Publicity II
Intro to IP – Prof Merges
4.21.09
Course evaluations
• https://www.law.berkeley.edu/1980.htm
• Open until 5/1/09
Moe Howard was born on June 19, 1897, in Bensonhurst,
New York, a small Jewish community on the outskirts of
Brooklyn. Moe's real name was Moses Horwitz. Moe's
mother's name was Jennie Horwitz, and his father was
clothing cutter Solomon Horwitz.
Curly Howard's real name was Jerome Lester Horwitz. He
was born to Jenny and Solomon Horwitz on October 22,
1903, the fifth and youngest of the five Horwitz brothers.
Larry Fine was born Louis Fienberg on October 5, 1902 on
the south side of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father,
Joseph Fienberg, and mother Fanny Lieberman, owned a
watch repair and jewelry shop.
Gary Saderup wants his audience to "see into the
hearts" of his subjects. If you look into the eyes
of his works, you can see just that. At age five,
Gary began art lessons and continued his
drawing throughout childhood. Building on his
multifaceted abilities, he majored in illustration
and film while attending the Art Center College
of Design in Pasadena, California.
• C3 Entertainment, Inc.’s Licensing Division is charged with the
responsibility of managing the licensing and merchandise program
for The Three Stooges. We accomplish this through the pursuit of
the right commercial opportunities that properly preserve the
integrity of The Three Stooges while maintaining desired branding
and positioning for The Three Stooges.
We devote personalized attention to each of our nearly 100
licensees and we are sensitive to the unique situations and
financial goals of each. Years of experience combined with a true
sense of support and responsiveness for our licensees distinguish
C3’s licensing team as one of the best in the industry.
Contact us today and let us explore together how we can develop
mutually beneficial merchandising and licensing programs.
• -- http://www.c3entertainment.com/licensing.asp
Comedy III v. Gary Saderup
• Facts
• Doctrine
• Theory
Facts
• Lithographs (prints)
• T-shirts
• Based on original charcoal drawing
State by state variation
• California, NY, Tennessee
• Indiana: center for publicity licensing
“Unfortunately morality appears to be a waning
rule of conduct today, almost an endangered
species, in this uneasy and tortured society of
ours: a society in which sadism and violence are
highly visible and often accepted commodities, a
society in which guns are freely available and
energy is scarce, a society in which reason is
suspect and emotion is king. Thus with a feeling
of futility I recognize the melancholy truth that
the anticipated dawn of enlightenment does not
seem destined to appear soon.”
Advertising v. Expressive Works
• Advertising is “commercial speech,” subject
to lower level of protection than other
speech, including expressive works
• Supreme Court caselaw
Cal Civil Code 3344.1
• “Name, voice, signature, photograph or
likeness”
• “on or in products, [or for] advertising . . .
Products”
• Holder of rights: sub. B – by will or contract;
(d) by statutory descent
• Duration: 50 years after death
• Note “class voting” rules
• Moe and Larry died in 1975, Curly in 1952
• What is the remaining term of protection in
California?
• "Saderup's lithographic prints of The Three
Stooges are themselves tangible personal
property, consisting of paper and ink, made
as products to be sold and displayed on walls
like similar graphic art."
• If all graphic art is the relevant "product,"
then any reproduced likeness of the celebrity
is prima facie infringing
• Must look for a statutory or First Amendment
defense
Defemation
• Public figures vs. “ordinary people”
• Gertz v. Welch
• Actual malice/reckless disregard for truth
Prior restraint
• Injunctions in 1st Amendment cases
• Heavily disfavored
– National security, one of the few exceptions
Primary distinctions
• Andy Warhol's silk-screen prints of Marilyn
Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley:
okay under the “transformative” test
• But Saderup’s prints are not
– Justification?