SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL
Our Name and Brand BELONGTOUS Kappa Alpha Psi® and Intellectual Property
The Kappa Alpha Psi ® image is more than just the Greek letters KA Ψ and our commitment to Achievement through ΦΝΠ . The Kappa Alpha Psi ® brand is not only who we are as an organization but also who we want to be as leaders and how we are perceived by the world—all at the same time.
—IHQ Executive Director John F. Burrell
R ecently, Metropolitan Opera Theater (The Met) of New York’s musical production entitled “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” caused significant conversations on social media and within Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., including its highest level. The musical is based on the life of a fraternity member but, unfortu- nately, used in its show our fraternity name, letters, imagery, and actors, who were non-fraternity members performing in fraternity apparel. The producers of the show nor the Met Opera sought ap- proval from Kappa Alpha Psi to use our registered trademark name, letters, and imagery in their production. Whether the show received rousing applause and standing ovations from audiences or received scathing criticism and boos from audiences is irrelevant. The show infringed on the Fraternity’s Intellectual Property (IP). In mid-October 2021, the 34 th Grand Polemarch Reuben A. Shelton III Esq., Senior Grand Vice Polemarch Jimmy
McMikle, and IHQ Executive Director John Burrell met with the management of The Met in New York City. The fraternity leaders successfully negotiated a settlement of its intellectual property dispute about using the fraternity name and symbols in the Met and the show’s producers. Facing the possibility of potential intel- lectual property litigation from Kappa Alpha Psi, the Met agreed to remove all of the Kappa Alpha Psi letters from the costumes and scenery in its produc- tion of Fire Shut Up in My Bones in advance of the performance scheduled for October 23, 2021, and immediately remove from its website and social me- dia platforms all production images (still photos and audio-visual material) that includes the Kappa Alpha Psi letters. The agreement also consists of a taped interview with Grand Polemarch Shelton during the intermission of the interna- tional transmission to movie theaters of the show on October 23, 2021. Grand Polemarch Shelton on the agreement
with the Met:
“The Met agreed to promote the positive aspects of the Fraternity through various means, and they are also going to estab- lish (paid) internships and scholarship programs for our young members who are interested in the arts.” The incident with the Met is a unique, high-profile example of how intellectual property infringement impacts Kappa Alpha Psi, its image, and its brand. For Kappa
Alpha Psi, IP typically involves fraternity par- aphernalia; advertise- ments for sanctioned and non-sanctioned events;
and correct usage of fraternity name, nomen-
46 | FALL 2021 ♦ THE JOURNAL
PUBLISHING ACHIEVEMENT FOR MORE THAN 110 YEARS
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