Academy Sues Over ‘Obscene’ Replicas of Oscar
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which zealously guards Oscar’s golden image, has filed a federal trademark and copyright infringement suit against a Chatsworth company that offers anatomically correct--or rather, anatomically exaggerated--copycat statuettes over an Internet porn site.
Named in the academy’s U.S. District Court suit is Pipedream Products Inc., which the academy alleges is “importing or manufacturing and selling a large number of obscene or kitsch items making unauthorized use of the academy’s ‘Oscar’ copyright and design mark.”
The academy contends that Pipedream Products is “willfully and maliciously causing deception in the marketplace.” A company representative had no comment.
Pipedream’s replica closely resembles Oscar--with one prominent difference. Its 10-inch “Stud of the Year” statuette is more than generously endowed.
The real Oscar is 13 inches tall, weighs 8-1/2 pounds and is plated with 24-carat gold. It has no sex organs, the academy’s court papers say.
The academy’s suit contends that the replica Oscars are being sold to the public “in a manner likely to cause confusion” and tarnish the original Oscar’s classy image. The academy is asking the court for an injunction barring their sale.
The suit is the latest in a series of legal actions the academy has taken over the years against companies that make or sell novelty Oscars.
On Wednesday, the academy announced, a French telecommunications company agreed to pay $41,000 to settle a lawsuit over infringing Oscar symbols on phone calling cards. France Telecom also agreed to stop selling the cards.
And the academy’s lawyers are due in federal court today for a contempt hearing against a Bell Gardens company that supplies replica Oscars to novelty shops along Hollywood Boulevard. The academy obtained a restraining order against the company, Karol Western Corp., in January, said academy lawyer David W. Quinto.
Bruce Davis, the academy’s executive director, said past disputes have been resolved with the companies agreeing to slight differences in their Oscar statuettes.
“They can spread the legs apart and hold the elbows out or have the arms over the head, and we won’t complain. But even on those they cannot have awards categories. They can’t have Best Actor, but they can have Best Dad or Best Fisherman,” he said.
Davis added that “the taste factor” compelled the academy to take the latest legal action.
“Anyone who owns a trademark doesn’t want an obscene version of it circulating,” he said. “If you make an anatomically correct Michelin man, the Michelin guys will come after you.”
