(Tampa, FL) – Cigar City Brewing recently called an audible on its Churchill Barley Wine label. As I suggested on Saturday, it turns out that a ‘formal’ request did come down from Britain. Cigar City Founder/Owner, Joey Redner, had this to say on the matter:
We had absolute legal standing to use both the name and likeness. I chose not to out of courtesy to the family of a man who is one of my personal heroes. In the USA, Personality Rights are treated as inheritable property rights and fall under the jurisdiction of state law rather than federal law. In Florida (the only state the beer was to be sold), at 46 years deceased Churchill’s likeness and name are fair game:
(5) No action shall be brought under this section by reason of any publication, printing, display, or other public use of the name or likeness of a person occurring after the expiration of 40 years from and after the death of such person.
These laws vary from state to state. In Indiana, it is 100 years! But Florida is only 40 years and Churchill died in 65. But, as I said I didn’t want to use the image–rather I rightfully could or not–if the family was set against it. So we are quietly honoring the request that we not use the name and as you noted on beernews.org we have changed the name of the beer to Church on a Hill and have removed any likeness of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill. If the heirs of Sir Winston give their blessing then I will redo the beer with the old label. Legally, anyone selling a product in Florida could do so now.
When asked when Church on a Hill and Roosevelt (the other upcoming Barley Wine) would be released, Redner said, “Should be no more than two weeks before they are ready to sell.” Both beers are a collaborative project with Swamp Head Brewery.
It seems to me that if Redner really want to honor the family’s request he would’ve changed the beer label completely instead of just removing the face, doing some wordplay, and writing “A British Prime Minister.” This is the equivalent of a child holding their finger near their sibling’s face and saying, “I’m not touching you. I’m not touching you.” Yes, the likeness is no longer there on the label, but if the family had a problem with Churchill being associated with the beer, my guess is they’re still disappointed with this outcome because he’s still very much associated with this beer. Poor form, Cigar City.
Have to agree with you Bill. This is worse than just ignoring their wish altogether – it’s rubbing it in their face.
Hey Bill…read what the man said. If its one of his personal heroes then its pretty obvious to me that the playful name and outline of Churchill is being left behind for a reason. Its the best of both worlds…the nod to Churchill remains, but the likeness is removed out of courtesy to the family. ‘Poor form’, as you say, would be changing nothing and incurring no further business expense to relabel the bottles since there is no legal obligation to have done so. I think Joe and CCB are in good shape with this move and I look forward to trying both of these barleywines.
Maybe it’s a Photoshop tongue in cheek done by beernews and it wont actually appear that way on the actual bottle. A little too hasty to declare poor form on Cigar City
Made me laugh.
Bah humbug…
Not a big deal. If the barley wine was outstanding, a compliment to the family. (There are a whole host of products which use the Prime Minister’s Name – start with cigars). I’m not sure that the folks at the brewery know very much about history. I’m not sure that I would have supported a Roosevelt named product …. for reasons less obvious to those educated at public schools.