College Male pinup calendar becomes trademark controversy

How a male pin-up calendar became a trademark controversy

Sean Ashbrook immodestly calls it, "The biggest thrill in the school's history for OSU women."

Ohio State officials call it something else: Tasteless."

At issue is a 1989 calendar of half-naked hunks called "Images: Men of the Scarlet and Gray." The male pinup calendar, featuring 13 students coyly displaying their physical attributes, is on sale for $6.95 at bookstores around Columbus.

But don't look for it in any of the university bookstores. After a brief stint on the OSU shelves, the calendars were pulled by manager Bob Carlson at the request of the university licensing office. "We don't intend to sell them al this point," he says. "We work for the same department [as the licensing office], so if it's something they're not happy with, we'll comply."

Ashbrook, a 21-year-old student and member of the OSU Entrepreneurs Club, has advertised his production as, "The calendar OSU doesn't want you to see" -a reference not to the bookstore's action but to legal warnings from Ohio State. Last June, Ohio Attorney General Anthony Celebreze Jr., who represents all state agencies, notified Ashbrook that use of "OSU" or any of its trademarks in his calendar would prompt legal action against his company, College Images Ltd.

Leslie Winters, director of Ohio State's licensing program, says permission to use the university's marks was denied because the calendar was "not representative" of OSU students. Ashbrook also was warned not to pose his models in front of university signs or allow any of the trademarked logos to show up in the background of the photographs.

"He's been very difficult to deal with. He's pretty abrasive," Winters says of the young entrepreneur. Much to her dismay, she had to buy one of the calendars to see whether Ashbrook defied the warnings. She found two places where university marks turned up.

Yet, no litigation is pending against the student's neophyte company, she stresses, partly because of publicity likely to arise from the case. "At this point, we're sitting back a little bit to let things cool off. What is

it really worth for us to pursue this?"

From Ashbrook's point of view, the situation is one of 'harassment by a gigantic university." The business marketing major from Akron says he tried to proceed "without confrontation." But found university officials adamantly opposed to any sort of pin-up calendar.

Buckeye men have been portrayed in calendars before, But always fully dressed, he notes. Ashbrook characterizes his photographs as "in good taste, but with an eye on what women want."