Editing Grand Ole Opry (section)

==Commercialization==
[[File:Grand ole opry 1999.jpg|thumb|[[June Carter Cash]] at the Opry in 1999]]
The company has enforced its [[trademark]] on the name "Grand Ole Opry", with trademark registrations in the United States and in numerous countries around the world. It has taken court action to limit use of the word "Opry"—not directly trademarked—to members of the Opry and products associated with or licensed by it and to discourage use of the word in ways that would imply a connection to the Grand Ole Opry.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=WSM Back in Court Again - Files 2d Suit Over Name|magazine=Billboard|date=May 24, 1969 |volume=81|issue=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KygEAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA51|page=51}}</ref> In late 1968, for instance, WSM sued Opry Records, a record label that was independent of WSM,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Opry Records Sued For Infringement|magazine=Billboard|date=December 14, 1968 |volume=80|issue=50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA29|access-date=December 9, 2012|page=29}}</ref> and the court decided that "the record is replete with newspaper and magazine articles and clippings which demonstrate conclusively that the term 'Opry', standing alone as defendant has used it, is constantly used in country and western music circles in referring to plaintiff's 'Grand Ole Opry{{'"}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=WSM v. Bailey, United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.297 F. Supp. 870 (M.D. Tenn. 1969), at 872-3.}}</ref> The court also stated "the defendant has appropriated, at its peril, the dominant or salient term in the plaintiff's mark, a term which identified the 'Grand Ole Opry' in the mind of the public many years before the inception of 'Opry Records'—the name adopted by defendant".<ref>{{cite book|title=WSM v. Bailey, 297 F. Supp. 870 (M.D. Tenn. 1969), at 873.}}</ref>

In another case, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board granted summary judgment that the term "Opry" is a generic term (and thus no more protected than the words "Grand" or "Ole"), but the Federal Circuit court reversed this decision.<ref>{{cite book|title=Opryland USA, Inc. v. The Great American Music Show, Inc., 970 F.2d 847 (Fed. Cir. 1992).}}</ref> As recently as 2009, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board granted judgment against Texas Opry House, LLC, which had filed a trademark application for TEXAS OPRY HOUSE.<ref>{{cite book|title=US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, opposition number 91188534.}}</ref>

In 2004, the ''Grand Ole Opry'' sold [[naming rights]] to its first "presenting sponsor", [[Cracker Barrel]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Lovel|first=Jim|title=Cracker Barrel Reloads Marketing Arsenal|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/cracker-barrel-reloads-marketing-arsenal-76791|magazine=AdWeek|access-date=December 9, 2012|date=December 20, 2004}}</ref> Insurance company [[Humana]] became a sponsor in September 2007,<ref>{{cite news |title=Humana becomes Grand Ole Opry sponsor |date=2007-09-06 |work=Louisville Business First |publisher=[[American City Business Journals]] |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2007/09/03/daily27.html |access-date=2023-05-08 |url-access=subscription |quote=Health insurer Humana Inc. will try to appeal to Grand Ole Opry patrons by becoming an official sponsor of the country music venue.}}</ref> was the presenting sponsor by no later than January 2010,<ref>{{cite web |title=Grand Ole Opry {{!}} Sponsors |date=2010-01-13 |publisher=Grand Ole Opry |url=http://www.opry.com/about/Sponsors.html |access-date=2023-05-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113184609/http://www.opry.com/about/Sponsors.html |archive-date=2010-01-13 |quote=Humana - Presenting Sponsor of the Grand Ole Opry}}</ref> and still holds that top sponsorship level as of May 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=Grand Ole Opry |date=2023-05-08 |publisher=Grand Ole Opry |url=http://www.opry.com |access-date=2023-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230508104018/https://www.opry.com/ |archive-date=2023-05-08 |url-status=live |quote=Presented by Humana}}</ref>