Reading list: empirically testing tarnishment of movies

Christopher Buccafusco, Paul J. Heald, & Wen Bu, Testing Tarnishment in Trademark and Copyright Law: The Effect of Pornographic Versions of Protected Marks and Works:

 

This Article [reports] the results of two novel experiments designed to test the effects of pornographic versions of creative works on the value of the underlying works. In our experiments, subjects viewed movie posters of pornographic versions of popular movies before they were asked questions about those movies. Our data show little if any support for the tarnishment hypothesis and some significant support for an alternative enhancement hypothesis: Some of our subjects actually perceived more value in the “tarnished” movies. We believe the results of these experiments put the ball back into the court of tarnishment theorists to prove their anxiety has a factual basis.

 

Good to see some empirical confirmation of the position I’ve long taken (wow, I’ve had this blog for more than ten years!).