I’ll sue you, You sue me: Out of Control Lawsuits
Since when did we stop living in reality? I thought movies were supposed to be fun escapes from the everyday hum-drum of our lives. Apparently, they are supposed to be an exact mirror of everything that surrounds us. At least, Manhattan Federal Court is expected to believe that. Last Wednesday, Sherwood 48 Associates filed a lawsuit claiming the Spider-man movie trailer and upcoming movie digitally replaced billboards in the famed Times Square. The billboards in question include one for Samsung (a competitor of Sony, the movie’s distributor) replaced by a Cingular Wireless board and another for NBC replaced by USA Today. The lawsuit alleges the removal of these billboard insults the integrity of the Times Suare business association and devalues the space these advertizers pay millions of dollars each year for. They claim advertisers are expecting their billboards to be seen not only by the millions who visit Times Square each year, but also in all movies, ads, television commercials and programs featuring the square as well. Really? Well, that is a very big claim for an owner to make considering he can’t control every tourist, amatuer filmmaker, and motion picture studio that films or photographs Times Square thousands of times each day.
If we were talking Dateline NBC altering the images, maybe I’d see there point, but this is Spider-man! We’re in the neighborhood of make-believe here folks. Let me clue you in, Spider-man does NOT exist, neither does the Green Goblin. Newsflash-this just in-Peter Parker and Mary Jane are not real high school students! I understand Times Square is an historical setting, but it is a fictionalized time and course of events. The only objection they have is about money; it has nothing to do with integrity or the moral question of whether it is right to replace the billboards, it’s pure greed. I’ll grant you, Sony isn’t looking to make their rivals any money, but they shouldn’t have to. They have a right to place whatever product or advertisement they want in their movie. Pepsi can’t sue if people drink Coke in a movie. Cities can’t sue when you film there and fictionalize the name of the town or the places in it, so why should a billboard owner get away with it?
Their attorney, Anthony Costantini, claims it is inappropriate for Sony to change the names on the billboards and the suit is seeking damages for any profits made by the companies whose billboards appear in the movie, but are not actually on Times Square. Exactly how do they plan on measuring that? Personally, I wouldn’t have even noticed the billboards if not for this lawsuit. Sony will likely settle this lawsuit out of court to avoid bad press and to keep the movie opening on schedule, but they shouldn’t have to. It is a sad world we live in where greed and capitalism rule and we can’t even escape it for two hours at the movies. Go see Spider-man and don’t think twice about these greedy assholes, but next time you need a stereo remember this moment and choose Sony, and next time you buy a paper, make it a USA Today. Revenge is sweeter when you beat them at their own game!