Welcome to the inaugural post of Trademark Tales of Terror. In this Halloween-season post we dive into the dark and chilling world of “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Join me as we explore the trademark legacy of one of horror, cinema’s most iconic figures, Freddy Krueger.
In the gloomy realm of nightmares, the bladed-glove-wielding scarred slasher, Freddy Krueger, made his debut. He terrorized Elm Street youth, haunting their dreams and leaving a tale of spine-chilling movies in his wake. With his fedora and his sinister grin, Freddie became an enduring symbol of fear.
The “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movies have been a huge success for New Line Cinema and its successors, including Warner Brothers. Not only have the nine movies in the franchise raked in millions of dollars, starting with the original 1984 film, but there have been an anthology television series in 1988 called “Freddy’s Nightmares,” novels based on the films, comic book series, a documentary about film series and its legacy, video games, and a slew of officially licensed merchandise, including posters, t-shirts, figures, costumes, glassware, and of course, bedding for all your sweet dreams.
The movies themselves, along with the TV shows, books, comics, and the character Freddy Krueger are all covered by copyright law. There are numerous trademarks associated with this brand as well, including the name of the series itself, “Nightmare on Elm Street,” the name, Freddy Krueger, the name Freddy by itself (but just for toys, you can still name your kids Freddy, and “Five Nights at Freddy’s” is okay as a movie title), and of course the image of the spiked glove Freddy wears. While an image like the spiked glove is usually covered by copyright, when it becomes a brand identifier as this glove has, it can be registered as a trademark.
In 1994, New Line sued Russ Barry and Company over Russ’ toy, the “Ghostly Gasher,” a toy consisting of a glove with knife blades coming out of the fingertips, claiming both copyright and trademark infringement. In a nightmare for Russ, New Line won regarding copyright damages, but to New Line’s horror, they lost the trademark part of the case. The folks at Russ claimed they didn’t know the bladed glove was worn by Freddy Krueger in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies (REALLY?!?!).
Recovery of damages for trademark infringement requires evidence of actual confusion or willful deception or bad faith on the part of the alleged infringer. It’s really hard to believe that Russ decision-makers didn’t know that Freddy had a glove with knife-like fingers sticking out of it, but as there wasn’t solid proof they did know, they escaped owing damages for trademark infringement.
The horror for the current trademark owners continues, as countless vendors and misguided individuals create and sell merchandise featuring the franchise names, characters, and other protected intellectual property without permission. The owners do license the copyright and trademarks to plenty of vendors, because that allows them to get a cut of sales, and that is no small chunk of change, especially this time of year. Licensing also allows the owners to control what kinds of goods and services the trademarks are associated with and how they’re used. For example, the owners probably don’t want Freddy showing up on diapers. Sales of unlicensed merchandise take away that control and don’t provide any revenue for the rights holders, but that’s not the only scary part. The specter of the owners finding out about the unlicensed merchandise and taking legal action against the bootleg vendors is truly the stuff of nightmares for those vendors.
The “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise has left a lasting mark on the horror genre, and Freddy Krueger’s legacy still haunts our dreams and the nightmares of those selling bootleg “Nightmare on Elm Street” merchandise.
