Using real GLO names in TV/movies?
 

Hi everyone,

On the O.C. last night (I know you were all watching Grey's instead), there was a little guest role of a rich, young obnoxious trophy wife. The character talked about how she loved to party, described herself as a "total alcoholic" and that she loved to go back to her college sorority to "party" and do shooters with her sorority sisters. One of the other characters expressed surprise that she would still go back to party with her sorority after graduating. The trophy wife character then named a real NPC sorority and said "A member in college, a member for life."

What is the legality of having a ficitious character belong to a real GLO? Are GLO names copyrighted? I know Charlotte on SATC was a Kappa but nothing about her characterization would really be defamatory to Kappa. The OC character was portrayed as an irresponsible mother, a bimbo, just an all around obnoxious rich sorority girl type. It's not like the character used some nickname like "Sigma" which could represent any GLO with "Sigma" in the name. Could the writers of a TV show or movie get sued for using the name of a real GLO in a defamatory way? What do you all know about this sort of thing?

Sorry if this has been discussed before but I didn't find anything when I searched.

Well, I have no idea of the legality of it, but I know that the book version of Legally Blonde uses real sorority names. Elle is a DG, the finess instructor accused of the murder is a Theta, and the real murdurer is a KKG. :-D

It was changed for the movie, so I wonder if there are different issues affecting the book versus the movie? Or maybe it was essentially a courtesy issue? Movies are much more widely circulated, and I know some Kappas who would not be amused by the murderer being identified as a Kappa. (I personally think it's very amusing.)

I know some USC sororities cooperated by letting Reese Witherspoon observe their houses for the movie, so maybe the change was also tied into that.

I think Greeks will find that their Names, Badges, and Coat of Arms are all copy righted.:)

There was a Band from somewhere land who used a very nearly like C of A of LXA and a member found it. They were contacted and the Brother was told to F Off. "They Designed it". LOL! Remember, LXA C of A is very significant to many others.

They were contacted and there is no longer a C of A, that was a total take off of ours!:rolleyes:

Most GLOs do not like to see their names or letters attached to any media unless it is approved.

Is it any different than having a fictional character attend a specific university? Those names are just as copyrighted as our GLOs. Are people are less likely to say, "oh all Yale graduates are like Rory Gilmore" than they are to say "all XYZs are like this O.C. character"?

I think there is a difference in using the whole name of the real GLO and the nickname. Take Kappa for example: There are other GLOs which are known as "Kappa" even though KKG was founded 1st and was referred to as "Kappa" before the others. I was watching "Something to Talk About" last night, and Julia Roberts' character had invited Dennis Quaid's character to a "Chi O Sadie Hawkins" dance for their 1st date. Even something so obvious can be explained by saying the "O" could mean omicron and not omega. Don't know about using the official name of a real GLO though. The characters in the play "Vanities" were KKGs, but I don't know if it caused any legal problems (this was many years ago though).

IMO, I think the storyline for "Legally Blonde" worked better having the fitness instructor being a Delta Nu instead of something different. I haven't read the book, but I think the movie emphasized the depths of sisterhood with both Elle and Brooke being DNs.

I agree. Honestly, the movie is just much better in general.

I have a question...
 

I know this is a little off topic, but I have seen/heard this before, and I need some clarification. Do you mean that Charlotte the character was a Kappa or was Kristin Davis, the actor who plays Charlotte a KKG?

If it is Kristin Davis...she is a Rutgers University alumna, which has never had a Kappa chapter before. Maybe she transferred?

Sorry for the confusion..

Charlotte the character. There's an episode where Charlotte meets some Kappa sisters for a lunch and they're stereotypical pearl-wearing, WASPy Stepford Wives. Charlotte realizes that's not for her anymore blah blah blah...

What was the GLO mentioned in the OC?

Lisa Alther and Anne River Siddons both used real names of GLOs in their books.

Don't forget the famous "Delta Delta Delta" skits from Saturday Night Live.

Aren't Elle and the fitness instructor sorority sisters in the movie?

My type of woman.

Especially being Kappas.

I have heard the names used in some cases on TV. There was an episode of Newhart where the Julia Duffy girl was talking one day and said something about being a Kappa Kappa Gamma. There was also an episode of The Young and the Restless, and a new character was wearing this gold bar on a chain with the letters K K G, and the other girl noticed it and said something like 'oh, you're a Kappa too'.

I'm sure there are a couple of others too that I just can't think of off hand, but these I remember specifically.

pardon the break, but Julia Duffy is a Kappa right...so nothing wrong just bragging??

Yes, they are. They are both sisters of the fictitious sorority Delta Nu in the movie. I was talking about the book the movie is based on, where Elle is a DG and the fitness instructor is a Theta.

Anne Rivers Siddons did use real names in her books, but when it came to the main characters (who sometimes did non-honorable things) the sorority names were fake or nicknames only.

I honestly think it's a case by case basis...in the case of Legally Blonde, SATC and the OC, even if it isn't the most flattering portrayal, they are shows college age women like and it gets their name recognized. On the other hand, if it was something like a crime show where the woman is a murderer, I think the producers just change it to avoid offending anyone. Witness the many "Hudson University" students on Law & Order.

