Opinion ID: 781994
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Trademark Right In and Trademark Use of Parks' Name

Text: 58 Citing Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, Inc. v. Gentile Productions, 134 F.3d 749, 756 (6th Cir.1998), Defendants contend that Parks' § 43(a) claim must fail because they have made no trademark use of her name. However, Defendants misconceive the legal basis of a Lanham Act claim. It is not necessary for them to make a trademark use of Rosa Parks' name in order for her to have a cause of action for false advertising under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act. 59 Rosa Parks clearly has a property interest in her name akin to that of a person holding a trademark. It is beyond question that Parks is a celebrity. 3 The parties have stipulated to her international fame and to her prior authorization of television programs and books. We have already established, supra, that courts routinely recognize a property right in celebrity identity akin to that of a trademark holder under § 43(a). See, e.g., Landham, 227 F.3d at 626; Waits, 978 F.2d at 1110; Allen, 610 F.Supp. at 624-25. We find Parks' prior commercial activities and international recognition as a symbol of the civil rights movement endow her with a trademark interest in her name the same as if she were a famous actor or musician. 60 Therefore, even though Rosa Parks' name might not be eligible for registration as a trademark, and even though Defendants were not selling Rosa Parks-brand CD's, a viable cause of action also exists under § 43(a) if consumers falsely believed that Rosa Parks had sponsored or approved the song, or was somehow affiliated with the song or the album. We turn then to Defendants' second argument, that even if Parks could establish some likelihood of confusion, the First Amendment protects Defendants' choice of title.