Shelby trust prevails in mustang eleanor copyright lawsuit

[cycleguy55]

The Ford Mustang known as “Eleanor” skyrocketed to fame thanks to its starring role in the Gone in 60 Seconds movie remake back in 2000, which inspired quite a few folks to build their own recreation of the Shelby Mustang GT500-inspired build. Problem is, the Mustang Eleanor trademark actually belongs to Denice Shakarian Halicki, the widow of H.B. Halicki, who created the original 1974 film and died in an accident while filming what was supposed to be the sequel in 1989. Via her company, Eleanor Licensing LLC, Halicki has since shut down numerous Mustang Eleanor projects, had cars seized, and even won a lawsuit against Carroll Shelby, who attempted to copyright and license the customer version of the Eleanor Mustang he created for the Gone in 60 Seconds reboot. Now, however, the Shelby Trust has prevailed in its ongoing legal battle over this matter.



Following this long legal battle, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has ruled in Shelby’s favor, noting that the Eleanor code-named vehicles shown in Gone in 60 Seconds – as well as The Junkman and Deadline Auto Theft movies – are not deserving of any character copyright protection, as Halicki and her legal team argued.

Halicki said that the Shelby models appearing in those movies comprised a single copyrightable character that belonged to her, and that this character copyright prohibited Shelby from licensing other people and companies to manufacture, sell, or auction Shelby GT500 models. Halicki has since sued or threatened to sue a number of companies and individuals that allegedly violated that copyright.



“We can finally tell all our important licensees and Shelby GT500 owners that Mrs. Halicki has absolutely no right to complain about or file a lawsuit based upon the looks of any car licensed by the Shelby Trust. That is exactly why we had to go to the extreme time and expense of pursuing our claims against Mrs. Halicki in court. The true value of all Shelby GT500s is now secure with this news.”

https://fordauthority.com/2022/12/sh...right-lawsuit/

BTW, there's no mention of how this affects other creators of 'Eleanor' Mustangs. Will Halicki still sue them, will Shelby sue them, or does this mean there's effectively no copyright protection over the 'Eleanor' style and therefore anyone can create their own Eleanor clone?

[Mark IV]

I had hoped Shelby had more taste than to WANT to claim that afterbirth.......

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by Mark IV

I had hoped Shelby had more taste than to WANT to claim that afterbirth.......

Kind of a moot point for CS at this point

Bottom line, someone gets to make money off of it, it's this greed that makes good people do bad things.


Bill S.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

... it's this greed that makes good people do bad things.

And sometimes bad people good things.

[1985 CCX]

Crazy that these movie car replicas sell for more than a real Shelby.... Crazy

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by 1985 CCX

Crazy that these movie car replicas sell for more than a real Shelby.... Crazy

That's because the perception of worth is not what something is, but rather what it is believed to be.

[cycleguy55]

Originally Posted by patrickt

That's because the perception of worth is not what something is, but rather what it is believed to be.

Satisfaction is a measure of perception against expectation.

Reality isn't part of the equation.

[twobjshelbys]

I'm not sure how to read the ruling. Does it mean that Shelby has the right to use Eleanor by the virtue of the ruling is against Halicki that she DOESN'T and that therefore anyone can use it, including Shelby? Yet Shelby seems to be claiming some protection for GT500 owners.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

I'm not sure how to read the ruling. Does it mean that Shelby has the right to use Eleanor by the virtue of the ruling is against Halicki that she DOESN'T and that therefore anyone can use it, including Shelby? Yet Shelby seems to be claiming some protection for GT500 owners.

I read it that the estate of Halicki does not have exclusive rights to the "Eleanor" name. It really is unclear if this is now in the open domain where anyone can use it to label whatever they decide to sell in the automotive realm.

Bill S.

[Harpoon PV2]

Kind of funny, since Carroll didn't even want to do the Mustang program, Ford had to force him! I am sure he had little to no direct involvement with the GT500, he was off chasing his ultimate dream, the GT40 program! Cheers, Dennis

[twobjshelbys]

Originally Posted by mrmustang

I read it that the estate of Halicki does not have exclusive rights to the "Eleanor" name. It really is unclear if this is now in the open domain where anyone can use it to label whatever they decide to sell in the automotive realm.

Bill S.

So it sounds to me like Shelby (Trust) said "If I can't have exclusive rights then let's be sure noone else can" and settled for being one of many.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by twobjshelbys

So it sounds to me like Shelby (Trust) said "If I can't have exclusive rights then let's be sure noone else can" and settled for being one of many.

What more needs to be said.

[Buddy Rawls]

Eleanor Mustang. What the hell is that? It’s a movie car, like the Corvette Summer Corvette, Or like a clown car. A joke. It’s like naming a car Mister Pickles. There should be absolutely no cross-relationship of Shelby GT500 to a movie car. Eleanor Mustangs, whatever the hell that is have became a rage. I guess someone is wanting to cash in. Most likely the Eleanor bunch. Kudos for Shelby Organization for wanting to nip this. Whenever I see one at a show, I ask what it is. I usually wow, people will do anything, and walk on.

[Redfish]

Wouldn’t it be Gone in 600 seconds?!

Originally Posted by mrmustang

What more needs to be said.

[Harpoon PV2]

All depends on what engine it has in it!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vExpEl0_5-Y

[twobjshelbys]

This must have shaken something loose. The Barrett Jackson Scottsdale 2023 auction has Eleanors coming out of the weeds AND they are getting stupid money. I can't say it's alcohol driven either since it's too early for the serious drinkers to be active.

[eschaider]

'A fool and his money are soon parted.' — Tom Tusser, English Poet 1524 - 1580