I'm not sure if I should put this here, but can't find a more appropriate forum.
This seems appropriate enough for me...
Working on a spec screenplay now and I'm curious about the inclusion of trademarked names (e.g., referring to a real life professional wrestler). Would this hurt the script's chances of being purchased, and how much is too much when it comes to involvement in the plot (for instance, I wouldn't have the characters meet the wrestler, but they may reference some of his mannerisms or catch phrases)? Is it best to play it safe and substitute a generic original? Is there any kind of specific legal precedent for this?
Trademark law (which I'm familiar with only in the sense of having read up on it enough to figure out what to avoid) is reasonably specific in this regard, I'm afraid... you don't own the rights to the trademark, or you don't have a specific license to use the trademark, you don't use the trademark. You can't call a wrestler, for example, The Rock
TM- that's trademarked. You can use
a wrestler, but he can't be the character portrayed by Dwayne Johnson. That could get you sued, especially if they don't like the way that wrestler is portrayed in the script.
You probably won't get a script like that sold, unless you make major changes... I think Aronofsky's picture
The Wrestler faced that sort of thing, so that's why they used the character names they did.
If you can create a character
like The Rock
TM, or the other trademarked characters of Vince McMahon's Flying Circus, and make the audience identify with and care about this character, then you're good to go, I'd say.
Cheers!
Al B.
