Market Basket not a fan of North Shore writer’s profane use of their logo

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The huge New England grocery store chain Market Basket hasn’t taken too kindly to the author of a “comically perverted” art book on Massachusetts’ North Shore — it’s issued a cease and desist order for her use of its logo as the template for her decidedly profane own logo.

“The copying, distribution and public display of these designs without permission or license from Market Basket constitutes a clear violation of Market Basket’s intellectual property rights,” attorney Robert F. Callahan Jr. of the Boston law firm Robins Kaplan LLP wrote on behalf of Demoulas Super Markets, Market Basket’s parent company. “Further, these designs threaten the valuable goodwill associated with the Market Basket brand and its marks.”

Callahan said that Tewksbury-based Market Basket “is not a litigious company and has no desire to engage in protracted legal proceedings regarding this matter” but that it is “committed to protecting its intellectual property rights.”

The Herald obtained the cease and desist letter from recipient Madison Murray, a 28-year-old writer, artist and OnlyFans creator in Massachusetts.

Attorney Callahan did not return the Herald’s emailed request for comment sent Thursday.

“I think my first reaction was shock. I opened it up right when I first woke up,” Murray told the Herald in a phone interview. “I guess I was validated, that’s a good way to put it. Obviously it was unfortunate, but it was also good to feel like I was on the radar of Market Basket.”

The issue of concern is Murray’s use of Market Basket’s basic logo design as the template for her own logo promoting her book, titled in part “A deep and raw look into the North Shore of Massachusetts” which comes complete with a “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content” logo on its cover.

She used a parody of the Market Basket: “More For Your Dollar” logo both in social media promotion and on branded items, with a pornographic pun top line and the slogan: “Whore For Your Dollar” on t-shirts, sweatshirts and tote bags.

Murray told the Herald that she believed her use of the design was fair use — as she sees many other designers using renditions on their own wares — and that she has no ill will toward the grocery store chain found throughout her beloved North Shore.

“It’s a complicated love story,” she told the Herald of her feelings about the region in a phone interview.

The “merchandise and content referred to in the cease and desist letter were created to promote my book, website, and Instagram page through what I thought to believe was transformative fair use,” she wrote to the Herald in an email. “I am a lifelong supporter and fan of Demoulas Market Basket and would never try to intentionally harm their brand. If anything, my goal in creating this design was to pay homage to the iconic brand and my New England roots.”

Over the phone, she told the Herald that upon receiving the notice, “I guess I was also a little sad, because I love Market Basket.”

“It was a mixture of emotions, ‘Wow! Market Basket knows who I am,’ and ‘Oh no, I wish Market Basket liked what I was doing,’” the Salem native, who graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2019 with a bachelor’s in arts focused on creative writing and filmmaking, continued.

The cease-and-desist letter was dated Thursday and gave Murray a week to confirm in writing that she agrees to “cease and desist from all such creation of derivative works and from further use of Market Basket’s intellectual property.”

Murray confirmed to the Herald that she has removed all the offending “merchandise and content per their request.” She said that she plans to speak with a lawyer regarding fair use before she responds in writing.

As for the book, Murray said that it’s her debut collection of self-published “photography, collage, poetry, and erotica about North Shore, Massachusetts” and is “comically perverted.” She specified that it’s primarily about what she calls “the south shore of the north shore,” defined as Revere to Rockport. She sells the 100-page hardcover book for $45.