Non-profit Responds To Threatened Lawsuit From Ferrari By 'Remaking' Video To Hide The Ferrari

from the but-solidar-hits-back dept

Qûr Tharkasdóttir writes in to let us know that luxury automobile maker Ferrari is allegedly threatening to sue Swiss NGO Solidar (actually a network of NGOs focused on social justice) for daring to use a Ferrari in their recent commercial that appears to be making fun of rich bankers. The original is here (for now, at least):
In response, Solidar has released an updated version of the commercial in which, they've made a small change. See if you can spot it:
Just in case you can't see the videos, here are two screenshots. First from the original video:
And here's the "new" version. You might spot the change.
You'd think that a brand like Ferrari would know better than to threaten a group focused on increasing social justice around the globe. There's no way that argument ends well for Ferrari -- even if they "win."
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: ngo, threats, trademark
Companies: ferrari, solidar


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:11pm

    They should add...

    "Computer graphics courtesy of" followed by the Ferrari logo. Since it's not for commerce, with no chance of confusion, trademark wouldn't apply. And I know they don't have fair use doctrine over there but it would pretty clearly be commentary too.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:59pm

      Re: They should add...

      Yeah I was expecting it to be a big black block that said "not a ferrari"

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    S. T. Stone, 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:14pm

    Ha ha, excellent move on the NGO’s part.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Yakko Warner (profile), 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:16pm

    Where's the funny button for articles?

    That's some funny stuff right there.

    Although they could've highlighted the offending party by making the caption read "Car obscured due to legal claim by Ferrari S.p.A."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    McCrea (profile), 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:24pm

    Switch it to a Lamborghini. I'm sure one of the companies accept the stigma of their products.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Qûr Tharkasdóttir (profile), 25 Feb 2013 @ 1:21pm

      Lamborghini

      You bet. If I remember well, it was Lamborghini's boss that forced one of their workers to get rid of that Lamborghini he'd bought used.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:29pm

    The idea of combining trademark, copyright and patent under the umbrella term of intellectual property induces stupidity in those who think that they own it. They think its ours, and therefore we decide where it can be used.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:33pm

    IP Culture

    What would movies and TV shows look like if showing cars on screen required permission from each car's maker? Sure, it's ridiculous, but we've pushed intellectual property law to ridiculous extremes elsewhere, so why not here?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      PaulT (profile), 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:43pm

      Re: IP Culture

      A lot of productions already make a chunk of their budget from product placement, including cars (the Bond franchise, for example). I wouldn't be surprised if they started trying the opposite - one of our cars is seen in a film we didn't pay for and we think gives the car a negative image? Bring on the lawyers!

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2013 @ 3:50am

        Re: Re: IP Culture

        unfortunately, that does happen- it's why if a brand name s mentioned in a TV show, it's probably product placement.

        link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 19 Mar 2013 @ 3:47am

      Re: IP Culture

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:39pm

    Perhaps I missed something, but I did not find a link to the alleged threat.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:50pm

    Looks like Swiss NGO Solidar hired the Olympics committee to come in and cover up the name brand in question no?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    ahow628 (profile), 25 Feb 2013 @ 12:54pm

    HDR

    Wow, that HDR filter really makes all the difference in the world.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mr. Applegate, 25 Feb 2013 @ 1:43pm

    Actually, could be a brilliant move

    Ferrari having seen the Streisand effect and knowing that there is no Such Thing As Bad Publicity, just got a bunch of free press.

    The over paid bankers will love it.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2013 @ 2:06pm

      Re: Actually, could be a brilliant move

      Come to think of it, there probably IS a lot of overlap between "people who can afford luxury cars" and "people who enjoy abusing intellectual property law".

      I wonder if we're going to start seeing yacht advertisements featuring public libraries being burned down?

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    cryptozoologist (profile), 25 Feb 2013 @ 2:40pm

    that settles it...

    i will not be buying a ferrari anytime soon

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Mr. Smarta** (profile), 25 Feb 2013 @ 3:01pm

    Not a Ferrari logo, me thinks.

    Looking at the video, the logo on the front of the car doesn't look exactly like a Ferrari logo. I zoomed in really close, and I could swear it reads either "RIAA" or "MPAA". Not sure. Can anyone else verify?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Tex Arcana (profile), 26 Feb 2013 @ 11:37am

      Re: Not a Ferrari logo, me thinks.

      No no no no no, you have it all wrong!! It's the legal team's logo, and it reads thusly:

      Avv. Santa Ricci
      Avv. Gabriele Consiglio
      Avv. Paolo Lazzarino
      Avv. Gianluca Massimei

      FERRARI S.p.A.
      clo NCTM Studio Legale Associato
      Via Bissolati, n. 76
      00187 Rome (Italy)

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 24 Sep 2016 @ 6:46pm

    Go ferrari - sue these idiots!

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.