Cengage Advantage Books: Foundations of the Legal Environment of Business 2nd Edition by Marianne Jennings, Albert Napier, Marianne Jennings

Exercise 1

Charles Atlas has been in the business of selling bodybuilding courses for more than 70 years. Advertisements for Atlas's bodybuilding courses, which have appeared in DC Comic books, have included a one-page comic strip story titled "The Insult that Made a Man out of Mac." In the storyline: (1) a bully kicks sand in Mac's face at the beach; (2) after taking the Atlas course, the skinny Mac develops a muscular physique; (3) Mac finds the bully, again on the beach, and punches him, for which he receives newfound respect, particularly from his female companion; (4) in the final panel, the phrase "HERO OF THE BEACH" appears as a halolike formation hovering over Mac's head. Mr. Atlas registered Mac with the Principal Register as the before and after characters of "Skinny" and "Joe." "Joe" is Mac in his muscular form with the leopard-skin trunks.
DC Comics created a character known as Flex Mentallo, who like Mac, came to be imbued with extraordinary strength. Flex Mentallo, once a scrawny weakling who has sand kicked in his face by a bully, returns to the beach with his muscular physique, and like Mac in the Atlas comic ad, he beats up the bully and becomes "the Hero of the beach."
However, after Flex Mentallo acquires his powers, the Charles Atlas tale changes a bit and Flex beats up the woman he had been with by smashing her in the face and proclaims, "I don't need a tramp like you anymore!" Mr. Atlas sued for infringement, saying that the depiction tarnished the image of Mac and, thus, the Atlas product line. DC defends its new character and storyline as parody. Determine what the court should do with the Atlas infringement suit. [ Charles Atlas, Ltd. v DC Comics, Inc. 112 F.Supp.2d 330 (S.D.N.Y. 2000)]