Horse Race Announcer Sues Over Bill Murray Film That Included His Trademarked Tagline
from the quite-a-stretch dept
People's confusion as to what trademark law protects and doesn't protect is a source of neverending frustration for those of us who simply cannot stand the growth of ownership culture. There is this pervasive and growing sense by those who aren't particularly well informed that trademark law simply allows one to own a word or phrase to the exclusion of every other person's use. That, obviously, is not the case and it's always worth reiterating over and over again that the point of trademark law is to prevent the public from being misled as to the source of a good or service. And, yet, that baseline fact eludes far too many people.
Such as Dave Johnson, for instance. Johnson is a rather renowned announcer for horse racing, having spent time on the Illinois circuit and, more famously, calling races at Santa Anita Park. If you're a fan of the pony races, you may know his signature call even if you don't know his name: "And down the stretch they come!" Johnson trademarked the phrase in 2012. He also recently sued the Weinstein Co. over the 2014 Bill Murray film, St. Vincent, in which Murray uses the line.
In the federal lawsuit filed in New York, Johnson takes issue with Murray’s use of it in the film “St. Vincent.” In the movie, Murray plays a “retired grumpy alcoholic who gambles regularly on horse racing,” the suit states.
The suit alleges that by putting his words in the mouth of an “unsavory character,” the film “infringes, damages, blurs, tarnishes, and dilutes the mark and the rights and reputation of the mark’s creator and owner, Dave Johnson — an esteemed and accomplished gentleman who is a universally respected legend in sports broadcasting and entertainment.”
It's a lawsuit that seems ridiculous on its face. Trademarking the phrase doesn't somehow obliterate the First Amendment rights of a filmmaker, after all. And it seems painfully obvious that there is no potential customer confusion over which to be concerned. The tarnishment allegation is the only one that seems even remotely plausible, except that claiming a fictional character's use of the phrase in a creative work somehow tarnishes the mark or its creator in real life is much more of a stretch than would appear in any race Johnson might call. This feels like a pure money-grab. And not one that is likely to prevail.
Complicating this further is that Murray's character is a grumpy alcoholic gambler, not an announcer. All of which divorces the phrase from the claim that Murray's film somehow is trying to imitate Johnson in real life.
In other words, none of this makes sense and this suit should be dismissed upon request.
Filed Under: and down the stretch they come, bill murray, dave johnson, horse races, st. vincent, taglines, trademark
