UNFAIR COMPETITION -- APPROPRIATION OF GOOD WILL BY A NON-COMPETITOR -- LITERARY PROPERTY

Authors

Abstract

The Texas Co. and the National Broadcasting Co. sought to enjoin the unauthorized publication and sale by the Uproar Co. of a pamphlet containing the subject-matter of Ed Wynn's advertising program, broadcast under the auspices of the Texas Co. The name "Graham," which was associated with the announcer Graham McNamee and had acquired a secondary meaning in connection with the N. B. C., appeared frequently in the pamphlet. The court found that the Texas Co. had the sole right under a contract with Wynn to the use of Wynn's script, that the N. B. C. had the exclusive right under a contract with McNamee to the use of the name "Graham" for commercial purposes, and that the publication of the pamphlet was detrimental to these interests because of the confusion likely to arise in the minds of the public with respect to the identity of the parties. Held, use of the script and the name "Graham" amounted to an appropriation of good will created at great expense which would be enjoined as unfair competition, and that literary property in the script was not lost by radio broadcast. Uproar Co. v. National Broadcasting Co., (D. C. Mass. 1934) 8 F. Supp. 358.

Recommended Citation

UNFAIR COMPETITION -- APPROPRIATION OF GOOD WILL BY A NON-COMPETITOR -- LITERARY PROPERTY, 33 Mich. L. Rev. 822 (1935).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol33/iss5/19