‘Eleanor’ Mustang Rights Holder Kills Epic YouTube Build (and, Worst of All, Takes the Man’s Mustang)
Trademark holders need to enforce their rights (or risk losing them), but taking a man’s Mustang is an uncrossable line.
Here’s something I’ve never seen before. A few months ago, we covered an amazing car build over at the YouTube channel, B is for Build. YouTuber Chris Steinbacher and his team had set out to turn a salvaged 2015 Mustang GT into a 1967 Mustang GT500 that looked like Eleanor from the 2000 film, Gone in 60 Seconds. The idea was simple and engaging: have a cool, custom classic Mustang on the outside while retaining the power, performance, and comforts of a modern pony.
Chris Steinbacher / B is for Build
But as of today, Steinbacher announced that he has not only canceled the rest of the build, but also unpublished every video in the series and was forced to surrender his Mustang, which is infuriating for so many reasons.
We had a running and driving ’67 Mustang. After that, when we moved onto the styling and look of the car, we wanted to make it look like Eleanor from the movie Gone in 60 Seconds. And that’s when we ran into a bit of an issue. I didn’t know it at the time, but I recently found out that Eleanor is actually a copyrighted and trademarked character in that movie. And because of that, you can’t go build an Eleanor without a first getting a license for the Eleanor name and look and image as she appears in the Gone in 60 Seconds movie. And because of that, you will notice that the videos that we had previously filmed on that series are all gone. The Mustang that we had built is now property of Gone in 60 Seconds. And the Mustang build is over. It’s done.
Steinbacher’s 2015 Mustang GT Pre-Build / B is for Build
For anyone familiar with copyright law, this probably isn’t a huge surprise. I remember watching the early videos in this build and wondering aloud to my wife about whether or not Steinbacher had secured the necessary rights. But I, not being a lawyer, assumed that if he purchased licensed body panels, he would be okay.
We were all wrong, friends.
Denice Shakarian Halicki / Gonein60Seconds.com
Who Owns Eleanor
Eleanor’s history is a touch complex, so let’s back up a little bit.
In 1974, H.B. “Toby” Halicki wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the original Gone in 60 Seconds film. If you haven’t seen it, it’s one of the greatest car-crash movies ever made. A true indie-actioner that dedicates most of its running time to an insane chase sequence starring a yellow 1971 Mustang Fastback named, you guessed it, Eleanor. It was filmed in the cities Long Beach and Torrance just south of Los Angeles and, during my most recent revisit, it turns out the film’s climax actually takes place at the (now) Cadillac dealership where I service my wife’s car. (Living in Los Angeles reveals tons of familiar movie and TV settings, if you live here long enough.)
Gone in 60 Seconds Eleanor (1974) / Halicki Films
Halicki passed away in 1989 during the filming “a new Gone in 60 Seconds in 1989 which was not a remake, sequel or based off the 1974 Gone in 60 Seconds.” His passing left Halicki’s widow, Denice Shakarian Halicki, with the rights to the film. She later struck a deal with the Disney owned Hollywood Pictures, which lead to the 2000 remake film starring Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie. In the Gone remake, the coveted Eleanor Mustang appears as a highly customized silver 1967 GT500, which was made by none other than Carroll Shelby.
After the film’s release, Shelby filed for copyright and trademark on “his” 1967 GT500 Eleanor so that he could license replicas to a company called Unique Performance. But Unique Performance eventually filed for bankruptcy after numerous customers claimed fraud over incomplete builds. Around the same time, Denice Halicki sued Shelby and Unique Performance over trademarks and copyright infringement, claiming that her agreement with Disney gave her ownership over the Eleanor brand. And even though Shelby’s Eleanor doesn’t resemble the original visually in any way, Halicki ultimately prevailed in the courts.
So, while Disney owns the rights to the MOVIE, Denice Halicki appears to own the rights to ANY MUSTANG named Eleanor. As stated on Gonein60Seconds.com:
Under “Eleanor Licensing” banner, Denice made licensing deals to build and to sell “Officially Licensed” replicas Gone in 60 Seconds star car character “Eleanor” as she appears in the Gone in 60 Seconds remake 2000. These 1967 Eleanors have 500 or more Horsepower.
Gone in 60 Seconds Eleanor (2000) / Touchstone Pictures
What a Shame
The truth is that, when you own a Copyright or Trademark, if you don’t enforce your rights, you’re at risk for losing them. From what I read today about Ms. Halicki, she’s spent many years using the legal system fighting for and enforcing her various rights. So, I understand why she couldn’t allow B is for Build to make an unlicensed Eleanor.
What I don’t understand is why the parties involved couldn’t find a way to make the project benefit them both. Why there couldn’t have been a partnership or license agreement made in good faith? Why couldn’t Steinbacher and his team simply remove all of the Eleanor bits and make something that looked more like an actual 1967 Shelby GT500?
And worst of all, why take a man’s Mustang?
That’s horrible enough to make me want to toss out my Gone Blu-rays. That would be pointless, of course. They’re already purchased. But, personally speaking, I don’t think I could buy future Gone merchandise or things like Eleanor models.
Even the way things worked out against Shelby irks me. Again, I’m not a lawyer and these are only rambling opinions. But the original and remake Eleanors are dramatically different vehicles. The 2000 iteration is a wholly unique vehicle that a) never existed in history and b) was never dreamt up by anyone named Halicki.
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