TV Greeks
 

On the show Coach, the main character had a Beta Theta Pi paddle hanging on his office wall in the opening credits. I can't remember if it was mentioned often in the show, or if he was a Beta in real life.

In Designing Women, the Julia character several times mentioned being a Tri Delt, which she was in real life. The Suzanne character, Delta Burke, was supposed to be a Pi Phi from a school in Mississippi. In reality, she was not Greek.

I'm not sure. I personally wouldn't care at all if AXO were used as the sorority of a fictitious character even if it wasn't the most flattering representation. I just don't know if my or anyone else's HQs would feel the same way.

A lot of times the names of universities and colleges are changed for movies/tv/books if the characters are particularly wild. Bret Easton Ellis novels come to mind -- the characters in those novels and movie versions are so out of control that I can't imagine a small private college wouldn't sue if their institution was named in Rules of Attraction. I think the difference here is that everyone is familiar with Yale, but for example Alpha Chi Omega might not be a household name to people that weren't involved in a college greek system with a chapter of AXO. I think the more smaller and more specific the institution, the more members would feel the need to protect the image of that institution.

No I obviously don't believe the stereotype, otherwise I wouldn't be in a sorority. I'm not really sure what you're getting at, but I didn't think the way this character was written was particularly creative... she just was a dumb, ditzy, drunk, sorority girl stereotype. If they were trying to create biting social satire, they didn't do a particularly good job of it because the character was so over the top.

Julia Duffy is not a Kappa, but her character Stephanie mentioned being a Kappa.

Don't know how to double quote from 2 different posters, so I just copied this:

In Designing Women, the Julia character several times mentioned being a Tri Delt, which she was in real life. The Suzanne character, Delta Burke, was supposed to be a Pi Phi from a school in Mississippi. In reality, she was not Greek.

Suzanne was supposedly a Pi Phi from Ole Miss.

In an episode of Hope & Faith a couple of seasons ago, Charley said something about a Sigma Chi doing one thing or another (don't remember what). In real life, the actor who plays Charley, Ted McGinley, is a Sig alumnus.

I somehow recall an episode of Desparate Housewives where Tom mentioned an NIC fraternity.

A Different World had a fictional fraternity but used to show extras wearing NPHC jerseys, sweatshirts, etc.

Fred Savage (Kevin Arnold in The Wonder Years) was a Stanford '99 SAE. He was in another series in which his character was also an SAE and had a crest or paddle in his apt.

Great for a positive spin isnt it?

Mostly it is not!:(

"Still watching Animal House!"

Who is the best GLO in the movie? :D

LMAO..... Don't go to Hudson unless you want to get raped, murdered, or both!

For my current project, an internet-based novel, one of the main characters is in my fictitious, stand-by fraternity Beta Chi Phi. Another character will be in an unnamed fraternity.

As novelist, I find it important to use real names of organizations, schools, and institutions to make a fictitious work seem more realistic. I just don't think it works to make a fake school, fake org, etc.... you want people to believe in the work.

Yeah, Tom was an ATO and his and Lynette's boss was a Pi Kapp. Or maybe it was the other way around. But, like someone else mentioned, they didn't use the full names of the fraternities so it could always be claimed that they didn't mean "Alpha Tau Omega" if any copyright infringement issues ever came to a head.

Bwahahaha. I haven't seen them (anyone find a youtube link?), but a lot of folks have sworn up and down that the Baylor chapter's jerseys look exactly like the SNL skit's.

Love the fact that "Delta Delta Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya?" made it into the old Southern Belle Primer, too.

:) All of the interior shots of of the Delta house were shot in the Unversity of Oregon Sigma Nu house. Very pimp: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077975/trivia

Okay so the movie IS better than the book. :)

It wouldn't be copyright infringement. Putting a real institution, whether a GLO, a university, or a chain restaurant, into a fictional story the way we've discussed on the thread is fair use. They are famous parts of our world, and you're allowed to talk about them in your fiction.

In contexts where using the real name is not OK (like labeling a product), using a nickname won't help you. You can't call your publishing company "The UCLA Press" and then argue that it stands for the University of Candles at Los Alamos. We know what you meant.

Re Anne Rivers Siddons and main characters...the best friend in "Heartbreak Hotel" is called a Pi Beta Phi by name, even though she was certainly breaking all kinds of standards that would have been in place in Alabama in the 1950's.

Yeah, but ultimately she's presented in a positive light. I'm thinking of the nutjob from Outer Banks who tried to kill the other girls, LOL.

Yes - many of the ADAs mention that they went to Columbia, Abby went to Texas, but the crimes always occur at fictional Hudson.

In "Brokeback Mountain" they refer to two of the women as a Kappa Phi and Tri-Delt.

Paris Geller attended a Sigma Chi party last night on the Gilmore Girls.

What she said!

Craig T. Nelson is not a Beta.

I saw that and thought of this thread :D

Lucy Lui (a Chi Omega alumn) was on "Ugly Betty" last night. The back story is that Daniel stood her up in college. He was supposed to take her to a Sigma Phi party.

They had the TW episode on the other night.

My mom said "Aren't they missing a letter? Greeks are supposed to have 3 letters".

No, mom.:rolleyes: ;)