How To Be Funny And Not A Jerk In A Cease And Desist Notice, From The Doobie Brothers

from the zero-bucks-given dept

I've written about famed classic rock band The Doobie Brothers before. As a person who is very much a fan of the band's music, I was rather disappointed when they decided to go after a cover band, The Doobie Decimal System, over trademark infringement. Their argument was that the names would confuse the public as it is too similar to their own band's name and if you aren't already laughing out loud by now you most certainly should be. The legal team for the band went with some fairly standard messaging as well, rather than taking a softer approach.

Unlike, say, how The Doobie Brothers have decided to handle a copyright C&D with comedian Bill Murray.

Let's assume for the moment that the claims in the letter as to Murray's unauthorized use of the band's music are accurate. I have yet to see any response at all from Murray's side, never mind one that refutes the claim that he used The Doobie Brothers' music without a license. Because what should really standout in this C&D is how congenial and funny it comes across, rather than dropping legal nukes at every turn like so many other C&Ds.

In case you cannot read it, it includes lines such as:

The Doobie Brothers perform and recorded the song 'Listen To The Music', which Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers wrote. It's a fine song. I know you agree because you keep using it in ads for your Zero Hucks Given golf shirts. However, given that you haven't paid to use it, maybe you should change the company name to 'Zero Bucks Given'.

Not bad. But it gets better.

It seems like the only person who uses our clients' music without permission more than you do is Donald Trump.

Ooooh, topical comedy! It's like a Lewis Black bit! What else?

This is the part where I'm supposed to cite the United States Copyright Act, excoriate you for not complying with some subparagraph that I'm too lazy to look up and threaten you with eternal damnation for doing so. But you already earned that with those Garfield movies...

We'd almost be OK with it if the shirts weren't so damn ugly.

Self-deprecation coupled with witty barbs on a famed comedian for what were some truly awful career choices? Five stars all around!

In addition to being a funny example of a topic we cover here all the time, the real lesson in this is that just because there are legal rights at play doesn't mean you can't have some fun. Witty C&Ds like this, with a little basic human decency thrown in rather than explosive legal threats, are far too rare. Handling matters in this way are publicly endearing and, I imagine, likely to get a more positive response from the target of the letter than nuclear threats. Nicely done!

Filed Under: bill murray, copyright, doobie brothers, zero hucks given