Using References to Real Companies in Dialogue

D

DIY

In my sci-fi film which is set a few years in the future, say I wanted some dialogue that references a real world company but about something currently non-existant. Is there any IP/trademark issues?

i.e.

ASTRONAUT
I started as a bartender at the Virgin Galactic Space Hotel two years ago.

(or like from Star Trek 2010)
UHURA
I'll have two Budweiser Classics.

I understand the parody exception pretty well but I am not sure on this. Thanks again all!
 
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As a general principle, no, but you should check with an IP lawyer in your jurisdiction. That said, if your characters say something like, "I worked for the company which paid bribes", you could face legal action from the company. You'll still be safe, because it's a work of fiction, but you want to avoid any trouble if possible. Again, you should check with a lawyer who is familiar with the laws in your locale.

Good luck. :)
 
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Saying the words out loud does not violate any trademark or anyones IP.

As Mogul says, there is the issue of slander to consider. In your example,
DIY there is not slander so having a character order a specific beer is legal.
 
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In the film 'Last Picture Show' a woman invites a boy in for a coke. They had a big problem with this and had to go back and change it to dr. pepper
 
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sfoster said:
In the film 'Last Picture Show' a woman invites a boy in for a coke. They had a big problem with this and had to go back and change it to dr. pepper
Click to expand...
Do you have any more info? I'd love to know why they had a big problem.

I'm a huge fan of that film. I grew up with the Bottoms boys in Santa
Barbara.
 
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directorik said:
Do you have any more info? I'd love to know why they had a big problem.

I'm a huge fan of that film. I grew up with the Bottoms boys in Santa
Barbara.
Click to expand...

No, unfortunately I don't have a web reference or anything.
It was mentioned in the directors commentary. He also then takes credit for spreading the popularity of dr. pepper due to the film :lol:

edit: i guess i remember one other things. they vindictively took all coke posters and background stuff out of the film too :lol:
 
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So it may not have been simply the mention of “Coke” but showing the
trademarked logo.

I'll have to listen to the comentary again.
 
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I did some googling and found this

"One of those happy little accidents was Coca-Cola. There were several lines in the picture, “You wanna Coke?” And Columbia sent the script to the Coca-Cola Company—this was before Coke bought Columbia—and Coca-Cola said they didn’t want to give us any product because they thought it was a dirty movie. That irritated me so much that I decided to remove not only any references to Coke but any casual shot in the background where you might see a Coke machine"

I guess they weren't forced to remove it, they just didn't get any cooperation and went on a warpath against coca cola because of it
 
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you can talk about any real company as long as you aren't making something up about them.

For example: "Everytime I drink coke I feel ashamed because they use aborted fetus blood in their ingredients"

Unacceptable!


However, this is fine: "Everytime I drink coke, my teeth hurt a little because of the sugar"
 
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Really depends on the distribution. Couple hundred views on Youtube won't lead to huge court lawsuits, and I know someone's going to try to argue with me on this, but companies aren't going through Youtube to find obscure videos that they can take down or take the creator to court. Ok, so if you're going to be making a decent profit, or if this is going to some festivals and such, I recommend you get written permission from the company to use those specific lines of dialogue. If you're doing a negative portrayal of the company or cannot get permission, make up a fake name (Watch Clerks 2 if you have not seen it). I'm sure that positive portrayal of a product could be acceptable, but if there's profit or a decently-sized audience, it's best to get written permission. And heck, you could even turn it into a product placement if the characters are getting positive results from a product, or are saying something nice about it. Speaking of nice, I want a cold refreshing Coke right now. Oh, and you should try their new ten cal drinks. Good stuff. Refreshing and cold. I highly recommend you go buy some right now.
 
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The legal issue is known as "fair use" in either copyright law or trademark law. You can read the wiki entries or even google the term to get an idea, but this is a specialized area of law, and you really should get a lawyer to give some advice - call your local bar association for a referral to someone who can give you five minutes of free advice, and don't try and take advantage of him.

Another thing is that, even if you're engaged in fair use, you also don't want to get a major company's lawyers against you, because it's just not worth it.
 
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IMHO why not avoid using the real names but use something similar so people get the reference and feel clever?

Also Budweiser probably paid ST to use that reference.

I'd re-write the example to:
ASTRONAUT
I started as a bartender at the Celibate Interplanetary Space Hotel two years ago.
 
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