Opinion ID: 782341
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Lanham Act False Endorsement Claim

Text: 39 The district court did not specifically discuss ETW's false endorsement claim in granting summary judgment to Jireh. The gist of the false endorsement claim is that the presence of Woods's image in Jireh's print implies that he has endorsed Jireh's product. See McCarthy, The Rights of Publicity and Privacy, § 5:30 (2d ed.2000)(hereinafter McCarthy on Publicity and Privacy). Courts have recognized false endorsement claims under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act where a celebrity's image or persona is used in association with a product so as to imply that the celebrity endorses the product. 40 False endorsement occurs when a celebrity's identity is connected with a product or service in such a way that consumers are likely to be misled about the celebrity's sponsorship or approval of the product or service. See, e.g., Wendt v. Host Int'l, Inc., 125 F.3d 806 (9th Cir.1997)(animatronic robotic figures resembling actors in Cheers television program used to advertise chain of airport bars modeled on Cheers set); Abdul-Jabbar v. General Motors Corp., 85 F.3d 407 (9th Cir.1996)(athlete's name and accomplishments used in television advertisement for Oldsmobile automobiles); Waits v. Frito-Lay, Inc., 978 F.2d 1093 (9th Cir.1992)(imitation of singer's unique voice used in radio commercial advertising Dorito Chips); White v. Samsung Electronics America, Inc., 971 F.2d 1395 (9th Cir.1992)(female robot bearing resemblance to television celebrity, Vanna White, turning letters in what appeared to be the Wheel of Fortune game show set in television commercial advertising electronics products); Allen v. National Video, Inc., 610 F.Supp. 612 (S.D.N.Y.1985)(photograph of Woody Allen look-alike in national advertising campaign for video club). 41 In Landham v. Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., 227 F.3d 619, 626 (6th Cir.2000), we noted: 42 A false designation of origin claim brought by an entertainer under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act in a case such as this is equivalent to a false association or endorsement claim, see Waits, 978 F.2d at 1110, and the mark at issue is the plaintiff's identity. See White, 971 F.2d at 1399-1400. 43 Id. at 626. 44 In the ordinary false endorsement claim, the controlling issue is likelihood of confusion. This court has formulated an eight-factor test to determine the likelihood of confusion. See Landham, 227 F.3d at 626; Wynn Oil Co. v. Thomas, 839 F.2d 1183, 1186 (6th Cir.1988). However, for the reasons discussed below, we conclude that where the defendant has articulated a colorable claim that the use of a celebrity's identity is protected by the First Amendment, the likelihood of confusion test is not appropriate because it fails to adequately consider the interests protected by the First Amendment. 45 In Rogers v. Grimaldi, 875 F.2d 994 (2nd Cir.1989), Ginger Rogers, the surviving member of one of the most famous duos in show business history, brought suit against the producers and distributors of a movie entitled Ginger and Fred. The film was not about Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, but about two fictional Italian cabaret performers who imitated Rogers and Astaire and became known in Italy as Ginger and Fred. Rogers asserted claims under § 43(a) of the Lanham Act. The Second Circuit began its analysis by noting that [m]ovies, plays, books, and songs are all indisputably works of artistic expression and deserve protection. Id. at 997. The court concluded that [b]ecause overextension of Lanham Act restrictions in the area of titles might intrude on First Amendment values, we must construe the Act narrowly to avoid such a conflict. Id. at 998. 46 The Second Circuit court rejected Rogers' argument that First Amendment concerns are implicated only where the author has no alternative means of expression. Her argument was based on Lloyd Corp. v. Tanner, 407 U.S. 551, 566-67, 92 S.Ct. 2219, 33 L.Ed.2d 131 (1972), where the Supreme Court held that respondents had no First Amendment right to distribute handbills in the interior mall area of petitioner's privately-owned shopping center, noting that respondents had adequate alternative means of communication. Noting that this test had been applied by several courts in the trademark context, the Rogers court rejected the no alternative means test because it does not sufficiently accommodate the public's interest in free expression[.] 