Anna Henry's TV Pilot Writing Lab : References to Trademarked Items in Your Script by John P. Goetz

Hey John -

We deal with this all the time.

The classic example of this is E.T. The original script I believe had M&Ms but the manufacturer of M&Ms said they didn't want their product being eaten by an alien - "bad PR." Reese Pieces said yes and it was a huge success for them.

I work as a Prop Master and I also work in the Set Dec department - we always have to get clearance if we are going to "feature" a product on screen. Sometimes Product Placement companies will provide product for us to put on screen.

If we have a refrigerator being opened - we can use generic product but we will often times get "stuff" from these Product Placement Co. because they want the free advertising. Some Production Companies like Disney won't allow any Product Placement in any of their shows - the brand we feature may be in good standings today but not tomorrow so Disney would rather not have any ties- at least that's what the lawyers say and I am sure there are other reasons to.

It also has a lot to do with the way the product is being used. If you show a man drinking a MILLER BEER and then show him driving drunk and killing a bunch of people, MILLER might have a problem with that and a law suit might follow.

Even a car sitting in the driveway, it is my job to "mask or greek" the emblems so we don't know what kind of car it is.

If you are featuring the product in a positive way - you will more likely get clearance. I would go ahead and put it in your script and let the production crew figure it out when the day comes - i.e. don't worry about it right now, it will work itself out down the road.

I hope this helps.

Along those lines , what if characters in the script mention as a reference a book they read or enjoyed, or make a reference to a book character or tv character or a movie title, Is that allowed or is permission needed, for example mentioning Hunger Games to Tony Sopramo, etc?

Yes, get your clearances!

I think it's funny - when writing a novel, you can reference all kinds of brands, products, and other trademarks (Kleenex, Coke, BMW, etc) in pretty much any context (good or bad) without worrying about infringement. This comes straight from a literary attorney I know.

But show a logo or mention a brand name in a film/TV show and everybody gets sue-happy!

Thanks for all of the insight!

So here is the development executive answer... because this is a great question!

References to items or companies in innocuous contexts (getting into an Uber for example or eating M&Ms or shopping at Target) are totally fine in your script, as long as your story doesn't hang on that specific brand but some other similar brand could be substituted. No producer can guarantee you a specific brand and it's not realistic (i.e. professional) to expect it, so the specific brand can't be central to your script.

References to brands or companies in a derogatory context (i.e. a manager at Target rapes someone) are out of bounds. You will never get permission and it's frankly amateurish to even put that in your script. Just change the name to something fictional. You should even be careful about entities like cities - just ask the CBS executives who had to pull the episode of CSI that showed a map of Las Vegas with hundreds of "dots" referring to child molesters (way, way more than the real number in Vegas), after incensed calls from the mayor and the governor of Nevada.

References to real shows and especially specific songs are very much not allowed in your script and are considered the mark of an amateur writer. They add hugely to your budget and may not even be gettable if your show is on a network that competes with the owner of the specific show or song. This is not up to good producers to get for you - and you appear arrogant and entitled if you think it should be. I'm just telling you the perception from the people you're trying to impress. Once you sell your show to HBO, the entire Warner music library will be open to you, until then don't hang your script on a song.

As for references to titles... Books are almost always ok unless referred to in a derogatory sense (which is rare). Movie or tv show titles fall under the above category of references to intellectual property potentially owned by a competing company and therefore not available and to be avoided.

One more thing in case it's not obvious... When I see a derogatory reference to a show or movie in an "emerging" writer's script, I stop reading at that moment and the writer is off my list. If you want some fun stories, ask me about people who blew meetings and pitches by unknowingly badmouthing the wife/best friend/second cousin once removed of the person they were pitching to. Sing it with me... it's a small world after all...