Coca-Cola, Nike, Reebok, Adidas, UPS, McDonalds, FedEx, Dairy Queen, Kodak. You may ask what these brands have in common. These brand names (and many others) represent registered trademarks. “That sounds expensive! How can I let the leading man in my movie drink a Pepsi and eat a slice of Dominos pizza for dinner? I’ll have to cover all the labels.” Unfortunately, that’s how most filmmakers think. The idea that producers must get permission and shell out more of their dwindling production budget to use every tag, sign or bulletin board in their film is not entirely true. This concept is a very misunderstood notion of trademark law.
The important part of a trademark is what the trademark stands for. A trademark represents the source: it identifies who made the products you are buying or who provided the services you are enjoying. So the big question remains, “Can I use someone else’s trademark in my film?”
The good news is that as a filmmaker, your right to include a trademark in your film is clear. You have the right to include the trademark in your film, as long as the trademark or the product bearing the trademark is used in the manner in which it was intended to be used without any consequence that its use is abnormal or unlawful. common. Therefore, as long as a filmmaker uses a trademark or logo in the manner in which it was intended to be used, and does not disparage or obscure the trademark or logo in his film, he may include such trademark or logo without asking permission to do so. Simple, right?
Like any other rule, there is always a caveat. You, as a filmmaker, have no right to commit commercial libel, even in the name of entertainment. Commercial libel occurs when a product or service is falsely accused of some bad attribute. For example, if you show someone in your movie eating a McDonald’s hamburger, that person immediately collapses because the food was poisonous, that would smear the trademark.
Another important question that comes up goes something like this: “So if I can use a trademark in my film in a non-defamatory way, why would I want to pay a license fee to clean it up?” While the law doesn’t require the filmmaker to get permission to use these items in movies or TV shows, there may be some good business reasons for doing so anyway. For example, broadcast television is an advertiser-supported medium. So, if you used Coca-Cola labels on every drink, and these drinks are prominently displayed on the TV screen, you have essentially given Coca-Cola free airtime.
I don’t think the network that carries your show is too excited about giving away free airtime. Also, as a filmmaker, you may create more than one film. By showing goodwill and possibly paying or asking for permission to use a trademark in your current film, the trademark owner may be willing to support or even finance a portion of your project (assuming, of course, that the trademark owner liked the use of your product or trademark). in the film). So while permission to use a logo or trademark may not always be necessary, it might make good business sense to get permission anyway.