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The new Netflix series Running Point stars Kate Hudson as president of a fictional pro basketball team, the Los Angeles Waves. And the Pepperdine Waves have a problem with it. Attorneys for Pepperdine University in Malibu have filed a lawsuit against the streaming service and Warner Bros. Entertainment arguing they have taken valuable intellectual property from the school and infringed on its trademark ahead of the show’s premiere today. Attorneys for the University claim the fictional team’s branding is too similar to its own, and that it uses the same blue and orange team colors and mascot. They argue this will create consumer confusion and falsely suggest a link between Running Point and the university. There’s an added layer to Pepperdine’s argument. The school, a Christian university, isn’t happy with details from the show they say don’t align with their values. Noting examples of substance use and profanity in the show’s trailer that go against the school’s code of conduct, attorneys argue they’re misrepresentations of Pepperdines marks in connection with topics wholly inconsistent with its values and will harm its reputation. From top: Scenes from Running Point; Pepperdine University branding [Photos: Kat Marcinowski/Netflix 2024 (top), Pepperdine University (bottom)] Litigating fiction vs. real life At the heart of the dispute is whether a work of fiction can use names from real life. Courts have historically resolved litigation between First Amendment freedoms and trademark infringement via the Rogers test, named after actress Ginger Rogers, who sued over a film called Ginger and Fred that depicted fictional performers seemingly inspired by Rogers and her on-screen partner Fred Astaire. A 1989 ruling in the case found that use of a celebrity’s name in the title of an expressive work is fine if it doesn’t inaccurately claim that a celebrity sponsors or endorses the work and isn’t explicitly misleading. Applied to the Pepperdine suit, the Rogers test might find the use of the Waves team name is fine for Netflix and Warner Bros. since the show doesn’t imply a connection to or endorsement from the university, and the storyline has nothing to do with an elite, private college in Malibu. I am no fan of these types of lawsuits because I dont think consumers will be confused in a way that damages Pepperdine, Kevin Greene, a law professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles who specializes in entertainment and intellectual property law, tells Fast Company. He says several years ago, a case like Pepperdine’s “probably wouldn’t go anywhere,” but a 2023 Supreme Court infringement case ruling potentially threw the limits of the Rogers test into question. In the case, Jack Daniel’s alleged a dog toy made in the shape of its whiskey bottle infringed on its trademark. The court ruled in favor of the liquor company. Blue waves in California? Netflix says it’s not so notable Attorneys for Netflix wrote in an opposition filing that the series “has nothing to do with universities or college sports, and never mentions or alludes to Pepperdine. They say the show was in fact written with Jeanie Buss, daughter of the late Lakers owner Jerry Buss, in mind. Pointing to other Southern California teams that also have wave mascots, including a hockey club, cricket club, and flag football club, the attorneys say “hundreds of wave-related marks exist.” The Waves team name, according to Netflix, is instead a nod to the Lakers. The Waves name evokes the LA area in which the fictional team plays, they wrote. In naming the ‘LA Waves,’ the creators did not believe it would cause confusion, as there is no major pro sports team with the name. As for the similar blue-and-orange color palettes for the real-life and fictional teams, attorneys for Netflix lean on color theory to defend the show’s choices. Waves are blue in real life, so the idea of a blue wave is common, they wrote, and since orange is at the other end of the color wheel, it complements and contrasts blue. A court will now weigh in on the Waves fate, and considering the unsettled nature of the Rogers test, whatever they decided could have a ripple effect.
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E-Commerce
Starchitecture is heading to the moon. A lunar design from the international architecture and design firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is part of a just-launched rocket mission that expects to land on the moon in early March.Not architecture per se, the design encases a shoebox-size data storage center thats attempting to prove the concept of off-world disaster recovery services. Commissioned by Florida startup Lonestar Data Holdings, the solar-powered 8-terabyte data storage device is tacked onto the side of the lunar lander now making its way to the moon. A thin, 3D-printed object with sleek curves and a matte-black finish, BIGs design sets a higher bar than the wire-jumbled scientific instruments typically seen on space missions.As we prepare to return to the moon to stay, it is important that everything we do these coming years of lunar settlement is done with intention and care, Bjarke Ingels, BIG founder and creative director, tells Fast Company. We are laying the cornerstones of the lunar society we are about to establish. As such, every step of the way holds significance for the future.[Image: Lonestar Data Holdings]The 10-by-7-inch devices exterior is designed to cast shadows of the silhouetted faces of NASA astronauts Charlie Duke and Nicole Stott as the sun passes overhead. This may end up more of a design intention than a reality, as a photo of the lander shows the device crammed alongside other wiring and instruments with limited open space to cast those shadows.[Image: Lonestar Data Holdings]The data storage device is attached to the side of Athena, a lander developed by Houston startup Intuitive Machines (IM), through NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. IMs first lunar lander, Odysseus, made history in February 2024 by becoming the first commercial spacecraft ever to land on the moon.This new mission, IM-2, launched February 26 from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket from Elon Musk-owned SpaceX. Transit will take about one week, and the lander is expected to attempt lunar contact around March 6.The Athena lander is carrying NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations, including a drill and mass spectrometer that will measure the potential presence of volatiles or gases in the lunar soil, and a laser retroreflector array that can give future spacecraft a navigational reference point on the lunar surface.Also aboard the rocket carrying Athena is NASAs Lunar Trailblazer, an orbiter that will map the different forms of water that exist on the surface of the moon, providing key information for future settlement and exploration.The data storage device has more modest implications for humanity. As a proof of concept for backing up data in case of terrestrial disaster, the solar-powered data center will operate for just one lunar day, or about two weeks here on Earth. Ingels argues that the project still merits a level of attention to design. Even if modest in scale, this data center is one of very few artifacts designed to remain part of the lunar landscape for years to come, he says.So while BIGs design wont actually be functional for very long, the device will become the first piece of high design to make it to the moon. It probably wont be the last.
