I agree with mhendo, this lawsuit is idiotic. Spike Lee is being stupid and him getting a few actor buddies to say thy thought of him when they heard the name Spike TV means nothing. He doesn’t own the name Spike.
To use Marley23’s example, if someone created a network called Mike TV people might assume that it has something to do with Michael Jordan, but if the actual network has nothing to do with Micheal Jordan then what people assume doesn’t matter. If it were called Michael Jordan TV that’d be different.
The same thing with Spike TV. The fact that Spike is conceited enough to automatically assume the name Spike TV was somehow inspired by him is the real issue here and I for one hope he gets laughed out of court.
It’s absurd. He’s trying to take control over the word “Spike”?
BASEBALL PLAYER #1: Well, Jim, we’d better get dressed for the game.
BALLPLAYER #2: You bet. Got my jersey, pants, socks, and my spi… uh, my shoes with pointy things sticking out of the soles.
COP #1: Okay, we’re in position. The car full of bank robbers is coming this way!
COP #2: Let’s throw out the spi… uh, the strip with the pointy nails that will pop thier tires!
MOUNTAIN CLIMBER #1: Hey, Bill, I’m slipping a little here. Toss me another spi… uh, a metal sticky thing you can stick into an ice surface.
CLIMBER #2: You want what? A stick?
CLIMBER #1: No, I need a spi… damn, you know, a sticky thing! For sticking! It’s called the same thing as a famous black film director but I can’t use his name!
CLIMBER #2: You want a John Singleton?
CLIMBER #!: AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
IANAL, but I do work with product names and some copyright issues.
There’s no hard and fast rule about what constitutes “too similar”. The benchmark is basically how likely the average, reasonable person would be to think there was a connection between the two.
Michael Jordan Basketball Equipment - definitely
Spike Lee Film Production - definitely
Jordan’s Sports Eqipment - quite possibly
Spike Film Studios - iffy
Mike’s Sporting Equipment - not so likely
Lee’s Snack Cakes - very unlikely (but more likely to get sued by Sara Lee)
Spike & Mike’s Virus protection Software - none
Between the first two examples and the last one is a wide gray area with a lot of money at stake for both parties involved (if the judge orders you to change your product name, that’s one hell of an expensive branding campaign down the toilet) over what essentially comes down to a subjective judgment call. And that’s just for the name, there are also factors like logos, product content, etc. that have to be considered. If, for example, Spike & Mike’s uses a bald black guy riding a red bull while being filmed a black guy wearing glasses for their package logo, the chance of confusion goes way up.
So where does this case fall? Personally, I think it’s on the unlikely side, but a lot less absurd than a lot of people are making it out to be. He’s not trying to “take control” of the word Spike as in RickJay’s examples, he sees a company in a similar industry to his, using a name that’s very similar to his.
Question: rather than TNN, if BET (Black Entertainment Television) had changed it’s name to Spike, would the case seem so clear-cut and ridiculous?
Actually, what people assume does matter. In fact, it’s one of the things that matters most in a case of copyright infringement: does product A present itself in a manner similar enough to product B that the average, rational person could reasonably believe the two were connected?
If I start a network called Mike TV that shows nothing but nature films and televangelists, then Mr. Jordan’s lawyers wouldn’t have much of a case. If, on the other hand, Mike TV shows nothing but basketball, then Jordan would have a much stronger case that I was misleading (intentionally or unintentionally doesn’t matter, except for figuring punitive damages) viewers into thinking my network has his endorsement.
I have my own problems with Spike TV. Everytime my husband watches ST:TNG reruns, I don’t really pay attention. But then I’ll catch “blah blah blah SPIKE blah blah blah” and I’ll look up and think “Spike? Where’s Spike?” But Spike is never there. A little bit of my soul dies each time this happens…
Actually, it’s The National Network since they were bought a couple of years ago. Not that the programming has changed any, but they were trying to get away from the country music “stigma” that TNN had originated with.
I didn’t make the Spike TV/Spike Lee association either until this turned up in the news.
I could see his point if the channel used his image or likeness, or if their new logo said: Spike TV! A Viacom Joint. Or retooled their programming to go after an audience more in line with the demographic that goes to Spike Lee films, or even began to show much more programming that might be considered black-themed. Or if they aired his films and programs about them quite often, aired shows about the Knicks, and ran lots of Nike commercials. But I’m probably more media aware than the “average” viewer.
Are there really that many people associating his name with endless reruns of Baywatch and Jean Claude Van Damme movies? Frat House TV might be a better name.
Well yeah, obviously, but since I think it’s safe to assume that the soon to be former TNN isn’t gonna be showing any 24 hour Spike Lee movie marathons, then I think in this case what people assume really doesn’t matter.
Anyway, not everyone automatically thinks of Spike Lee when they hear the word Spike. I know I never made a connection between Lee and Spike TV before I heard about this lawsuit and I think it is safe to say the same is true for most people. Spike Lee is famous, but he isn’t that famous.
Oh, I agree with you on this, I don’t think that the connection is close enough for Lee to even have a decent case. I was just trying to point out that in an infringement case (I said copyright earlier, but this actually a question of trademark infringment. Sorry), what the lawyers argue over (and what the jury must decide) is exactly what the average person will assume. So it does matter in these cases, much more than what Spike Lee or the executives at Spike TV assume. In this case, I think most people would probably not assume any connection between the two, particularly given the type of programming that Spike TV is running.
Ah, but he’s a splendid dick. That said, if ol’ Spike manages to pull this one off, he’d have made a fucking conglomerate back down propietary use of a fucking nickname.
Yep. Luke Skywalker from 2 Live Crew. Probably justified in that case even though Luke is a super cool dude and he’d already had bad enough luck with the courts.
