BACK TO DEAR OLD SIWASH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01365R000300090013-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 29, 2004
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: December 19, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YORK So, " - G I.
Approved For Rele JLi%WOT/4YIRDP88-01365RO003000900W ~7Yt~e
DEC 191964
Back .to Dear Old Siwas'h
Justice Greenberg, in granting the
University of Notre Dame a temporary
injunction against the distribution of
the film "John Goldfarb, Please Come
Home," and of the book on which it
was based, has written an extremely
interesting and provocative discussion
of the right of property in a name, of
the respective bounds of the private
right to privacy and the public right
to know. Whether his ruling will
stand up on appeal is a question; in
any case, his .wide-ranging opinion
must give all in the field of commu-
nications cause to think.
In essence, Justice _Greenberg held
that the producers. of the film and the,
author of the book had used the name
and fame of Notre Dame for purely
commercial reasons; that the heart
of the offense did not lie in the fact
that the football team from South
Bend was portrayed in a manner
which Might imply criticism, but in
portraying at all for no better reason
than that ' it was famous. This, said
the Justice, was "the blatant market-
ing of another's property."'
The clear implication of the opinion
is that unauthorized use of the name
and symbols of an institution, whether.
in portrayal or caricature, can be
justified if there is a public interest
to be served=but only they. Usually,
when a private institution or indi-.
vidual,.is selected as a dramatic theme,.
either in play or in novel, the subject's
assent, is- secured, or, in the case of
persons, care is taken to assure that
the individual involved is beyond
reach of the courts. Since ",Rasputin
and the Empress," moving picture
producers have been particularly
careful on the latter point. Institu-
tions, too, generally ignore pinpricks.
But when does the theatrical imita-
tion of, say, a Harvard accent become
a travesty on Harvard University ar ci.
an unwarranted use of one of its
symbols? How about Frank Merri
weil, who rose to fame on the coattails
of Elihu Yale?
There are obscure areas in the
realms of privacy and property. Does
the public right to know include the
public's.. right to be amused? Doubtless
there ' will be other tests of. this
principle in other cases=-and. that of
Notre Dame vs.. John Goldfarb has,
not yet, run its course. For the'
moment, it would seem that the safest
course for any one planning to use
an educational institution as a comic
.setting is to label it Dear Old Siwash
A pseudonym can cover a multitude
of campus sins
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP88-01365R000300090013-4