Starbucks would be wise to leave "Dumb Starbucks" alone

Hundreds have flocked to Los Feliz, California to line up at a store thats half coffee shop, half performance art parody. Dumb Starbucks replicates the iconic Starbucks sign and logo, with the addition of the word dumb on all branding and menu items. (Update:Ina press conference Monday afternoon,Nathan Fielder of the Comedy Central television show Nathan For You revealed that he was behind the shop. The Los Angeles Health Department shut it downfor operating without a health permit.)

Functionally, its a coffee shop, but in a list of frequently asked questionsthatbaristas hand out, it legally needs to be viewed as a work of parody art in order to use the logo. As of yesterday, it was giving awayall of its items for free.

Unless Dumb Starbucks starts actively selling coffee, it would be smart for the usually litigious Starbucks to leave this stunt alone. A company spokesperson has already said that while it appreciates the humor, the name is a protected trademark.

In the past, Starbuckssued comic book artist Kieren Dwyerover a parody logo. And when sued a small brewery over a beer called Frappicino, and the ownersresponse letter went viral.In both cases, there was public backlash against a corporation responding so aggressively against individuals. This is likely to be the case here, too.

The shop refers to the parody law and fair use in its owninformational flier asking about the legality of the operation.Given the lengths to highlightcopyright law, it seems like this store was designed to provoke a response from Starbucks, and perhaps test the law.We reached out to the shop for comment but have not received a response.

Parody and fair use arent automatic or ironclad defenses of a trademark violation. But whether a commercial use exists makes it much more likely to be found illegal in the United States. Since the coffee is currently free, the operation could be defended as a parody.

But serving hour long lines of people free coffee is going to get expensive. Whether or not Dumb Starbucks starts charging, Starbucks would be wise to let the operators go broke or or wait for customers (and the media) to get bored rather than firing up the legal team.

Source: http://qz.com/175434/starbucks-would-be-wise-to-leave-dumb-starbucks-alone/