Trademarks in song lyrics

“Rum and Coca Cola” by the Andrews Sisters.

She Don’t Use Jelly” by the Flaming Lips mentions Vaseline.

Infringement occurs when:

  1. A use in commerce (the use of a term as an indicator of the origin of goods or services)
  2. Creates a likelihood of confusion among consumers
  3. As to the origin, sponsorship, affiliation, etc.
  4. With regard to a term in which a senior user has valid trademark interest

The use of a brand name in a song lyric is not a use in commerce (it doesn’t indicate the origin of any goods or services) so it doesn’t satisfy the first requirement. The Kinks weren’t using the term “Coca-Cola”'as the brand name of any goods or services it was offering to consumers.

Well, not lyrics, but at least two bands have been forced to change their names due to copyright concerns: The Comsat Angels (officially known as The C S Angels in the USA), and Green Jello (now Green Jelly, but with an umlaut over the Y so it’s still pronounced the same way).

Mercedes Boy by Pebbles (a kind of cereal) :smiley:

Aqua - Barbie Girl. Mattel even sued about it back then because the lyrics weren’t positive about their product.

Bump:

And so what’s the latest BBC policy regarding product placement? As many have pointed out there are a plethora of car songs out there, and have been for a couple of generations now.

Cole Porter’s *You’re the Top *mentions:

Bendel bonnet (famous hat store)
Mickey Mouse
Napoleon brandy
Arrow collar
Ovaltine
Roxy usher (Radio City Music Hall)

And several other possibilities

I didn’t think I could play until mention of Warren Zevon sparked my memory:

From “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me”: “She really worked me over good, sort of like a Waring blender…”
mmm

They no longer ban songs or TV shows that mention a product by name.

However, program makers at the BBC are strictly forbidden to accept any kind of payment for mentioning a particular product.