875 F.2d at 999. The court concluded: We believe that in general the Act should be construed to apply to artistic works only where the public interest in avoiding consumer confusion outweighs the public interest in free expression. In the context of allegedly misleading titles using a celebrity's name, that balance will normally not support application of the Act unless the title has no artistic relevance to the underlying work whatsoever, or, if it has some artistic relevance, unless the title explicitly misleads as to the source or the content of the work. 47 Id. 48 Although Rogers produced some evidence of consumer confusion, the court found: 49 The survey evidence, even if its validity is assumed, indicates at most that some members of the public would draw the incorrect inference that Rogers had some involvement with the film. But that risk of misunderstanding, not engendered by any overt claim in the title, is so outweighed by the interests in artistic expression as to preclude application of the Lanham Act. 50 Id. at 1001. The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's decision granting summary judgment to the defendants. 9 51 In Cliffs Notes, Inc. v. Bantam Doubleday Dell Pub. Group, Inc., 886 F.2d 490, 495 (2nd Cir.1989), the Second Circuit held that the Rogers test is not limited to literary titles but is generally applicable to Lanham Act claims against works of artistic expression. Like Rogers, ETW argues that the district court should have considered whether alternative means existed for Jireh to express itself without violating Woods's intellectual property rights. 10 We agree with the Second Circuit's conclusion that the no alternative means test does not sufficiently accommodate the public's interest in free expression. 52 In Mattel, Inc. v. MCA Records, Inc., 296 F.3d 894 (9th Cir.2002), the Ninth Circuit adopted and applied the Rogers test where the plaintiff asserted Lanham Act claims against the producer of a song entitled Barbie Girl which evoked the image of plaintiff's famous doll. The court held that in the case of expressive speech, its traditional likelihood of confusion test fails to account for the full weight of the public's interest in free expression. 296 F.3d at 900. After expressly adopting the Rogers standard as its own, the court set forth the following analysis: 53 Applying Rogers to our case, we conclude that MCA's use of Barbie is not an infringement of Mattel's trademark. Under the first prong of Rogers, the use of Barbie in the song title clearly is relevant to the underlying work, namely, the song itself. As noted, the song is about Barbie and the values Aqua claims she represents. The song title does not explicitly mislead as to the source of the work; it does not, explicitly or otherwise, suggest that it was produced by Mattel. The only indication that Mattel might be associated with the song is the use of Barbie in the title; if this were enough to satisfy this prong of the Rogers test, it would render Rogers a nullity. We therefore agree with the district court that MCA was entitled to summary judgment on this ground. 54 296 F.3d at 902. Thus, both the Second Circuit and the Ninth Circuit have held that in Lanham Act false endorsement cases involving artistic expression, the likelihood of confusion test does not give sufficient weight to the public interest in free expression. Both courts rejected the no alternative means test. They held instead that the Lanham Act should be applied to artistic works only where the public interest in avoiding confusion outweighs the public interest in free expression. They agreed that the public interest in free expression should prevail if the use of the celebrity's image has artistic relevance, unless it is used in such a way that it explicitly misleads as to the source of the work. 11 55 In Parks v. LaFace Records, 329 F.3d 437 (6th Cir.2003), we joined the Second and Ninth Circuits in holding that the likelihood of confusion and alternative means tests do not give sufficient weight to the public interest in freedom of expression. In Parks, we adopted the Rogers test as the law of the Sixth Circuit: 12 56 The application of Rogers in Mattel, as well as in cases decided in other circuits, persuades us that Rogers is the best test for balancing Defendants' and the public's interest in free expression under the First Amendment against Parks' and the public's interest in enforcement of the Lanham Act. We thus apply the Rogers test to the facts before us. 57 Id. at 451-52 (quoting Rogers, 875 F.2d at 999).