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November 13, 2006
Is your name IP?
Is an actor's real name protected under intellectual property rights? A case in Wisconsin may answer that question, according to the Washington Post -- Andy of Mayberry, Wisconsin?:
The star of "The Andy Griffith Show," who as Andy Taylor portrayed the sheriff of the fictional North Carolina town of Mayberry, has sued a Wisconsin man who unsuccessfully ran for the Grant County post after legally changing his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 3 in U.S. District Court in Madison, alleges that William Harold Fenrick, 42, violated trademark and copyright laws, as well as the privacy of actor Andy Samuel Griffith, when he used his new name to promote his candidacy for sheriff in southwestern Wisconsin.
The lawsuit says the former Fenrick changed his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's notoriety in an attempt to gain votes." It asks the court to order him to go back to his original name.
We will have to keep an eye on this. The way things are going, it may make it all the way to the Supreme Court.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at November 13, 2006 7:27 AM
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