Eleanor. It’s a simple yet elegant name. To the average person, it might just sound like a feminine name from long ago or even an individual like Eleanor Roosevelt. But, to you and I that name means much more.
More specifically, it’s the name of the 1971 Mustang, featured 1974 film, Gone in 60 Seconds, and it’s also the name of the Shelby Mustang GT500 used in the 2000 remake of the same movie.
But the name is also the center of a massive lawsuit regarding Mustangs, Shelby, YouTubers’ seized cars, and so much more. So, how did this simple name and the Mustang behind it become such a big controversy? Where did it all begin? Well, let’s dig in and find out.
Movie Cars Being Replicated
Part of the problem with featuring any badass car in any iconic movie is that a lot of people with the funds and time, want to replicate the car. After all, who wouldn’t want an identical replica of a car that everyone saw in an iconic movie?
We see this same thing with Fast and Furious cars and people replicating them. And at a basic level, there is nothing wrong with customizing your car to be identical or nearly identical to a car you saw in a movie. Sure, some might say it’s boring, cringe, and uninspiring, and it’s fine to hold those opinions, but it’s not like it’s illegal.
That is unless you specifically name your car after the famous car you’re replicating, and that’s exactly where the issue lies with the entire Mustang Eleanor situation.
B for is Build
As some of you may have seen years ago, the YouTube channel “B is for Build,” which is based around buying wrecked cars and building them back up, typically in pretty interesting fashion, was recreating an Eleanor Mustang but on a 2015 Mustang chassis.
And again, it makes sense. The car was famous, has a cult following, and building a replica on a newer, more modern, and ultimately a vastly superior engine and chassis is a great build to attract views and new subscribers.
Hell, at one point, Carroll Shelby was even building them, and while there are known issues and questionable things happening around those Shelby-recreated cars, none of that matters because in 2004, the holder of the Eleanor copyright, Denice Halicki, sued Shelby and forced his company to stop production.
That’s right, the company behind the GT500 was forced to stop producing GT500s seen a movie. On a more serious note, as annoying as that is, that’s just, unfortunately, how copyright law works in the US.
Denice Halicki and Eleanor Licensing LLC
On Denice Halicki’s own website, the following was posted:
“She is a Producer, and the gasoline behind the 2000 box office hit, “Gone in 60 Seconds,” starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi and Robert Duvall, and of course, Eleanor, the star car character.
Denice and Eleanor WON a Ninth Circuit Ruling in 2008, with a Published Opinion by Judge Miner… setting new copyright law protection for car character’s look/image as they appear in their movies, television and comic books against infringers. Which helped the Batmobile’s look/image to be copyright protected against counterfeit infringers in its 2015 Ninth Circuit Ruling WIN, with a Published Opinion by Judge Sandra S. Ikuta… where she quotes from 1966 Batman TV Series: As Batman so sagely told Robin, “In our well-ordered society, protection of private property is essential.”
I think it’s important to note here that Denice IS NOT the original builder for the Eleanor Mustang, rather, she’s a widow to H.B. Halicki, who is the man who created the original 1974 Gone in 60 Seconds movie. Unfortunately, he passed away when he was involved in an accident while they were filming the sequel.
That being said, Denice does own Eleanor Licensing LLC, and with that, Halicki owns the right to any Mustang named Eleanor that would have any ties to the movie franchise. And that right there is the issue that B for Build ran into all because he named his Mustang project Eleanor.
Here’s a quote from B for Build to shed some light on what happened:
“I do know that I can give my opinion on the team at gonein60seconds.com and tell you they are terrible people, parading around as car people, [with] a history of being lawsuit-happy dickheads. Just the most unpleasant, terrible people I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to deal with in my life. And that’s not just me being mad about what happened. It’s just the way these people decided to handle themselves.”
And it’s not like there was big money at stake here. This was just a guy with a YouTube channel building a car. It’s not like he was mass-producing them and turning some massive profits. It was quite literally a one-off build.
But, that was more than enough for Eleanor Licensing LLC to send a cease and desist notice, which ultimately forced B for Build to remove the videos from YouTube and then turn the car over to the owners of the intellectual property to settle the suit.
Legal Theft of YouTuber’s Project
In simple terms, that means that Denice Halicki and her company forced B for Build to hand over his car that he had worked on himself and then forced him to take down any videos he made on it. His car was taken, his income on those videos was stopped, and I’m sure YouTube gave him a copyright strike or two which is always scary, all over basically nothing.
But, everything we’ve laid out so far, the movies, the copyrights, Shelby being forced to stop production of replica cars, B for Build having his car seized, all got flipped on its head in the past few days.
I think it’s important to note, at this point in the article, that the Shelby Trust, which owns “Shelby” trademarks, wasn’t just going to sit around and do nothing about this.
Shelby Trust Lawsuit
Back when Denice Halicki sued Shelby for building a recreated version of the Eleanor car, the Shelby trust also sued back. Of course, anything in the US justice system takes an eternity to finish, but ultimately, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled in favor of Shelby, claiming that none of the “Eleanor” named cars in any of Halicki’s movies deserve character copyright protection.
According to the court, Halicki and her lawyers’ representation of the cars in the movies was “an embellishment, to say the least.” In the court’s 41-page opinion, it said Halicki tried to “assign anthropomorphic characteristics” to the cars’ character, such as “strength, talent, endurance, and a tendency to always save her leading man.”
In simple terms, they tried to use traits such as “strength” as a characteristic for the Eleanor car and name, both of which are inanimate and can’t have those types of traits or characteristics. Those are traits of living things and, more specifically, often viewed as human characteristics.
It’s a big win for the Shelby Trust, whose licensees are now safe to build cars however they want without having to worry about a lawsuit from Halicki.
“We can finally tell all our important licensees and Shelby GT500 owners that Mrs. Halicki has absolutely no right to complain about or file a lawsuit based upon the looks of any car licensed by the Shelby Trust,” said Neil Cummings, Co-Trustee of the Shelby Trust.
What Happens Now?
So, that’s a huge win for Shelby, but what about everyone else who has been screwed over by Denice Halicki? Well, that’s not clear yet. And thus far, it’s pretty unclear if B for Build will get their car back or anything close to that. However, Shelby winning this lawsuit opens the door and ultimately clears the path for everyone else involved to a much easier victory.
Ultimately though, this is a massive win for the car community, the 1st amendment, Shelby, and anyone who despises authoritarian Karens like Denice Halicki and her company Eleanor Licensing LLC. I hope to see everyone get their cars back and, ultimately, further lawsuits for repayments on seized assets that shouldn’t have been seized in the first place.
For now, though, we can cheer on the Shelby Trust for their win and wait to see what happens next.