Empire Strikes Back: First Amendment Protects TV Series Title - McDermott Will & Emery

Empire Strikes Back: First Amendment Protects TV Series Title

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Overview


Jodi Benassi wrote this bylined article on a trademark infringement case where the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s conclusion that Twentieth Century Fox’s use of the name “Empire” in the title of a television series is protected by the First Amendment and is therefore outside the reach of the Lanham Act. Record label Empire Distribution was the plaintiff in the suit.