Names and faces
No more Melania Trump honey, cakes, shoes and underwear for Slovenians. The future U.S. first lady has hired a law firm in her native country to protect her name and image from being used on numerous products that have sprung up since her husband, Donald Trump, was elected president. Natasa Pirc Musar, director of the Pirc Musar & Partnerji law firm, said Friday that the use of the name “Melania Trump” for commercial purposes without approval of her client would be against the law in the small Alpine nation and would violate her personal rights. “Judicial practice in Slovenia is clear: the use of the name, surname and photo of someone for commercial purposes without approval is not allowed,” Pirc Musar said, adding that the law firm has also warned Slovenian media about the potential for violating the Melania Trump registered trademark. Items that have been named after her include honey jars with labels showing her smiling face and the inscription “from the home garden of Melania Trump,” cakes decorated with golden dust, high heel shoes, an underwear line, a type of salad and even a big Christmas tree in the capital. Born Melanija Knavs, Melania Trump left Slovenia in her 20s to pursue an international modeling career. Pirc Musar said that Melania Trump so far has not made any legal claims. “We issued only a general warning,” Pirc Musar said. “But we can’t allow some products to be named ‘Melania Trump.’”
Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams wants people to stop buying tickets to marine shows, which she considers the best way to stop the capture and killing of dolphins in Japan. “These animals travel the ocean. That’s what they explore daily. No tank will be big enough. No tank will ever be deep enough, ever be exciting enough,” she said Friday in a Skype call from the small Japanese town of Taiji, whose dolphin hunt was documented in the 2009 Oscar-winning film The Cove. Williams, 19, is the latest celebrity joining the cause to save dolphins. Others include Brian May of Queen, Sting and Daryl Hannah. Williams hopes her influence, especially on social media, with 4 million followers on Instagram and 1.5 million on Twitter, will help the cause. In Taiji, fishermen herd dolphins into an inlet, where most are bludgeoned to death for their meat while the best-looking animals are sold to aquariums and shows. The hunters in Taiji and their supporters have repeatedly defended the custom as tradition, although eating dolphins is extremely rare in Japan. Williams said that only a handful of Taiji fishermen benefit from the practice and many Japanese don’t even know about Taiji. “It’s not an attack on Japan at all, or on Taiji, or the people of Taiji,” she said. “I want to say, honestly, hand on heart, that this is not an attack on anyone in specific.”