Dog Breeder Sues Movie Studio Over Famous Canine Name: Rin Tin Tin
A Texas dog breeder whose family has been protecting the legacy of Rin Tin Tin for more than 50 years says in a lawsuit that a new movie has sullied it.
Daphne Hereford contends that Finding Rin Tin Tin, a foreign movie that was released on DVD in this country last month, doesn’t star her own carefully bred descendants of the famous canine movie star of the 1920s, reports the Houston Chronicle. Her trademark infringement suit was filed in federal court in Houston.
“In her lawsuit against Los Angeles-based First Look Studios Inc. and four affiliates, Hereford states that she’s concerned about the confusion created by the new movie, because her dogs don’t appear, the story isn’t completely accurate, and the dog’s behavior isn’t up to snuff. She might ask that all copies of Finding Rin Tin Tin in the United States be destroyed,” the newspaper article recounts.
The original Rin Tin Tin, from whom Hereford’s dogs are descended, was a German Shepherd puppy found by a U.S. soldier during World War I in the rubble of a dog kennel in France.
