Auburn, CA – The Hollywood Reporter shared on Tuesday that Sony Pictures is suing Knee Deep Brewing over its Breaking Bad-inspired “Breaking Bud” beer. Breaking Bud has been a sales boon at craft beer shops since its introduction a few years ago, leading the brewery to package it in cans as well as bottles.
As Knee Deep CEO, Jerry Moore, notes in a social media post on Wednesday, however, Sony previously acknowledged the beer and appreciated the nod to the popular show. Read on below…
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From our CEO, regarding our friends at Sony:
I was surprised by the unexpected lawsuit filed against us by Sony yesterday, especially after they originally contacted us many years ago touting their appreciation of our Breaking Bud beer that made gentle fun of their show. Shortly after Breaking Bud was introduced, in early 2015, I actually received an email from a Sony representative that said, “It seems the Knee Deep team are big fans of Breaking Bad and we really appreciate the call out to our very popular show.”
Soon thereafter I spoke with the Sony representative and we discussed the potential benefits of a formal partnership between Knee Deep and Sony but we ultimately decided not to pursue such a partnership because, among other things, our label has always been meant as a joke and not something seriously connected to the show. At no point, during those discussions, did Sony ever threaten to sue Knee Deep over the name of the beer. I’ve always been under the impression that Sony had no issue with our Breaking Bud beer since, after all, the Sony rep is the one who told me he “appreciate(ed) the call out to our very popular show” which is hardly what one would expect from someone who thinks they can sue you for the “call out” if you don’t pay them a licensing fee, which is what I gather they now want from us.
Breaking Bud is one of our more successful beers, and I think our customers appreciate that the quirky label is a joke. No one has ever thought the joke meant we were endorsed by Breaking Bad. We are a small brewery and I don’t appreciate the distraction, not to mention the expense of having to deal with something that should have been addressed 3 years ago if Sony really had an issue with it.
At the end of the day, the quality of the beer is what has made Breaking Bud popular and we should all be able to take a joke.
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Coincidentally, Knee Deep has released a beer on draft called RU-Deep-2 and a label approval from the TTB this week shows that the company has bigger plans for that beer. The label reveals that Star Wars character, R2-D2, is the inspiration behind the name though The Walt Disney Company has a registered trademark on R2-D2. R2-D2 peeks out at the bottom of the label and the label copy references the Star Wars universe.
What does Sony expect them to do at this point?
It seems totally unfair to let the label and brand grow for 3 years and then file suit.
And what kind of damages can Sony claim? If anything it’s to their benefit.
They think Sony is bad about this and then they decide to parody a Disney property? Do they have a death wish? Disney has its own copyright hit squad if they think they are in hot water now just wait. As a side i think the lawsuit is total bs and id tell Sony where they can stick it. They shouldve gotten written proof of what the sony rep said and sony would have no case. Too bad i hope it doesnt ruin thier brewery
They would have submitted the label approval for the RU-Deep-2 beer prior to this week, before they got hit with the Sony lawsuit. So the question is more whether they go through with packaging the beer with that same label which clearly shows the connection to the R2-D2 character.