Part I - Summary of Issue
The creators of Sesame Street are suing Melissa McCarthy over the release of her new movie trailer for the movie "The Happytime Murders." The film portrays puppet look a-likes engaging with drugs, sex, some violence, and other profane material. Melissa McCarthy plays a human detective posed to find all the grisly murders in the community along with her puppet friends. The movie goes against the 123 Sesame Street Big Bird, the Cookie Monster, Elmo, the Grouch themed scenes where puppets are engaging with education, to a "the kids are away," mantra. For context, Sesame Street is an educational television show for children that includes live action and puppetry. Jim Henson created the Muppets use to infuse humor into the film.
Sesame Workshop is suing STX Entertainment, the production company for McCarthy's movie, claiming the movie "dilutes and defiled" the Muppets' reputation from the childhood themed Sesame Street. They have also chosen to point out that the scenes in the trailer that use tag-lines like "No Sesame. All Street." The Workshop is asking STX to not use any intellectual property or trademarks either. The Sesame Workshop team believes that STX is feeding the public's confusion on what is the Muppets and what is "The Happytime Murders"; and who the creators are.
Furthermore, the creators are being called into question because along with Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone, the pair worked closely with Brian Henson, son of Jim Henson the creator of Sesame Street. As a result, the suit is claiming that this movie could cause "irreparable injury to Sesame Street's mark."
Part II - Legal Questions Raised
1. Does the use of puppets in the Happytime Murders defame (damage the good reputation of) characters/appeals of Sesame Street?
2. Is the Sesame Street brand protected by trademarks, or the characters themselves?
3. What does copyright protect in this case?
4. Who does the copyright belong to? Jim Henson?
Part III - Relevant Doctrine/Precedent
The category of law which must be discussed here is copyright. Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium. In order for Sesame Workshop to win the lawsuit, they must prove that they have valid copyright; that Jim Henson or other creators/producers had access to the film, and that there is substantial similarities between the two works.
It would be best to apply the fair use defense - a balancing test. To do this the Court must determine the purpose of "The Happytimes Murders," the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount of copyrighted work was used and the effect that STX production companies use of the work has on Sesame Street's ability to make money/sales on future products. In this case, the STX production of McCarthy's film was for a form of art - movie production. The nature of the copyrighted work, is unlikely to be considered either scholarly or scientific simply based on the fact that it is a humorous, and pretty profane piece of satire. The next important part to consider is the amount of the particular portion of work or idea was used in the making of the new creation or in this case the movie. This is difficult because although the puppets in "The Happytimes Murders" are not the well known colorful characters like Big Bird, Mr. Grouch, Elmo, Ms. Piggy, the Cookie Monster, etc. the puppets do look gravely similar and speak very similar to the Muppets characters. Using the puppets which are trademarked might make this a difficult case to prove fair use. Lastly, the court will need to analyze whether or not the making of Melissa McCarthy's movie will deplete the sales or ruin Sesame Street's ability to make money. Likely this will be immediately determined that it doesn't because they are separate entities and Sesame Street's longstanding run will not be influenced or their trademark stuffed animals or children's toys will not be affected by this adult film.
Taking all of these factors into consideration it is very unlikely that Sesame will win its case for fair use/copyright/intellectual copyright.
This case will surely get much more attention as it moves through the litigation process because it is so famous. Adults are the only permitted age who can see the movie in theaters; however, they are also the generation who allows their children to watch Sesame Street for educational purposes. Intellectual property lawsuits can be tricky, but it is an issue that many American's care deeply about because creativity and people's personal ideas and creations are meant to be protected. Cases like these are important because they remind people of copyright laws and set the parameters for people to give credit where credit is deserved, and to not copy, or have permission to use material.
I think people will learn a lot about the law, and copyright in this process. I also think people's morals and values will be called into question. Another consideration that will need to be taken into account is the work for hire aspect. Jim Henson's son Brian doesn't have permission to work or create material even if he was a part of the behind the scenes and creative work of his dad's.
I must also note that a New York Judge ruled last week that STX productions can continue to use the tagline, "No Sesame. All Street," in their trailer to promote the movie. The judge Vernon Broderick said that the "slogan is actually a 'humorous, pithy' to distinguish 'The Happytime Murders' and Sesame Streets larger brand."
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