Super Bowl LIII and the Right of Publicity
Super Bowl LIII will commence later today, and with it, some of the most anticipated advertising of the year as well. Most don’t think of it this way, but those advertisements often feature the Right of Publicity by way of the people depicted in the ads. My licensing company has an advertisement that will run during this Super Bowl as well–a campaign that has been running for a while featuring Major Taylor. Enjoy the game, and enjoy the advertisements!
Fox settles with Muhammad Ali Enterprises
The $30 million lawsuit filed by Muhammad Ali Enterprises against Fox, for a three minute promo ad that ran in advance of the 2017 Super Bowl. While Fox felt that the spot was protected, the problem with that theory is the spot had all of the hallmarks of an advertisement, and functioned as an advertisement over all else. Such uses are the kind the right of publicity is designed to address. And while a settlement is not a judicial interpretation, the fact that it settled would seem to confirm that Fox overstepped the bounds in this instance. Here’s a link to a prior entry when the suit was still pending: Muhammad Ali Ent. files $30M suit over Super Bowl ad
Muhammad Ali lawsuit against Fox for Super Bowl LI promo
Muhammad Ali’s representatives have filed a $30 million lawsuit on behalf of Muhammad Ali Enterprises (MAE) against Fox Broadcasting Company. The suit centers around a three minute promotional ad for Super Bowl LI which ran before the Super Bowl in 2017. The spot includes various other personalities, past and present, in addition to Ali who is the focal point.
Here is a link to the complaint:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4105801-Ali-Fox.html
Coach Vince Lombardi performs at Super Bowl XLVII half time show to begin Beyonce’s performance
Coach Lombardi won the first two Super Bowls, and now Vince Lombardi can add “performing at the Super Bowl half time show” to his list of Super Bowl milestones! In case you missed it (as one of only a few on the planet?), an extended audio sequence of Vince Lombardi speaking was featured at the very beginning of Beyonce’s Super Bowl XLVII half time performance. What a great business to be in.
Trademark, Right of Publicity and Super Bowl XLVII: HarBowl, Harbaugh Bowl, and Kaepernicking
The Super Bowl and the whirlwind of activities surrounding the big game never fail to deliver a season’s worth of intellectual property controversies.
This year, we have trademarks concerning San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, and 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick making headlines. A few years ago, it was Lindsay Lohan taking on the E*Trade babies: http://rightofpublicity.com/lindsay-lohan-and-the-etrade-milkaholic-baby Before that, a controversy emerged over certain kinds of viewing parties for the game: http://rightofpublicity.com/pdf/articles/ibjnfl.pdf
It didn’t take long for clever terms such as “Harbowl” and “Harbaugh Bowl” to circulate once the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, coached by John and Jim Harbaugh, respectively, were confirmed for Super Bowl XLVII. An Indiana resident had the same idea about a year ago when applying for a trademark registration on each of these terms. The terms took on added significance, of course, when the historic match-up of two brothers as head coaches squaring off against each other was confirmed for this year’s Super Bowl.
The NFL recently contacted the individual and urged him to abandon the marks, which the individual did. http://espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs/2012/story/_/id/8873809/2013-nfl-playoffs-nfl-pressures-fan-nix-harbowl-trademark When a trademark is applied for, the applicant must represent to the trademark office that the mark does not reference a living person, or that the applicant has that individual’s consent. Assuming the Harbaughs did not provide their consent to the individual’s trademark application last year, I believe this important safeguard represents one of the areas that the trademark could have been vulnerable.
The marks in question directly incorporate the last name of the Super Bowl coaches, Jim and John Harbaugh, but notice that they do not reference the NFL, the Ravens, the 49ers, or even the Super Bowl (directly, anyway). It would appear, then, that the persons or parties with standing to oppose these marks are Jim Harbaugh and John Harbaugh. But they probably have a few other matters to tend to at the moment.
Apparently the quarterback of the 49ers, Colin Kaepernick, has enough time to tend to a similar matter, as the NFL reports here: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000130278/article/colin-kaepernick-files-to-trademark-signature-pose
Colin Kaepernick has reportedly applied for a trademark for the word “Kaepernicking,” the instantly-popular reference to his touchdown celebration of flexing his arm and kissing his bicep. The NFL article on the above link makes the assumption that his trademark is for the gesture, and is rather critical of Kaepernick for seeking protection for a gesture which did not originate with Kaepernick. A critical but seemingly overlooked detail is that the trademark is for the term alone, which is based on his name. If Colin Kaepernick intends to use the term on products, as ownership of a trademark requires, then I expect he would have the right to secure this mark. It could be that the application is a defensive move to counteract infringing products and interlopers looking to cash in on Kaepernick’s rapid rise to stardom. Super Bowl XLVII will be only his tenth NFL start.
In all of the above examples, there also is a strong Right of Publicity element involved with the terms HarBowl, Harbaugh Bowl and Kaepernicking. Use of any of these terms without corresponding permission from Jim Harbaugh, John Harbaugh, or Colin Kaepernick would likely face Right of Publicity liability, as each of these Super Bowl XLVII competitors are unequivocally identifiable from the terms.
And we haven’t even seen the 2013 Super Bowl ads yet.