Deadmau5, the DJ with the quirky sense of spelling, bought a Ferrari 458 Italia and tricked it out with a Nyan Cat wrap. He called it the Purrari. I say “called” because he removed the wrap after receiving a cease and desist letter from Ferrari. Someone asked me about the legal issues, I guess because I still play a lawyer on Facebook, so I looked into it.
It sounds like the issue is with his modification of the Ferrari emblem. Deadmau5 hasn’t released the actual C&D letter, but he has apparently said that it mostly involved the modified logo on the car and the floormats.
As a general rule, I think that (a) a person can do whatever they want with property they purchase, but (b) the seller might continue to own intellectual property rights associated with that product. I bought the Macbook on which I am typing this, and I am free to slap bumper stickers on it or use a marker to make the Apple logo look like a butt. I do not have any rights to use the Apple logo elsewhere, though. That doesn’t describe Deadmau5’s situation for several reasons.
Let me mention that all of this is happening in Canada, which is not subject to U.S. trademark law, so I may not know what I am talking about.
1. Here’s why I think he didn’t do anything wrong: He made the modifications to his own car, which he bought and to which (as far as I know) he holds title. His modification of the emblem is not intended to mislead the public about the source of the car–everyone knows it’s a Ferrari. He’s not (as far as I know) selling products bearing his version of the logo, so there is no direct commercial benefit at play. (He gets publicity from the car, yes, but he was already famous, so it’s doubtful that a claim that he profits from the logo in any way would hold up.) It seems like it would fall under the definition of “parody” under U.S. trademark law.
2. Here’s why I think it might not be worth fighting Ferrari on this: For one thing, they have deeper pockets than Deadmau5, and that’s saying a lot. Also, this is not an ordinary consumer product. This is a Ferrari 458 Italia. One does not simply walk into a dealership and drive out in a 458. Ferrari takes this car VERY seriously, and it is possible that it views Deadmau5’s modifications as a breach of the sales contract. Techdirt has a copy of a sales contract, which begins with the following:
Customer recognizes that the 430 is a limited-edition, high-performance vehicle and that it is the goal of both Ferrari and the Dealer to offer and sell such vehicles principally to Ferrari enthusiasts who are purchasing the vehicles for their own use, who intend to use the 430 and not for purposes of resale or price speculation.”
The contract also gives Ferrari a right of first refusal if the buyer wants to sell the car during the first two years. If I were Ferrari’s lawyer (and they’d be damn fools to hire me, but I’ve gone this far and I ain’t stopping now), and they asked me to plot the next step after the C&D letter, I’d look into a breach of contract claim against Deadmau5 based on the part about “Ferrari enthusiasts who are purchasing the vehicles for their own use.” That’s not to say I think that’s a good claim—in fact, I think it’s the worst breach of contract claim to ever leave my brain, but it’s plausible because of the rarity of the vehicle and the obvious importance Ferrari places on its image.
Long story short, Ferrari looks like a bunch of jackasses, but I doubt they care because the people who think that were never going to buy their cars anyway.
Also, well played, Nissan.
