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14 Ent. & Sports Law. 1 (1996-1997)

handle is hein.journals/entspl14 and id is 1 raw text is: PUBLICATION OF THE ABA FORUM ON THE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS INDUSTRIES VOLUME 14, NUMBER 1 * SPRING 1 996 Trademark Parody Unplugged JONATHAN ROY CELNIKER nicker, a humor magazine, published a mock ad for Michelob Oily beer. This led Anheuser-Busch, the owner of the trade- mark, to sue Snicker for trademark infringement and dilution. Snicker claimed that its Michelob Oily ad was an editorial satire and that Snicker therefore was not liable for trademark infringement. The Eighth Cir- cuit disagreed and held Snickerliable. Spy, another humor magazine, published Spy Notes, a takeoff on the famous Cliffs Notes book sum- maries. When Cliffs Notes sued for trademark dilution, Spy claimed that since its Spy Notes book product was a joke, it was not liable. The Second Circuit agreed and dismissed the action. The Hard Rock Cafe sells shirts and other mer- chandise with its logo printed on them. When a clothes designer marketed shirts with Hard Rain Cafe emblazoned on them, the Hard Rock Cafe sued for trademark infringement. The court reviewing the mat- ter held that, although the Hard Rain Cafe shirt was a parody of the Hard Rock Cafe logo, the unauthorized (continued on page 15) Illustration by Richard Laurent PUB3LICATION OF THE ADA FORUM ON THE ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS INDUSTRIES VOLUME 14, NUMBER 1 0 SPRING 1996