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Warren Miller in Lawsuit Against Warren Miller UPDATE | Seattle, WA United States | 11/19/09, by First Trax Max

UPDATE November 20, 2009:
Here is what was sent to us last night by Warren Miller Company. This statement is the official statement from the Warren Miller Company, not Warren Miller Entertainment:

For so many of you who may not already know, I would like to clarify that I am not, nor have I been involved with Warren Miller Entertainment (WME) or their ski movies for quite some time now. When I sold the company to my son in 1988, I was excited about staying involved and helping carry the company forward. However, the company has twice since been sold, and it has been six years since I have had anything whatsoever to do with the films bearing my name.

The lawsuit that WME has filed against Josh Berman and Level 1 Productions is something that never should have happened. WME has no valid claim for Trademark Infringement, and that is why they are attempting to delay the action with Level 1 and go to arbitration with me. The judge will rule on the stay of action sometime this week. For Josh and Level 1, a stay of action only means that WME gets to put off their lawsuit, until the arbitration between them and me is finished. That is unacceptable as it leaves Josh and Level 1 hanging in the wind.

I stopped working with WME because our ideas on what the ski films should be weren't on the same page, and they demonstrated that they didn't want my involvement in making ski films any longer. WME's statement that they "would like nothing better than to have Mr. Miller be a continuing part of WME," but cannot because they are "a small company with limited resources and we are not in a position to meet the financial conditions Mr. Miller requires" is really absurd.

I have never made ski films solely for the money. I have always done what I do out of my love for skiing, passion for people, and the freedom that I find while on the mountain. I sat down and did an interview with Josh, a friend whose entire company, Level 1 Productions, generated less than $100,000 in revenue in 2008. While on the other hand, WME is the largest company of its kind in the world and is part of a multi-million dollar corporation, which is owned by a larger global conglomerate that posted more than a billion dollars in revenue in 2008.

I am really flattered by how much support so many people have shown not only to me, but also to Josh and Level 1 Productions. Thank you for reading this. Let's all look forward to bluebird days and untracked powder snow!

-Warren Miller

Since Warren 's statement was released, the Colorado Court has stayed the proceedings between Warren Miller Entertainment and Level 1 Productions.� We, Warren and the Warren Miller Company, look forward to articulating our position in arbitration with Warren Miller Entertainment.



While this may be considered old news, it is still entertaining to say the least. Back in September Warren Miller got in a lawsuit against himself, or so it would seem. Apparently Warren Miller the person, appeared in another movie, Refresh, Level 1 Productions, outside of Warren Miller (the movie company) and now the Warren Miller Movie company is suing Level 1 Productions for having used the Warren Miller trademark name. Now that's a lot of Warren Millers being thrown around!

Here is a link to the content displayed below:
Warren Miller Lawsuit

If you ski or snowboard regularly, you've probably come across a Warren Miller Entertainment film at some point in your life. The films, which come out each year just as ski season is about to start, are fun films showing people involved in some extreme skiing activities. Over the years I've probably gone to three or four of them. The name for WME comes from (surprise surprise) filmmaker Warren Miller, who started making such movies about 60 years ago. Warren Miller sold WME a while back, and while he was still involved with the films for a while hasn't had much to do with them in a few years now. However, producers of another ski movie called Refresh, Level 1 Productions, used Mr. Miller in their recent film, and that convinced WME to break out the lawyers. Zack Stecher lets us know that WME is suing Level 1, claiming that it's violating WME's trademark on the name Warren Miller by having him appear in their film and by mentioning the fact that he appears in the film. Except... that's entirely accurate. Warren Miller does appear in Refresh and it would be quite a ridiculous finding under trademark law to find that he can't use his own name in any film. Luckily, the initial ruling from the court seems to recognize this. A judge refused to grant an injunction preventing the showing of Refresh:

Krieger wrote in her decision, "the Defendant apparently secured Mr. Miller's agreement to appear in 'Refresh,' and should be entitled to identify him to the public and advise the public that Mr. Miller does, in fact, appear in the film.

"According to the Complaint, every instance in which the Defendant used the 'WARREN MILLER' mark involved either Mr. Miller personally identifying himself or the Defendants making reference to Mr. Miller as a participant in the film," Krieger added. "These uses of Mr. Miller's name are entirely consonant with the public's interest in being able to truthfully identify a specific person."

There may be a separate issue concerning a contractual relationship between Warren Miller and Warren Miller Entertainment, but WME does not appear to be suing Warren Miller directly, so that issue is unrelated to this particular lawsuit.

Here is another article about the lawsuit from the Denver Post.

We will fill you in with more facts as soon as they come in. All I can say, is if I ever sue myself, I'd have to kick my own ass. And Warren Miller, the person, should be able to do whatever he wants.