Weinstein Company Loses Appeal to Use Movie Title ‘The Butler’
In an appeals decision on Friday, the film industry’s Title Registration Bureau upheld an earlier ruling that the Weinstein Company was violating bureau rules by calling a coming film “The Butler,†but said the company may use a variation on the title by adding the name of the director, Lee Daniels.
The title “The Butler†is protected by Warner Brothers, which owns a short film by that name. Weinstein has publicly criticized Warner for asserting that right. But it failed in the appeal, and was ordered by the registration bureau to pay $400,000 to the Entertainment Industry Foundation as a penalty for having used the title to date without authorization, and to pay Warner’s legal fees, up to $150,000.
The appeals decision also said Weinstein would face an additional penalty of up to $50,000 a day if it continued to use the title. A Warner spokesman declined to comment, and a spokeswoman for Weinstein had no immediate comment. The film is set for release on Aug. 16.
