At 07:09 PM 15/01/05 -0700, Bruce Johnson johnson-at-pharmacy.arizona.edu |G-list| wrote: > >On Sunday, January 16, 2005, at 04:16 AM, James Fraser wrote: > >> Do documentary programs have more leeway because they're not portraying >> products in an "emotional context?" Is that what gives them more room >> than a dramatic feature? > >Because they're reality, not fiction. These products aren't placed >there, they simply exist there. Even so this isn't absolute, witness >all the time that prominent logos and signs are blurred out in shows >like COPS.
I think (not being a lawyer in the entertainment industry) that owners of trademarks and such really have no right to prevent the depiction of their products in dramas, as long as there is no statements that imply illegal conduct or danger of the product. And even then, the producers should be defended by they simply saying it was fiction. I see lots of skits on Letterman, mentioning real products in scurrilous ways (recently some telephone company being the choice of al Qaeda, for instance). Also I've read, and have no reason to doubt, interviews with staff on The Sopranos saying they take no fees for product placement -- though they may get the use of a product free on occasion. Tony Soprano once got sprayed with a can of Raid in the face, suffering injury. The label was clearly visible, and I'm sure the company was very unhappy about that. However, having no case doesn't mean that companies could not harass producers, and avoiding that is one reason many, especially smaller, productions avoid using real logos. Another would be that the company may be an advertiser, and threaten to pull their ads on that show or even the network. As for Macs' over-representation on the screen, since these are often required to display scripted actions, the graphics people who end up making these are more often using Macs and find it easier to program these for Macs. The movie Office Space had a weird example of this, as the computers were clearly IBM PCs, but were running a Mac desktop, which shutdown to a C:> prompt. I can't tell how much of this mishmash was deliberate and how much simply convenient. -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
