Alright Alright Alright!!

At the start of my sophomore year at William & Mary, FOG:TB Ian said "You have to see this movie" so we went to the theater on DOG Street and what I saw changed my life.  We brought other people to see it and they all loved it too.  Since then I've rewatched it more than any other film and not always by choice because it seemingly played nonstop at Unit M.  Dazed and Confused is a masterpiece, one amazing scene runs into another.  Like this:

It features a bunch of people who went on to become famous like Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich and Parker Posey, and it's the first movie appearance for a few actors including Joey Lauren Adams ... and Matthew McConaughey.  Since then, McConaughey had an incredibly impressive career but his first line, "Alright alright alright!" sticks with him today.

So much so that when people impersonate McConaughey they almost always say "Alright alright alright."

You could say "Alright alright alright" is his trademark.  Because it is, legally.  He registered it.

I've written a bunch of trademark posts but there is no trademarks label.  Until today!

Trademarks are a form of intellectual property that protects a brand--they indicate the source of the goods or services to which they are attached.  They are typically words, like Coca-Cola, or logos, like the Nike swoosh.  But they can also be smells (like the smell of Play-Doh) or sounds (like the NBC chimes).  Here's a link to many other sound marks.  Neat, right?!

McConaughey registered ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT as both a word mark and a sound mark.  As with all trademarks, these registrations are limited to specific goods and services.  The word mark is limited to clothing, but more interestingly the sound mark is limited to "Downloadable audio-visual media content, namely, downloadable audio and video recordings in the field of self-help, human growth and spirituality; Downloadable audio-visual media content, namely, downloadable audio and video recordings in the field of entertainment featuring television series, comedies, and dramas."  Apparently he's trying to prevent people from using AI to simulate and misappropriate his catchphrase.  He also registered two videos of him saying the phrase.

These registrations are held by his non-profit company J.K. Livin Brands, Inc. which holds 49 registered trademarks and 6 pending applications.  The registered marks include another video "of The actor, Matthew McConaughey, standing outdoors on a porch speaking and gesturing," which I can't get to work but they include a JPEG.  Parenthetically, the pending marks include "THE GREATEST INVITATION IN THE WORLD. THE SOCCER BALL." and "PECKER POP."  

This is an interesting approach to protecting a famous person's likeness beyond right of publicity as it gives a federal statutory hook on which to hang a complaint.  But don't worry, we're still free to say "alright alright alright" so long as we aren't saying it to sell human growth and spirituality services (for the same reason I can make my kids to their chores by saying "Just do it!" without fear of Nike suing me).  So just keep livin' man, L-I-V-I-N.