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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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081489
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08148900.008
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1990-09-17
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BUSINESS, Page 55Business NotesTRADEMARKSImitated But Not Flattered
The folks at Cliffs Notes can't seem to take a joke. Last week
the purveyor of the plot summaries so dear to lazy students won a
court battle to prevent Doubleday from distributing Spy Notes, a
Spy magazine parody.
Billed as a "guide to the books everyone talks about and some
people even read," Spy Notes satirizes hip, urban novels. A chapter
synopsis of a Tama Janowitz novel: "Eleanor goes to Wilfredo's
apartment for a dinner party. The couples are all men. The reader
understands that Wilfredo is homosexual. Eleanor does not. This is
called dramatic irony."
Cliffs Notes objected to a takeoff on its trademarked cover
design. "The defense `parody' does not magically dispel what would
otherwise be an infringement," said its attorney. A federal judge
agreed. Doubleday plans an appeal.