Charles Atlas VS DC; The winner: DC
Steven Rowe
(below snipped from Rutgers)
<<Jeffrey C. ``Doc'' Hogue, president, chief executive and owner of Charles
Atlas Ltd., said in an interview in his New Jersey office on Wednesday that
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald in New York had dismissed the suit
that his company filed in June 1999 against DC Comics.
Buchwald, in a decision reported on Wednesday by the New York Law Journal on
its Web site (http:/www.nylj.com), found that DC's use of the Atlas ad was a
parody entitled to protection as free speech under the First Amendment.
``We're considering an appeal,'' Hogue told Reuters. Attorneys for DC could not
be reached for comment.
The Atlas company accused DC of infringing on its trademark in a 1991 Doom
Patrol story titled ``Musclebound -- The Secret Origin of Flex Mentallo,'' the
Law Journal said. >>
Johanna Draper Carlson
> The Atlas company accused DC of infringing on its trademark in a 1991 Doom
> Patrol story titled ``Musclebound -- The Secret Origin of Flex Mentallo,'' the
> Law Journal said.
Well, now I suspect I know why the TPB was cancelled.
Johanna Draper Carlson joh...@comicsworthreading.com
Reviews of Comics Worth Reading -- http://www.comicsworthreading.com
Staff Writer, Comic Book Galaxy (Sep. 1) -- http://www.comicbookgalaxy.com
Mikel Midnight
Draper Carlson <joh...@comicsworthreading.com> wrote:
> > The Atlas company accused DC of infringing on its trademark in a 1991 Doom
> > Patrol story titled ``Musclebound -- The Secret Origin of Flex Mentallo,''
> > the Law Journal said.
>
> Well, now I suspect I know why the TPB was cancelled.
Damn! That's one of my favorite DP issues!
I wonder how much of a case they'll have ... if for no other reason
than that parodies of that ad have appeared all over the place for the
last several decade ... the DP issue is actually one of the more
oblique parodies.
--
_______________________________________________________________________________
"She always had a terrific sense of humor" Mikel Midnight
(Valerie Solonas, as described by her mother)
blak...@best.com
______________________________________http://www.best.com/~blaklion/comics.html
Kevin J. Maroney
>
>> The Atlas company accused DC of infringing on its trademark in a 1991 Doom
>> Patrol story titled ``Musclebound -- The Secret Origin of Flex Mentallo,'' the
>> Law Journal said.
>
>Well, now I suspect I know why the TPB was cancelled.
Morrison said so in his live chat Tuesday. Note, however, that _Flex
Mentallo_ was *not* named in the suit, only Flex's origin story in
_Doom Patrol_.
Now that the suit has been dismissed, perhaps the TPB will finally
come out.
--
Kevin J. Maroney | Unplugged Games | kmar...@ungames.com
"I'll be right here if you need me."--Flex Mentallo
Sten
SR> The Charles Atlas company lost a recent lawsuit against DC comics
SR> (below snipped from Rutgers)
My favorite snipped, from the New York Law Journal
<http://www.nylj.com/stories/00/08/083000a1.htm>:
NYLJ> The judge also concluded that the likelihood of confusion
NYLJ> between Atlas and DC was minimal, since the companies are not in
NYLJ> competition and because comic book readers are sophisticated
NYLJ> consumers who are easily able to distinguish the original from
NYLJ> the parody.
I' not sure that you could prove that comic readers are
"sophisticated consumers" by walking into your average comics shop,
but it's nice to be called that anyways. ;)
--
What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time
to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take
arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them.
-- Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787. ME 6:373, Papers 12:356
Johanna Draper Carlson
> Note, however, that _Flex Mentallo_ was *not* named in the suit, only
> Flex's origin story in _Doom Patrol_.
Given that one of the reasons for the dismissal was the statute of
limitations running out, that may be a good thing.
Mikel Midnight
<sh...@ca.metsci.com> wrote:
> Mikel Midnight wrote:
> > I wonder how much of a case they'll have ...
>
> Errr, none. The judge threw it out, said so in the post Johanna's
> replying to.
Er, yes, I realised that when I reread the original thread starter ...
but by that time I had already posted. Nevermind. It's *still* one of
my favorite DC stories.
Doug Tonks
>>>>>> Steven Rowe writes:
>
>SR> The Charles Atlas company lost a recent lawsuit against DC comics
>SR> (below snipped from Rutgers)
>
> My favorite snipped, from the New York Law Journal
><http://www.nylj.com/stories/00/08/083000a1.htm>:
>
>NYLJ> The judge also concluded that the likelihood of confusion
>NYLJ> between Atlas and DC was minimal, since the companies are not in
>NYLJ> competition and because comic book readers are sophisticated
>NYLJ> consumers who are easily able to distinguish the original from
>NYLJ> the parody.
>
> I' not sure that you could prove that comic readers are
>"sophisticated consumers" by walking into your average comics shop,
>but it's nice to be called that anyways. ;)
And it's a part of the law, now. It must be true!
--Doug Tonks
_____
Teaching AIDS--a book for parents and teachers
AIDS Prevention Education
http://www.mtsu.edu/~hytonks/aidsbook.html