Unless you specifically lived there, there would be no reason to know about these small Oklahoma city of Chickasha. The same could be said about any number of small towns scattered throughout the United States. But Chickasha actually does have something noteworthy that no other city could really lay claim to. In its downtown area, Chickasha plays home to a 50-ft statue in the shape of the leg lamp made famous in the movie “A Christmas Story.” It’s an iconic prop from an iconic movie and has proved something of a local icon for the small city. Reportedly, many of its residents find it charming. Warner Bros. Pictures, owners of the film rights to which the leg lamp was featured in, would disagree with this assessment. They want the statue removed.
There are certain moments in the history of film that are permanently etched into the minds of people. One of these is from the previously mentioned, “A Christmas Story” when Ralphie’s father cracks open a crate that contains within, his “major award.” That award of course, turns out to be a lamp that’s in the shape of a shapely leg. A future Ralphie would state that it gave off the “glow of electric sex” in the window. Times have changed since the setting of the film though, so that kind of imagery isn’t as lurid as back in the day; so there didn’t seem to be any objection when the town of Chickasha decided to make a 50-ft version of the lamp.
Why in Chickasha? According to Jim Cowan from the Chickasha Community Foundation, the original prop for the film was invented by a late resident of the town, Noland James. Warner Bros. Pictures doesn’t seem keen on the statue’s existence and the town has been notified by the film studio that the statue should be removed. The letter was received last fall, and the town responded back via the Community Foundation insisting that the lamp doesn’t infringe on any copyrights and is a tribute to the prop’s designer. Cowan also added that there’s no charge for admission to see it, so the town is not directly profiting from it.
It just seems petty on the part of Warner Bros. more than anything. Is it copyright infringement? Can you copyright a lamp in the shape of a leg? We’re also not sure if Cowan has a leg to stand on with the argument about it being designed by James. Just because someone designs something for a film doesn’t mean it belongs to that individual unless specified. Still, why go after Chickasha? Naturally, companies have a right to defend their intellectual property if they legitimately have claim to it, and if it’s legitimately being infringed upon. If anything more comes of the case we’ll let you know. Or maybe it will all just be for nothing when Ralphie’s mom breaks it… allegedly.
