The Grinch is real, ladies and gentlemen.  He works for DLA Piper and Dr. Seuss Enterprises, and he took time out of his busy schedule of stealing from Whos and ruining Christmas in Whoville to pay a stop in Louisville, Kentucky.  Mayor Jerry Abramson and the local community had planned on using Dr. Seuss’ iconic characters and Whoville as part of their holiday celebration Light Up Louisville.  A cease and decist letter took care of that outspoken display of holiday cheer.  Lou-Who-ille is now just Lou-ville.

I can understand if this was some sort of event where someone was using the Seuss organization’s copywritten characters to make a profit, but Light Up Louisville is nothing of the sort.  It depends on corporate sponsorships to keep going every year, it makes absolutely no money for just about anyone, and it exists only to bring a little bit of holiday cheer to downtown Louisville.  Do the geniuses at DLA Piper and Seuss Enterprises really think Theodor Geisel would have minded that his characters might be used to make children smile 17 years after his death?

Somehow, I think that this display of Grinchiness would run against what Dr. Seuss would have wanted.  They may as well have stolen all the lights and trees and made Louisville celebrate with homemade glow sticks.  At least there’s still plenty of roast beast.

Tags: Louisville, Kentucky, Light Up Louisville, Dr. Seuss, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Whoville, Theodor Geisel, DLA Piper, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, Christmas, holidays

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