Why Does Lego Get To Stop Spinal Tap From Using Lego Video?
from the answer:-no-good-reason dept
We recently wrote about the ridiculous job for lawyers making sure no unauthorized brands appear in a movie -- which doesn't have much of a legal basis. But, for some reason, companies back down on that sort of stuff all the time. The latest example involves the classic mockumentary band Spinal Tap, who is putting out a new DVD, where they thought (correctly) that it would be cool to include a fan-made video of one of their "hits," "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight." The video was made by a then 14-year-old and was a stop-action video involving a lego version of the band and its fans:Lego justified its stance by citing the "commercial" nature of the Spinal Tap video. But can Lego really prohibit the use of their products in commercial videos? If you ask the federal courts, the answer is likely "no." It's a lesson that Mattel has repeatedly had to learn the hard way.But, unfortunately, the people putting together the Spinal Tap DVD did, in fact, cave in, and the video has not been included.
But that hasn't stopped trademark and copyright owners from trying. The court summarily rejected Wham-O's claims against Paramount Pictures for the unflattering use of its Slip 'N Slide toy in the movie "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star." Caterpillar likewise had its claims against Walt Disney (relating to the portrayal of the brand in the oh-so-popular movie "George of the Jungle 2") shot down. Similar claims by Emerson Electric Co. (makers of the In-Sink-Erator garbage disposal) and the Canadian folk band the Wyrd Sisters also failed to go anywhere.
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Filed Under: copyright, dvd, fan video, lego, license, spinal tap
Companies: lego
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Time was
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Re: Time was
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Yeah, taking them is safe. Distributing them to interested parties in a way that would help promote a 3rd party's brand at no cost to them? That's apparently not allowed.
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Again, it is a two way street, you cannot dictate to a company how their will be marketed. They can't tell you what to do with the product, but they can control their brand and image.
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Actually, Lego has no right at all to control their image. Does Lego have the right to sue me because I spoke unfavorably of their product to my girlfriend? No.
This has nothing to do with Lego's trademarks or selling their product, it has to do with a homemade video that happens to include Lego products in it. Under your logic, should the fashion designers that designed the clothes people are wearing in the video have the right to bar the video from commercial consumption? After all, it might be implied that they support Spinal Tap, no? What about the factory that made the clothes? How about the carpet makers of the carpet in the video? The architect and builders of the house? The furniture makers of every chair and table that might be glimpsed?
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Which apparently results in them telling you what you can do with their product.
Fuck them. I'm going to do some really nasty things with legos, now.
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http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/f7112b01fb/ass-pennies-from-greatest-comedy-sketches
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Not at all - even the single freeze frame of the video is more than enough to see that the character is a lego character. A moron in a hurry might consider that Lego is somehow involved, and legally, that is probably enough all by itself.
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That's not how the courts & common sense has traditionally defined it. You're talking about a brain-dead idiot in a casket might consider that the Lego corporation is somehow directly involved. Just as that same person would think Smith & Wesson was somehow directly involved in a train robbery their guns were used in or used in a scene in a movie.
A moron in a hurry would guffaw and point at the funny little men dancin' & singin'.
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A moron in a hurry won't sit down and listen to Spinal Tap because he won't know what Spinal Tap is.
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Lego already made their money in this transaction. Someone purchased a Lego set that included Lego men. Lego made their financial transaction in this deal already. Now, someone else used their product, altered it, and made a video. Lego's dealings are done. They may WANT to protect their image because they don't LIKE some parts of the song, but that doesn't mean they have any LEGAL RIGHTS to sue for the stoppage of distribution of the video.
Can Ford stop Pizza Hut from allowing its delivery drivers to drive Ford cars & trucks because they don't want Ford associated with lazy people getting pizza delivered right to their door? Can one of the scale model companies that made a model kit used by George Lucas to build the Death Star sue Lucas because they don't want their Battleships associated with actual planetary destruction? Would Office Space had to have chosen a completely not real looking photocopier because Xerox didn't want to be associated with disgruntled employees?
What you're talking about with controlling brand & image is trademark, and they don't have a very compelling trademark violation. They just don't have the legal rights to do what they're doing. As a company that makes a physical product, how that product gets used, whether or not it gets recorded and used personally or commercially, is just out of their control. They've already sold that product, they've already made their financial transaction, they are done in the process.
A Lego box doesn't have a Terms of Service or Terms of Usage. And even if it did, it wouldn't mean that Lego has the legal rights that they claim on the box.
