Berra Sues Over Theft of Intellectual Property
The Daily Probe - November 30, 2000
The context for this and other Daily Probe articles is provided here.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (DPI) - Overlooked in all the Election 2000 hoopla
is the civil suit filed by former Yankee great Yogi Berra over the
unauthorized use of his name and his words. "I understand the 'it
ain't over till the fat lady sings' thing and the 'it's like deja
vu all over again' thing," said a distraught Berra, "because those
have been in the pubic domain for years. But now both sides have
crossed the river and it's taking money out of my ability to earn."
Court documents reveal that the case will center on Al Gore's
frequent unattributed use of the phrase, "We have to make sure
every vote counts." Berra famously uttered that witticism in a
1947 game against the St. Louis Cardinals when a teammate asked
him to pass the peanuts. The game had to be suspended as the Yanks
erupted into gut-hurting laughter and the guy never got his peanuts.
George W. Bush is also named in the suit for his use of the phrase,
"Let's see what Dick says," which Yogi said in 1952 when a reporter
asked him for a comment following a controversial win over the
Washington Senators.
Newspaper columnists across America have also been put on notice
because, even though the "fat lady sings" and the "deja vu" phrases
are public domain, their overuse, even (or especially) with a
twinkly-eyed affectionate nod to Berra, can cause one to be branded
an unoriginal twit, fit only to write margin jokes for Readers
Digest.
"I have a reputation that needs to be protracted," said Berra, "And
I'll peruse whatever legal auction I can to make sure that my good
name is not varnished."
- Reported by Chris Jones
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