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E-Commerce
Student loan debt has an influence over borrowers career choices long after graduation, affecting their job satisfaction, career advancement, and investment strategies. According to a recent study conducted by MissionSquare Research Institute, the debt thats carried by one in four Americans under 40 affects job-acceptance decisions for 56% of public-sector employees and 62% of those working in the private sector. When they choose to accept . . . jobs, [the] majority of them have considered how that position or that job can help them with their student loan debt, says the reports author and MissionSquares head of research, Zhikun Liu. It not only impacts people’s day-to-day financials, but also their morale at work, job acceptance, as well as their retention. While most professionals take salary into consideration, Liu says borrowers are more likely to view compensation as a top priority, even at the expense of other factors like job satisfaction or advancement opportunities. That was especially true among male, Black, and Hispanic borrowers, according to the survey, who were about 10% more likely to view the debt as a significant factor in their career choices. Perhaps that is why retention rates were significantly lower among borrowers, with just 39% saying they wanted to stay with their current employer, compared with 61% of those without student loans. We find that student debt leads to short-term financial planning and limited investment opportunities, which in turn hinders wealth accumulation and retirement planning, Liu says. They cannot take more risks, and their financial planning horizon is within the next few months, or within the year, versus [planning for] the next five, 10 years. Borrowers are less satisfied with their jobs long after graduation According to the study, younger workers are more likely to say that student loan debt has limited their career advancement opportunities. Borrowers of all ages, however, report higher levels of career dissatisfaction and lower levels of loyalty to their current employer. According to the MissionSquare survey, more than a third of borrowers said the debt has served as a barrier to career advancement. Furthermore, while 18% of public sector employees without student loan debt report low work morale, the proportion jumps to 23% among borrowers. It does force some trade-offs, says Cassie Spencer, a career coach who works with students, recent graduates and mid-career professionals. You may need to live at home for longer, if you can, or move to a smaller city with more affordable living costs, but that can mean [fewer] job growth opportunities. Not being able to afford rent in a major city while paying down student loans or feeling pressure to take a less desirable jobor one with more limited career advancement potentialto secure a higher starting salary can reduce borrowers job satisfaction, employer loyalty, and long-term prospects. Furthermore, as graduates get older, Spencer says the debt often forces borrowers to delay major milestoneslike purchasing a home, starting a family, starting a business, or changing careerswhich can make them feel stuck. It becomes a decision of, do I continue to work in this job or this industry that I don’t love, or that I feel is having a negative impact on my life and my mental health, for something that could be better, even though the pay is not there? she says. A lot of people in their early to mid-30s are not homebuyers yet; a lot of people are delaying starting a family; and theres a lot of factors, but I think student loan debt is one of those factors. Borrowers are better at pursuing professional development Though there are many challenges associated with student loan debt, its not all bad news for borrowers. This research suggests the added burden inspires them to pursue more professional development and educational credentials. According to the MissionSquare study, those with student loan debt are 37% more likely to say they are pursuing a professional development goalsuch as new skills, responsibilities, leadership opportunities, and credentialsor have already achieved it. The desire for additional skills training at an affordable rate and at a quick pace has inspired many borrowers to pursue one-year masters programs that begin during undergrad, often referred to as accelerated Masters or four-plus-one programs. The influx of four-plus-one programs and the rise in students specifically looking for accelerated, shorter-term programs is astronomical, Spencer says. She adds that such programs can help recent graduates begin their careers at a higher salary level, though there are risks, as it does add to their debt and makes it harder to switch careers later on. Gen Z is already a generation that really does want to invest in their skills, and they want employers that are going to invest in them, says Christine Cruzvergara, the chief education strategy officer for Gen Z career platform Handshake. For those with student loans in this generation, its even more so. The long-term financial implications of student loan debt Taking on such a significant debt load at such a young age can also make it harder for borrowers to set and achieve long-term financial goals. Borrowers are less likely to also be investors, according to the MissionSquare study, and those that were reported a much shorter investment horizon. As a result, public sector employees with student loan debt were 14% more likely to strongly agree that their retirement savings are inadequate, as well as 9% of private sector staff. According to a recent survey conducted by Handshake 54% of borrowers say their student loan debt is a major source of stress, including 61% of Black and first-generation borrowers. For some it can be crippling because they either don’t have the support or the knowledge or the teaching from anyone to know how to manage all of this, Cruzvergara says, adding that it can also inspire borrowers to learn about personal finance sooner. You can choose to make this motivational for you, and, quite frankly, get smart about your finances very early in your life. How employers can help student borrowersand themselves Cruzvergara advises all young peoplebut especially borrowersto seek out the education and advice they need to manage their money responsibly. She also implores organizations seeking to hire young talent to offer student loan repayment plans, a perk which 25% of undergraduates in the Handshake survey say is essential, but one that just a tenth of full-time employers offer. With most of this years graduates leaving school with debt, Cruzvergara says employers should also remain open-minded about where theyre recruiting from. After all, in an environment where loans can have lasting career and lifestyle implications, some of the savviest studens are intentionally turning down brand-name schools for more affordable alternatives. It doesn’t mean the student couldn’t get into the expensive private school that has a better brand name, but maybe it does mean that that student made a smart financial decision from the get-go not to take on all of that debt, she says. So, that talent might actually be just as good, just as smart, just as intelligent, but may not be at the brand name school that the employer has historically recruited at.
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E-Commerce
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