it's hard for me to not think of Spence's character when I see Oswalt. But the preview makes his acting look pretty believable. This is worth following both to see what the league does and how good the movie is.

[Discogod]

Hell, if the NBA had no problems with their trademarks being used in "Celtic Pride", "Eddie" and "Slam Dunk Ernest" then I can't see what the problem is here...

OK, I actually liked "Celtic Pride".....

[gosioux76]

Sorry to bring this topic back up again, but there's something about this not-needing-approval thing that baffles me.

Upon reading this discussion and seeing the image of the movie poster, I just assumed this film was making use of the Giants name but not its imagery. In my mind, that cleared them of any danger of violating trademarks and made their First Amendment argument logical.

Then I see the review of the film in the New York Times and the accompanying photos, which shows Patton Oswalt wearing an NFL-branded Giants jersey and actor Kevin Corrigan wearing a Giants late 80s-era Starter jacket.

link

I assume they would need league or team approval for use of branded apparel, no?

[Gothamite]

As would I.

Shame that he bought a knockoff Giants jersey. "Big fan," indeed.

[BallWonk]

I assume they would need league or team approval for use of branded apparel, no?

Why? Does the New York Times need to get league or team approval before it prints photographs showing fans wearing jerseys? Does Chris need to get league or team approval before he publishes images of a team's trademarks here?

Now, it's pretty obvious why most film and TV producers would err on the side of not getting sued into oblivion caution. But the rights of trademark holders are not absolute, and artistic depiction does enjoy some First Amendment protection even where trademarks are concerned.

[Bigboy1083]

Don't forget Sudden Death. Jean-Claude Van Damme fight the Penguins mascot, Tux. It also takes place during a game between the Penguins and the Black Hawks.

[Gothamite]

I assume they would need league or team approval for use of branded apparel, no?

Why? Does the New York Times need to get league or team approval before it prints photographs showing fans wearing jerseys? Does Chris need to get league or team approval before he publishes images of a team's trademarks here?

Yes. He does. Or at least, he has to remove them if the league requests it - check out his Premiership section.

[BallWonk]

I assume they would need league or team approval for use of branded apparel, no?

Why? Does the New York Times need to get league or team approval before it prints photographs showing fans wearing jerseys? Does Chris need to get league or team approval before he publishes images of a team's trademarks here?

Yes. He does. Or at least, he has to remove them if the league requests it - check out his Premiership section.

No, he doesn't "have to." He chooses to. Wisely. Because even though in point of fact he would stand a reasonable chance of winning any lawsuit that would result from his noncompliance with such a request, that would be a ruinously expensive suit for a normal person to contest. (At least in the United States; if anyone ever threatens to sue you in English court over a speech issue, you should comply, because you will probably lose. English law is positively medieval where free expression is concerned.) Anyway, more to the point would be the fact that Michael Moore did not ask permission to show all kinds of General Motors trade dress in his film Roger & Me, and yet GM did not lose its trademarks as a result of its tolerance of the unauthorized use of its trademarks.

Trademarks simply are not as magical as many people seem to believe, not even in this era of out-of-control IP protection.

[JQK]

Don't forget Sudden Death. Jean-Claude Van Damme fight the Penguins mascot, Tux.

He fought Iceburgh. Tux is Wilkes-Barre's mascot.

I actually went to the theater with my dad to see this movie. The highlight of the movie was seeing the Igloo open up...

[Evan]

Don't forget Sudden Death. Jean-Claude Van Damme fight the Penguins mascot, Tux.

He fought Iceburgh. Tux is Wilkes-Barre's mascot.

I actually went to the theater with my dad to see this movie. The highlight of the movie was seeing the Igloo open up...

Sudden Death was awesome. Powers Booth is a great villain. My second favorite Van Damme movie (so far).

[Cola]

This might not be on the same level or as important...but I noticed two South Carolina Gamecock stickers on the lockers in the movie Rudy. The room where the groundskeeper lets him crash in and gives him a key to. Also, in that new movie Paradise Island (?) one of the guys wears a Carolina cut off shirt the whole time.

Both of those are kind of odd to me.