5 Copyright Battles Over Halloween Masks

As long-time readers know, Halloween is an important holiday for me. In late October, I run a charity/home haunted house that takes up a lot of my time, and I consider this my busiest time of the year.

However, that hasn’t stopped me from covering a slew of Halloween-related copyright and plagiarism stories. From vampires to zombies to Frankenstein’s monster to The Twilight Zone, copyright has played a significant role in everything spooky.

However, a recent post by Aaron Moss on Copyright Lately reminded me that I haven’t talked much about masks.

Masks are a crucial part of Halloween. From kid’s costumes to many of the greatest horror characters, makes are a core part of the holiday.

However, they are also 3D sculptures. As we’ll see, they are protected by copyright and often become the center of copyright battles.

So, in celebration of Halloween, here are three copyright battles over iconic masks.

1: THE Halloween Mask

The 1978 film Halloween brought the character of Michael Myers to life. One of the best-known pieces of trivia involving the film is that the iconic mask Myers wears was based on a mold of William Shatner’s head.

However, the company that created the mask, Don Post Studios (DPS), did not reserve any rights to it. They sought permission to sell the mask but were denied a license by the filmmakers. Undeterred, they modified the mask some and began selling their “Don Post the Mask” version.

Interestingly, that did not prompt a lawsuit. That happened with Cinema Secrets getting a license for the mask and selling theirs. DPS sued, alleging their mask infringed on the “Don Post the Mask” version.

However, there was a major problem. DPS had previously been denied a copyright registration, with the US Copyright Office determining that there was insufficient creativity to grant it. The court upheld that decision, saying that Don Post the Mask didn’t have enough originality for copyright protection.

2: Crescent Moon Rising

During the mid-1980s, McDonald’s tried to boost lagging evening sales by launching a series of 29 commercials featuring the character Mac Tonight. The crooner character, played by Doug Jones, would sing about getting McDonald’s late at night.

However, the character also featured a prominent mask shaped like a crescent moon. This upset Nobert Pasillas, who had previously created a similar mask. This prompted him to file a lawsuit against McDonald’s Corp.

Unfortunately for Pasillas, the lawsuit didn’t go very far. The lower court provided summary judgment in favor of McDonald’s, saying that the similarities between the masks could not be protected by copyright. Pasillas appealed to the Ninth Circuit, but the decision was upheld.

The courts noted that Pasillas’ original mask featured an older-looking face, whereas McDonald’s version was more youthful. The courts also determined that the similarities between the works, namely the shape of the mask, were not protectable.

3: The Fight Over Luchasaurus’ Mask

In January 2023, Composite Effects (CFX) filed a lawsuit against All Elite Wrestling and Austin Matelson, then known as Luchasaurus, over the use of one of their designs in Luchasaurus’ mask.

According to CFX, the issue wasn’t Luchasaurus performing while wearing the mask. The problem was that AEW featured the mask in merchandising and promotion outside the scope of the live performance.

CFX further claimed they had tried to work out a deal with AEW for years to no avail.

The two sides settled the lawsuit later that year. The terms of the settlement are not known. Shortly after that settlement, Luchasaurus, now known as Killswitch, debuted a new mask.

4: Scary Terry

In November 2018, Eastern Unlimited filed a copyright and trademark lawsuit against NBA player Terry Rozier, alleging that he had been selling merchandise featuring their “Scream” mask.

Easter Unlimited is the rightsholder to the mask featured in the Scream films. While they had no issue with Rozier wearing the mask, they claimed he crossed the line when including it in his marketing and merchandise.

The case dragged on for nearly three years. During that time, Easter Unlimited had changed its name to Fun World. However, the judge ruled against Fun World, saying that Rozier’s use was satire and protected under fair use.

However, that decision has proved very controversial, with many saying that the court overreached in its conclusions. That said, no appeal has been filed.

5: The Spirit of Halloween

Finally, battles over masks aren’t just for federal court; the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) has had one, too.

In June 2022, fantasy artist Thomas Wood filed a claim with the CCB targeting the retail chain Spirit Halloween. According to the claim, he had created a painting entitled Ringmaster: Dark Carnival. The painting featured a character with white and black face paint and an elongated chin.

He claimed that Spirit copied his design when creating their winning Ringmaster mask, which was sold in stores and online. The CCB initially denied his claim, saying he had not proven Spirit had access to the work. However, he amended the claim to note that a Spirit employee had admitted to the copying and that his work was widely available online and elsewhere.

The CCB then moved the claim forward. However, before Spirit even responded, Wood moved to dismiss the case because a settlement had been reached.

In a stroke of pure poetry, the CCB dismissed the claim on Halloween Day 2022.

Bottom Line

These cases are fairly pedestrian overall. They deal with common copyright issues such as fair use, copyrightability, and access to original works. These issues come up all the time when discussing music, movies, books and other copyright-protected works.

That’s because, for the purpose of copyright, masks are simply another type of protected work.

However, that doesn’t mean mask creators don’t face unique challenges. Since masks are often based on human faces, there may be serious limits to what can be protected and selling a mask grants an implied license to use it, but the boundaries are often unclear.

However, every type of work has its own set of complexities and limitations. It’s not as if musicians and authors don’t have similar issues. It’s just that we hear about masks a lot less.

Still, it is interesting to see how copyright has shaped mask-making and mask usage, especially at Halloween. It is the one time of the year when a significant percentage of the population will purchase and wear masks.

So have a happy Halloween, and may your mask be free of intellectual property troubles!