The Big One

(1997)   Tags: Miramax

Columbia Pictures Industries v. Miramax Films Corp.

Columbia Pictures sued Miramax over the poster, trailer and advertising campaign for Michael Moore’s documentary The Big One, which parodied the ads for Men In Black.  See below image for reference:

Judgment: That Defendants MIRAMAX FILMS CORP., and MAYFAIR ENTERTAINMENT INTERNATIONAL, INC., their officers, directors, principals, agents, servants, employees, successors and assigns, and all those acting in concert or participation with them, are enjoined from advertising or otherwise promoting “The Big One” in the following manner:

a. No poster or picture may contain the combination of: (1) a New York skyline at night, depicted towards the bottom of the image, in a purple/blue tint; (2) a figure in the foreground wearing a black suit, white shirt, black tie and sunglasses, having a similar stance as Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in the MIB Poster; (3) a figure carrying an oversized weapon or microphone; and (4) the tag line “protecting the earth from the scum of corporate America”.
b. No trailer may contain the combination of: (1) an assembly line production including sunglasses and black suits; (2) a figure wearing a black suit, white shirt, black tie, and sunglasses; (3) a figure carrying an oversized weapon or microphone; and (4) the tag line “protecting the earth from the scum of corporate America”.
2. Based on defense counsel’s representation that less than twenty TBO Posters are currently displayed at in-theater locations, the Court does not Order Defendants to remove those remaining posters.