Twilight Producers Sue To Stop Fashion Design Firm From Pointing Out That 'Bella' Wore Its Jacket
from the factual? dept
As recently mentioned, we've been seeing more and more "publicity rights" type claims, that seem pretty problematic from a basic free speech standpoint. Take, for example, this new lawsuit, filed by Summit Entertainment, the studio that produces the Twilight movies, against fashion designer B.B. Dakota. The backstory here is that, apparently, the character of "Bella" in the Twilight movies was supposed to wear a brown hoodie, but it didn't look right:'I was planning to use the brown hoodie for that sequence, but the director of photography hated the fact that her hair and the jacket were both brown and felt she got lost in it,'' says Chuck, who then made a last-minute run to outlet store Nordstrom Rack to hunt for a replacement. ''I literally brought that blue one on set just before they rolled cameras. Then Catherine said, 'Wendy saved the day!' That made me a hero.''Sensing an opportunity, B.B. Dakota reissued the jacket with an advertising campaign around the fact that it was worn by Bella in the movie. That's a factual statement. But, of course, Summit doesn't want anyone profiting from what it's done without paying them first, so it's suing. This isn't new for Summit, of course. It's sued to stop a documentary about the town where the Twilight movies take place, as well as shut down a Twilight fanzine. Now, to be fair, B.B. Dakota did rename the jacket the "Twilight Jacket." So, yes, it's clearly trying to capitalize on the association. But, it's a factual association. Why should that be illegal?
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Filed Under: bella, branding, facts, jackets, twilight
Companies: b.b. dakota, summit entertainment
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Isn't that what the movie did in using the jacket? Why is it a one way street?
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It probably isn't illegal and definitely should not be illegal
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When...
I got swatted when I was a kid for screaming, "MINE, MINE, MINE!" and not sharing.
Grow up people.
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As long as they don't make any claim to being officially endorsed there shouldn't even be a second thought to what they are doing.
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Last time I checked, capitalistic society isn't really buddy-buddy with other companies making millions of their idea. The way they see it - I'll sue you for selling sweatshirts, steal the idea, and sell them myself.
Sad but true, but remember, this is America!!
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But in a society where Ford and Toyota show up to ask Congress to bail out GM, maybe you can note that monopolies don't equal capitalism.
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When was it ever NOT focused on greed?
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When was it ever NOT focused on greed?"
Yes, right up until 1913 and the formation of the Federal Reserve.
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Google House
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If only clothes were copyrighted
Thankfully, I rented. The first five minutes were plenty of abuse for me.
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only one thing to do
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Licensing
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Re: Licensing
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Gee...
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Branding
What's not legitimate is Summit's claim that BB Dakota can't even mention that their jacket was worn by one of the characters in the movie. Selling the "Adventure Jacket" (or whatever it's previous brand name was) and then adding on a tag-line like "as worn by Bella in Twilight" is perfectly legal and doesn't violate anything actionable by Summit.
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get the original here
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Renaming
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well
Then I'd DMCA the hell out of the movie, have it stripped from the shelves/download sites until the offending scenes were completely removed (and not just photoshopped over).
Then I'd calculate the exact percentage of the movie the jacket there, claim people only went to watch that part of the movie FOR THE JACKET and demand that % of the movie's gross profits as compensation.
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next for summit
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then...
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