This is way more clever than their campaign to feed the hung.

Who is John Crowe? Don’t you mean PATRICK?

Secondly, the link takes you to page TWO of the article. People who want to read this story should skip back a page to read from the beginning.

With that said, I think that as much as I respect Oprah for her work with African children and her other humanitarian work, suing this guy is DUMB. Can he really hurt her image? She’s Oprah Freakin’ Winfrey!!! Her image was more injured by going out of her way to tell America that she’s not gay with her girlfriend Gayle! (By the way, what WAS that about?)

She says using the ” Oprah name “falsely implies” that she and her firm, Harpo, Inc., sponsor or endorse the campaign.” Yeah, right.
The ego of these rich corporate people/companies is ridiculous. They would trademark the sound their ass makes when they fart if they could, and then sell it as a ringtone. Seriously, you can’t trademark your first name.

Give me a break. This guy’s “campaign” is so amateurish, it couldn’t convince people that the sun comes up in the east, let alone make anyone think that Oprah’s giant Harpo World-Wide Omnimedia® is even remotely involved. Crowe’s campaign makes Clay Chastain look like Karl Rove.

He’s just living the American Dream™ – trying to make an easy buck off of people who will buy stupid crap they don’t need.

The various personal opinions of Ms. Winfrey aside, it would appear that Mr. Crowe clearly exceeded the fair use as it applies to trademarks. If Mr. Crowe is so interested in politics he should run for office himself rather than using the name of an entertainer to garner unwarrented media attention. Oprah is quite within reasonable right to legally persue Mr. Crowe for trademark infringement.

Orca Winfrey is a fat, whiney, starstruck bitch who had “the most humiliating experience of her life” at a Paris department store…sheesh…

Lemming,
Everyone knows you can’t take it with you, and many celebrities, including Orca, have multitudes more $ than they could ever spend in a lifetime. She’s never been married (hmmm), has no kids (hmmm), and in her 50s (hmmm), and has stated she is not a lesbian (hmmm). So what is she so very worried about protecting? The only answer is her big, fat ego. True of most celebrities who, like Orca, may not even be aware of things like this; their attorneys do all the talking, except on TV.

ChrisM70,

Crowe used a picture of Oprah Winfrey in his book, most likely a protected image and without her consent. So they’re clearly in their rights to demand he refrain from doing so.

Beyond the trademark issue, Oprah Winfrey is a public figure, and the courts have determined they can expect far less in terms of privacy rights (within reason) than your average anonymous Joe. It’s also much harder to defend rights to a trademark than a copyright. In fact, fair use of trademark law allows someone to use the trademarked name “nominatively” when discussing the product. How can you discuss Oprah Winfrey’s presidential campaign without using the word “Oprah”?

Crowe’s misguided because the American electorate certainly isn’t clamoring for an egotistical talk show host to lead us from the wilderness. It’s a shame he’s invested $65,000.

Lemming,
The problem with her weight (for starters), is that in the late 90s she published a book and video called “Make The Connection” which sold millions. The subject of the book and video was about her metamorphosis, a deep understanding that her recurring weight gain was tied to emotional issues; and how this realization meant she would never be fat again. Guess what? Within the next year, she gained about 80 pounds. Did the people who bought the book and/or video get a refund? Not that I know of. If she wanted to do the right thing with her money, that would be a good start. People like her who mass-market false pop psychology are nothing but high-profile overpaid gypsies.

This is what I was looking for, glad I found it.