Trademark Trivia: Celebrity Names

In 1998, the rap group OutKast released a song entitled Rosa Parks with a line of lyrics "Everybody move to the back of the bus." The song was used to promote a new OutKast album and the words ROSA PARKS were used on the sticker on the packaging of the CD. Rosa Parks is a well-known civil-rights figure famous for her refusal to move to the back of a bus. In December of 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus. This was at a time in American history when stuff like bus seats and water fountains were segregated by race. After her arrest, a 381-day protest-boycott of the Alabama bus system by blacks led to the desegregating of public transportation nationwide in America.

Rosa Parks sued OutKast over the use of her name (LaFace Records v. Parks, 03-504). The defendant, OutKast successfully moved to have the suit dismissed on summary judgment. Rosa Parks appealed. So what's the big deal you might be asking? Rosa Parks objected to others allegedly using and profiting from her name without her permission. She claimed that OutKast, "violated her publicity and trademark rights and defamed her." Yes, that's right your name can be a trademark.

And how did the lawsuit turn out? In a 2005 no-fault settlement, OutKast agreed to "help develop educational programs to "enlighten today's youth about the significant role Rosa Parks played in making America a better place for all races."

• Check Out
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• What is a Trademark?
• Youtube - Rosa Parks