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American Idol Wants to Get “Kinky”
Posted February 8, 2009
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That’s “Kinky” Kelly Jones, the emcee of an increasingly popular contest hosted by a little known gentlemen’s club in Austin, Texas called Palazio. Fremantle Media, the owner of the “Idol” show franchise and beloved pusher to karaoke junkies everywhere, has recently filed suit against the heretofore obscure Austin strip bar for trademark infringement. The club hosts a weekly “Stripper Idol” contest that invites amateurs to dance topless for sixty seconds. The winner, determined by audience applause, walks out $500 richer.
The club’s manager, Scott Stevenson described the contest in relatively wholesome terms. He explained that the many of the young girls who come to compete in the contest are everyday ladies; “women who come in with their husbands, ladies that come in with their friends.”
Specifically, Fremantle Media, which trademarked the American Idol name in 2003, is taking issue with the way Palazio has marketed the Stripper Idol contest. It claims that the contest logo Palazio uses “mirrors” that of the American Idol show in terms of color scheme, design and font. The logo is used in the club’s advertisements for the contest as well as on T-shirts that the club’s waitresses wear while working. Its lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court alleges Trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trademark dilution. Fremantle claims that the club’s Stripper Idol logo “is likely to cause confusion, mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of the [strip club] with Fremantle Media.” As a result of the infringement, Fremantle requests in its filing with the District court, an injunction against further use of the Stripper Idol logo, the club’s profits from use of the logo, damages, and attorney’s fees.
Fremantle has a rather extensive history of aggressively protecting what it believes are its rights in the American Idol trademark. In 2006 it sued a Florida company (Highend Holdings LLC) when it sponsored exotic dancer contests under the moniker “America’s Naked Idol,” which it also attempted to trademark. The media company does not reserve litigation exclusively for businesses that it believes could tarnish its wholesome All-American image either. In 2007, it sued two commercial enterprises that revolved around young children. In June it sued to stop Florida Based Electronic Learning Products Inc. from marketing activities centered around its karaoke style software program that helps kids learn to read through singing. The success of the product, which had begun as a voice coaching software program but was later found to dramatically improve children’s reading skills, - prompted a “Reading Idols” contest as a reward for individual students and schools using the program. Currently, the website owned by Electronic Learning, “ReadingIdols.com” is disabled. Later in 2006 Fremantle filed suit in federal district court against AngelicGenius.com, a maker of clothes for toddlers and small children. The suit claimed that the company’s “Adorable Idol” shirts were virtually identical to the American Idol logo. Today, Angelic Genius is still in business but a visit to the site shows no sign of the Adorable Idol garb. 
As for Palazio’s Stripper Idol, the show still goes on and Kinky and the rest of Palazio’s management think that Fremantle’s claims are “hogwash.”
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