Editing Debbie Does Dallas (section)

== Legal issues ==

=== Trademark ===
[[File:Dallas-001216-N-1110A-513.jpg|thumb|right|alt=The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders perform on the flight deck for the crew of USS Harry S Truman|The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in uniform]]

New York's [[Pussycat Theater]] was enjoined in 1979 from showing the film by the [[Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders]] under the [[Lanham Act]], arguing that their uniforms were mimicked by the film's producers and used in advertising, infringing on their [[trademark]]s.<ref name="Miller 2002">{{cite book |last1=Miller |first1=Jeffrey |title=Ardor In The Court!: Sex and the Law |date=2002 |publisher=[[ECW Press]] |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-55490-528-7 |pages=152–153 |url=https://archive.org/details/ardorincourtsexl0000mill/page/151/mode/1up?view=theater |url-access=registration}}</ref> The theater argued that uniforms are strictly functional items, but in affirming the lower court's decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the [[Second Circuit]] found that "[i]t is well established that, if the design of an item is nonfunctional and has acquired secondary meaning, the design may become a trademark even if the item itself is functional."<ref name="Miller 2002" /> The decision has been criticized on free speech grounds, but the [[Seventh Circuit]] has cited it for the proposition that "confusion about sponsorship or approval, even when the mark does not mislead consumers about the source of the goods," may be sufficient to state a claim under Lanham Act 43(a).<ref name="Farmany 2001">{{cite journal |last1=Farmany |first1=Tony |title=Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders v. Pussycat Cinema |journal=Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues |date=2001 |volume=12 |pages=275 ff |issn=0896-5595}}</ref>

===Copyright===
When the film opened in October 1978, it was exhibited without a [[copyright notice]]. In 1979, rights-holder M & A Associates entered into an exclusive worldwide video distribution deal with VCX, whereby VCX agreed to pay M & A an advance and make royalty payments on each sale. Upon receiving a print of the film, VCX president Norman Arno contacted M & A president Arthur Weisberg to request copyright protection. Arno also retained the services of attorneys John Lappen and Peter Berger to combat unauthorized copying of the film. Before litigation could commence, VCX was required to add copyright notices to all copies of the film and file registration with the [[United States Copyright Office]]; however, VCX could not protect the rights by just adding a notice to the video cassette, since one also needed to be added to the theatrical prints. In 1981, Berger informed Weisberg of the need to add a copyright notice to the prints that had been sent to various theaters, but Weisberg refused. Both Lappen and Berger concluded the copyright had been lost, and in 1982, VCX terminated their contract with M & A and ceased making royalty payments, but continued to distribute the film. In 1987, M & A brought a case against VCX in the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan]] for breach of contract. VCX argued that the contract was void due to M & A's failure to comply with the [[Copyright Act of 1976]]. The court found in favor of VCX, and the judge ruled that "Weisberg's actions had thrust the film irretrievably into the [[Public domain in the United States|[United States] public domain]]."<ref>{{cite news |first=Eriq |last=Gardner |title=How a Nasty Legal Fight Over 'Deep Throat,' 'Debbie Does Dallas' Was Settled |date=October 26, 2011 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/how-a-nasty-legal-fight-252525 |access-date=August 20, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821123708/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/how-a-nasty-legal-fight-252525 |archive-date=August 21, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite court |litigants=M & A Associates v. VCX |vol=657 |reporter=F. Supp. |opinion=454 |pinpoint=Conclusions para 27 |court=[[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan|E.D. Mich.]] |date=April 8, 1987 |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/657/454/2265366/ |access-date=January 26, 2024 |quote=Although Arno asked Weisberg for copyright protection of the film in early 1979, Weisberg first became aware of the legal significance of the omission of the copyright notice from the film in January of 1981. Weisberg thus received 'notice' of the defect at that latter date. See ''M. Kramer Mfg. Co. v. Andrews'', 783 F.2d 421, 443 & n. 21 (4th Cir. 1986). Weisberg's failure to take reasonable [657 F.Supp. 463] efforts resulted in the film being irretrievably injected into the public domain 'several months' later.}}</ref>

=== Obscenity ===
In 1983, a court case in New York, ''United States v. Various Articles of Obscene Merchandise'', found the film not to be [[obscene]].<ref name="United States v. Various Articles">{{cite web <!--|date=2000--> |title=United States v. Various Articles of Obscene Merchandise |url=https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2000/226 |format=PDF |work=Opinions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit: 2000 Decisions |id=226 |via=Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law Digital Repository |access-date=September 28, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Lipschultz p69">{{cite book |last1=Lipschultz |first1=Jeremy Harris |title=Broadcast and Internet Indecency: Defining Free Speech |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-1-135-59628-6 |page=69 |language=en |chapter=Adult Entertainment}}</ref>

The 1986 publication of the [[Meese Report]] contains graphic descriptions of sex scenes and uncensored dialogue from ''Debbie Does Dallas'' as well as from other movies, including the hit movie ''[[Deep Throat (film)|Deep Throat]]''. The Report gives a clinical account of pictures in magazines like ''Tri-Sexual Lust'', and provides a list of 2,370 film titles and 725 book titles ranging from ''Horny Holy Roller Family'' to ''Thoroughly Amorous Amy''. The explicit content made the Meese Report a [[best seller]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Stengel |first=Richard |date=July 21, 1986 |title=Sex Busters |url=https://time.com/archive/6706609/sex-busters/ |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=September 28, 2024}}</ref>