Trademark Plaintiff Denied Infringement Damages

Rodgers v. Wright, 04 Civ. 01149 (RJH), NYLJ 1202484847172, at *1 (SDNY, Decided March 1, 2011)

Judge Holwell holds (1) plaintiff is not granted damages; (2) plaintiff is not granted attorneys' fees; and (3) the permanent injunction need not be modified.

Plaintiff Nile Rodgers, a founder of the music group Chic, brought the trademark infringement action against two singers who once performed as part of Chic, defendants Norma Jean Wright and Luci Martin. Rogers is the owner of a registered trademark in "Chic," and, along with his late partner Bernard Edwards, has exploited the mark in commerce continuously since 1977. Wright and Martin claimed no ownership of the mark, but had performed in the United States and abroad as "Ladies of Chic" and "Original First Ladies of Chic," and sometimes simply as "Chic." The Court previously found (1) that plaintiff's mark was protectable; (2) that defendants' uses of "Chic," "Ladies of Chic," and "Original First Ladies of Chic," were likely to cause confusion; (3) that defendants could not establish a fair use defense; and (4) that any relevant injunction should have extraterritorial effect. Thereafter, the Court permanently enjoined defendants and each of their agents, servants, employees, attorneys, and persons in active concert or participation with them from using or commercially exploiting the word "Chic" anywhere in the world, generally and specifically in connection with concert promotion, publicity, and performance; and also established other restrictions.

Plaintiff sought defendants' profits under Section 35 of the Lanham Act. The Court concluded that plaintiff had failed to establish that defendants acted with willful deception, and therefore that plaintiff was not entitled to an award of profits. "Having not presented any evidence of willfulness, and as it appears that defendants' actions were not willful, awarding damages in this case would be inappropriate."

Plaintiff also sought attorneys' fees. The Court denied the motion because plaintiff failed to show oppressive litigation tactics or bad faith.

Right Of Publicity In Washington State Hendrix Case

Experience Hendrix, LLC v. Hendrixlicensing.com, Ltd., No C09-285Z (W.D. Wash. Feb. 8, 2011). Decision here.

Washington State enacted a law that rights of publicity do not expire upon the death of the individual. Defendants distribute merchandise bearing Jimi Hendrix's likeness, accompanied with his name. If applied in the litigaiton, the statue would deem all rights to the use of Jimi Hendrix's name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness in plaintiff (as assignee of Hendrix's intestate heir). Such result would preclude defendants, absent plaintiff's consent, from commercially distributing images of Jimi Hendrix, at least in the State of Washington.

Although plaintiff sought to avoid the "constitutional thicket" concerning the Washington statute by not pleading a cause of action thereunder, the Court held that plaintiff's allegations implicate the right of publicity. Thus, plaintiff could not avoid "the fundamental issue in this case, namely whether [the statue] " had the effect of vesting in [plaintiff] any right of publicity relating to JImi Hendrix such that [plaintiff] may preclude defendants from trading in images of, or art created by, Jimi Hendrix."

In analyzing the constitutionality of the statute, the Court noted that the statute purports to govern whether a right of publicity exists, whether it continues post-mortem, and how it may be transferred during life and after death, regardless of where the particular individual or personality is or was domiciled. The Court held that the statute violated the Due Process and Full Faith and Credit clauses of the Constitution and consequently, under New York law, plaintiff had no publicity rights. The court stressed that the statute purports to govern advertising and fundraising activities everywhere. Also, under the Due Process Clause, to apply its own law, Washington must have a significant contact or significant aggregation of contacts, creating state interests, such that choice of its law is neither arbitrary nor fundamentally unfair. The Court held that applying Washington law to the issue of descendbility was arbitrary and unfair because the domicile at death has substantial relevant contacts.

The court also found that application of the Washington statute would cause forum shopping by having plaintiffs divert sales to Washington, and would require users of the rights (potential defendants) to attempt to restrict commercial activity to avoid application of the statute. Applying the domicile-at-death rule would avoid these problems and provide certainty.

Spanish Language Adapter Loses Suit Against Coke

Vergara Hermosilla v. Coca-Cola Co., No. 10-21418 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 23, 2011). Decision here.

Plaintiff was hired by Coca Cola to adapt a song into Spanish. Plaintiff requested an "adapter's share." During a telephone call with defendant, Plaintiff agreed to relinquish any copyright interest in the work. In an email later that day, Plaintiff wrote "For the adaptation, you may consider it a work for hire with no economic compensation to that respect. I believe what's legal is a dollar."

The Court granted Defendant's motion for summary judgment. Relying on section 204 of the Copyright Act, the Court held that Plaintiff's copyright interest -- the adapted lyrics -- was conveyed by a signed writing (the email). An irrevocable agreement was reached, so that later communications between the parties concerning a written contract that differed from the parties' agreement did not alter the parties' actual agreement. "Therefore, because Coca Cola cannot be sued based on a copyright interest it owns, Coca Cola is entitled to summary judgment on all counts."