So, lets say I wanted to have a tag line exactly or similar to one found in a movie for a business. For instances, lets say I had a tag line that read “Hack the Planet”. Since that phrase was popularized in the movie Hackers, would I be in legal trouble? Could I somehow just pay a royalty and be fine? What if I meant it as a joke although I’d be using it in advertising; would that constitute satire?
Also, lets say I wanted to decorate company vehicles to mimic something in a movie. For instance, lets say I made all my company cars look like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. Can I do that? What if it were simply the color scheme and didn’t say Mystery Machine on it?
I guess my questions are related to advertising with culture references. The legal limit I can do this without fear of recourse. Any ideas?
The only real answer is “It Depends.” There are so many variables that you can’t state a general rule.
Now I’d say that “Hack the Planet” could probably be used without a legal problem, since it’s not likely the film trademarked the line (though they may have). If someone cared, they might be willing to settle.
Advertising isn’t protected speech, so the satire fair use exemption may or may not be allowed.
The Mystery Machine cars would probably be OK (without the name). I’m sure the Mystery Machine would be trademarked, but I don’t think the color scheme can be.
These are US Federal trademarks only - you might still be stealing a service mark or a trademark registered overseas. The latter won’t matter unless you plan to market your product or service overseas.
Wikipedia has an example of vehicles painted like the Mystery Machine and says that fans have done this. Hanna-Barbera has also shown something of a reluctance to be as vigorous as Disney at enforcing their intellectual property; in fact, ISTR at least one incident where they donated stuff to a pre-school that Disney had threatened to sue.
However, they may have a problem with the OP using their design for commercial use, since it could appear that H-B is endorsing his business, and leaving off “The Mystery Machine” may not be enough to defend against such a suit. AIUI from my communication law course, there may not need to be a formal trademark, since that design is so associated with Scooby Doo that the two are inseparable.
There are Mystery Machine toys, so it’s possible that the toy manufacturers have trademarked the design as well as the name.
Like **RealityChuck **said, it depends. as a common sense guideline, I’d say that anytime you get so close that an average person starts to connect your product/service to the original (in other words, “oh, I didn’t know there was a Scooby-Doo delivery service”) you’re skating on thin ice.
The primary goal of copyright is to encourage the production of original creative works, while the primary goal of trademark is to prevent confusion in the marketplace.
If you’re using borrowed imagery to promote your business, the key legal question is whether or not a consumer is likely to be misled. If your Mystery Machine vans are similar enough that the average person might resonably assume your business is connected to Scooby-Doo or Hanna-Barbera, then you’ve probably violated trademark.
