Baby Gaga Lawsuit - Lady Gaga Thinks She Owns Baby Language
    By Hank Campbell | March 6th 2011 11:41 AM | 4 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments
    In newspaper cartoon serials 100 years ago and in real life for millenia, babies have said "goo goo" and "gaga" - but one recently famous pop music star, who lifted her moniker from Queen's "Radio Gaga", somehow thinks she owns it now.

    The Icecreamists Limited, a London restaurant, have a breast milk ice cream(!) named "Baby Gaga" and, if that is not weird enough, Lady Gaga thinks that infringes her trademark.    In capitalizing on the fame of Lady Gaga, the ice cream, with milk expressed from 15 lactating women, is brought out by waitresses in goofy costumes.    Someone else wearing goofy costumes was enough to put Lady Gaga over the edge.   Good thing for her David Bowie doesn't feel the same way.

    Westminster City Council has banned the sale of the ice cream, though not because the waitresses may wear meat dresses or that Stefani Germanotta thinks she invented baby talk - but rather for health reasons.   They are worried about hepatitis and other diseases.  The restaurant contends the milk donors are screened using the  procedures as blood and milk banks in London.   Heck, I didn't even know they had milk banks in London.

    Comments

    No, Lady GaGa doesn't believe she owns the word "gaga." She believes she owns her image and her brand which this company has been infringing upon by having their waitresses dressing up as HER. The waitresses were not dressing up in goofy costumes but as actual impersonations of Lady GaGa. That's why she's upset. Furthermore, she doesn't approve of the product because she also acknowledges that the ice cream is potentially dangerous since there are no strict regulations over disease screening.

    I understand where you're coming from, however this was deemed unsuitable for human consumption. With the costumes and name obviously a reference to her, she doesn't want to be associated with something the health board thinks people shouldn't be eating. She's not just greedy about the name "gaga", she just doesn't want people thinking she's affiliated with a product that's possibly harmful.

    Hank
    For someone who shamelessly ripped off Madonna in her latest song, Queen in her name, and David Bowie in her schtick to contend no one else can use 'artistic license' in how they dress seems a little dishonest.  

    The ice cream sounds kinda creepy, I agree.   But she is going to lose this one.    Free speech and fair use certainly do extend to parodies and there is no question she can be parodied in a restaurant, just like if Halloween masks this autumn have Ronald Reagan faces or anyone else famous.

    It may still get banned for health reasons but Gaga and Baby have gone together for a lot longer than she has been alive.  What she hopes to do is make it expensive for them to use it, which is another matter.   
    Yes, Lady GaGa DOES believe she owns the word "gaga." As a purveyor of very childish image, she does not want the world to realize how childish she is by remembering the age-old meaning of the world gaga (connected to baby talk) before Stephanie co-opted it. I'd find it amusing if someone like Raffi who makes songs for children would call herself or himself Baby Gaga and come out on stage in a giant diaper and a pacifer worn on a necklace. No one would be amused (or upset) if gaga would make music for the over 17-crowd. "I wanna take a ride on your disco stick." Ha ha. Great lyrics.

    Add a comment

    The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
    • Allowed HTML tags: <sup> <sub> <a> <em> <strong> <center> <cite><TH><ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <img> <br> <p> <blockquote> <strike> <object> <param> <embed> <del> <pre> <b> <i> <table> <tbody> <div> <tr> <td> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr> <iframe><u><font>
    • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
    CAPTCHA
    If you register, you will never be bothered to prove you are human again. And you get a real editor toolbar to use instead of this HTML thing that wards off spam bots.