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By your logic, GM now can say that the scenes of Otto driving that Chevy need to be removed because GM:
"has the right to control their image. It could be implied from this video that [GM] supports [Otto the Nietzsche-quoting assassin]?"
When you say "it could be implied" what you fail to add, but you to implicitly suggest is: "it could be implied by a complete idiot with no common sense and no comprehension of the concept of fictional stories..."
By your logic, cars would seldom be seen in any movie, because to show a car, you would have to make sure the use of the car was conducive to the desired image and brand of the car maker. Bad guys, thus, would never be able to drive.
This line of thinking is stupid, but is apparently the direction we're going with respect to ownership and control of ideas.
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Don't be so down on yourself - I think it has potential and we should be encouraging it. If we can get all the mega corporations to sue and counter sue each other silly over movies, product placement (or lack of), spurious trademark infringement and god knows what else, it could work
By the time they've finished the most maniac of them will be dead in the water, the RIAA will no longer have any backers as they'll have been ground into the dust and we might all get some freedoms back
From now on we should all partake in more mind altering substances (so we can think more like entertainment lawyers) and report anything remotely odd to company shysters immediately
I'll even hire out and be a moron in a hurry for a fee
I'm off to do a Lego video of U2 performing a Disney High School musical cover, I might even start some Lego porn (although that would be more for kicks)
so little time...
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Mebbe it is, mebbe not. You don't find out until you've fought it out in court. Everyone is a winner, as long as they're lawyers.
Seriously, every time someone brings a suit like this and loses, they should forfeit a finger.
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Re: Time was
Be fair, it's not the only reason.
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Dead-on
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lego.
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They asked the Danish
There are hundreds of Lego videos on youtube. I fully expect that Lego are raking in the benefit from the publicity.
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Infact, so was this one! The only thing more retarded than Lego's response to this was that of the bands publicists for agreeing with them.
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IP in the physical world
There seems to be a groundswell of thinking among some corporations that their IP rights allow them to exercise some control over the use of the physical goods they produce.
No one questions the idea that purchasing a good transfers the ownership to you and, after purchase, it is yours to use as you see fit. What is getting muddied is when that purchased good appears on a video or picture then somehow the company's IP rights come back into play. The company's position seems to be that once on film, IP entitles the company to exercise control over the use of the product.
The whole thing is silly. The only time IP should come into question is if your filming of a product somehow confuses consumers.
For example, I buy a Ford truck. I can video my use of the vehicle in any way it suits me. What I cannot do is produce a video that appears to be commercial by the Ford Motor Company (confuses the consumer), claims that I make Ford Trucks (infringes on trademark), or claims my uses of the truck are endorsed by Ford Motor Company (confuses the consumer).
I might choose the film myself ramming my Ford truck into a tree but as long as a moron in a hurry wouldn't be misled into thinking Ford Motor Company endorsed slamming its products into a tree then there is no issue.
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anyways, it's unfortunate that they caved in...
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More like, fake bands have real pockets.
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Giving in
The reason companies cave so often, when they don't have to, is that the cost of the potential legal battle isn't worth it. Especially when they won't lose any money by just removing the offending video.
Would they win the legal battle? Probably, but they would spend a lot of money and time fighting it. So it is just easier to give in and do as Lego wants.
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Mike I think we have a new buzzterm/department...
http://techdirt.com/articles/20090706/0247425454.shtml
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my experience with lego's lawyers
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Re: my experience with lego's lawyers
Finish your book and put any plastic bricks and give the dimensions. Lego lost their court battle against the patent for the bricks because they are not the innovators of the brick design. Now any toy maker can make the blocks. I think they are greedy, pompous, jerks. Finish your book. You have a right to make money on your designs.
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pussies
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I think there's a new fetish brewing. C-hands ... 1 shoulder joint for up & down movement ... painted-on smile ... bends perfectly at the waist for the gang-bang scenes ... looks like the furry-craze for the 21st Century.
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SPAM
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legos
I guess I will just have to make a stop-motion video out of the much-cheaper 'mega blocks' and purchase and promote Lego's competition, instead.
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Re: legos
Reese's Pieces sales skyrocketed. Kinda makes you wonder how red the ass was of the executive for M&Ms after everyone in the company was done kicking it.
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legos
I guess I will just have to make a stop-motion video out of the much-cheaper 'mega blocks' and purchase and promote Lego's competition, instead.
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Re: legos
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legos
Have you ever noticed that it is still easier for many folks to build a big castle with those tiny lego blocks?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRDi67G0Siw
did anyone get clearance or even care that legos were in that video?
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