Sony sues Knee Deep Brewing over "Breaking Bud"

Seemed like it was just a matter of time...

 

So Sony has rights to the Periodic Table of Elements and anyone wearing a lab coat. LOL I would take them to court and see how it played out.

 

They were probably hoping it would just go away since the show Breaking Bad ended back in 2013. Maybe the re-airing rights are coming up for bidding soon?

When this KD can design came out, most locals in NORCAL here thought they would get sued right away since it was so blatant and close to the Breaking Bad design. But really, so many beer designs are parodies or spoofs.

Breaking Bud has probably been Knee Deep's best seller since it came out back in 2014. I am sure they really want to keep the name at least.

 

There are many other beer names/labels I could say this about too....

 

Maybe Budweiser can jump in and say they cannot use "Bud" in their name. Slippery slope.
Maybe Stone has a valid point after all, I mean if the big boys can attack over name rights does the smaller guy not have a voice. Interesting.

 

The only reasonable argument is Parody Law. Stone thinks their case is obvious (when it's not), but this one is SOOOO obvious. I love this beer too and hope they somehow pull it off, but I'd put their odds at 0.000001% Sony is not the company to fuck with.

 

R. I. P.

 

I think their odds are better than you give them, but they have an argument ahead of them. It does look like a parody, but....

 

Will be interesting to see how it plays out. I can see both sides. If they were smart they would alter their cans just a little and move on. I bet they could do a little work on that and then both sides would be happy.

 

Knee Deep's labels are embarrassingly low-rent looking to begin with and this one is no exception. I don't think it would be the end of the world if they had to come up with a new label.

 

Should be able to keep the name though, right?

 

Change the name to "Breaking Sad" to lament about any infringement Sony might be feeling

 

Around my parts, I saw just about every youth group, balloon group, restaurant, and local sports group use some form of the periodic table box design for their shirts, banners, websites. None seemed to feature br ba in their own green boxes (which is pretty much identical to the show). So I think that's where the main problem lies. Most were able to use other abbreviations for their boxed elements.

I will say the number of movie puns and music puns and social puns used on beer labels is astonishing. I really wonder how there isn't more lawsuits out there.

Is there a statue of limitations on filling a lawsuits? Shows been over for 5 years now. They've been making that beer for many years now. Can Sony demand all profits from all years? Seems like one could just wait until a product is popular and then sue

 

I am genuinely amazed that this isn't happening all over the place. Maybe the brewers have developed a false sense of security about this whole issue at this point.

 

What's the deal with song lyrics being used on cans/bottles? Either lyrics themselves or song titles. 90% of these people call it a tribute to said artist. Some are slightly obscure. Other than sometimes seeing them on Amazon on shirts, beer has not been regulated in any solid manner yet. When will Sony hand out 40-50 lawsuits? Like I don't want it to happen but do feel it's out of hand.

 

OK, here's what Knee Deep should do: with great fanfare, they should announce that they are changing the name of the beer to " 'Sall Good, Man: A Prequel" and festoon the label with a generic image of a sleazebag lawyer holding a fistful of cash and wearing a space blanket.

All publicity is good publicity, right?

 

I wonder if Sony first attemped a phone call whereby both sides could discuss, rather than burst in with both guns blazing