Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film

The Supreme Court rejected a trademark infringement claim against the producers of the Quentin Tarantino film ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’ over its portrayal of the late actor Christopher Jones. Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler discuss this decision in this episode of The Briefing. Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel here. Show Notes: Tara: The laws surrounding false endorsement claims in the United States are rooted in section 43 A of the Lanham Act. There's quite a bit of case law that analyzes false endorsement claims brought by celebrities who claim that a company or brand used a lookalike or soundalike to promote the brand in advertising or marketing campaigns without the celebrity's permission. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a California case about this exact topic. This time, the case was brought by the partner of the late actor Christopher Jones concerning the popular 2019 Quentin Tarantino film ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.’ This is what we will be discussing in today's installment of the Briefing by Weintraub Tobin. Scott: I'm Scott Hervey from Weintraub Tobin. Tara, thanks for joining me today. So you're right that celebrities bring these types of false endorsement claims under section 43 A of the Lanham Act relatively frequently. So, let's talk about the specific language in the Lanham Act that addresses false endorsement. Tara: That's a great place to start. Section 43 A imposes civil liability on any person who, on or in connection with any goods or services, uses in commerce any word, term, name, symbol or, device, or any combination thereof, or any false designation of origin. False. Or misleading description of fact or false or misleading representation of fact, which is likely to deceive consumers as to the affiliation, connection, association sponsorship, or approval of another person's goods or services. Scott: Right. And courts have held that a celebrity's physical likeness, voice, or other unique or distinguishing characteristics does constitute a symbol or device as specified in section 43 A of the Lanham Act. So, this is the usual basis for a celebrity false endorsement claim. These types of claims often arise in marketing and advertising campaigns where a brand or a service will use a lookalike or a sound alike of a celebrity. And I've even seen cases where they've used photographs of a celebrity to market that brand. Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune and the pop culture and music icon Ariana Grande, to name just a few, have brought false endorsement claims in the past. Tara: This recent case that went up to the U.S. Supreme Court concerns the likeness and unique physical attributes of the late actor Christopher Jones. Jones was a popular actor in the 1960s, starring in both TV and movies. Jones passed away in 2014 and assigned the rights in his likeness to his partner, Paul McKenna. Sony released Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019. The film is loose historical fiction based in the 1950s and centers around fictional characters played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. It also touches on the Manson family murder of Sharon Tate McKenna. Scott: The executor of Jones's estate brought both a false endorsement claim and a trademark infringement claim against the producers of Tarantino's film. The plaintiff cited a few examples as the basis of the claim. First, Jones's name was mentioned in Tarantino's film. Second, a television advertisement and a marquee advertisement that mentions Jones's name and one of Jones's films.