KATONAH, N.Y. – Like many wars before it, the one between Martha Stewart and some of her Westchester County neighbors has inspired a protest song.
Written by Katonah resident Marc Black, the song takes aim at Stewart’s attempt to trademark the village’s name for use on a line of furniture and home products.
That idea has outraged many residents, who say that no one should own the name “Katonah,” and some American Indians, who say the name is taken from a beloved 17th-century tribal chief.
“The bottom line is, I’m just hoping, I think we all are, that Martha will hear the song,” Black said in a video posted on The Journal News Web site.
“We love you Martha,” sings Black in the video, strumming an acoustic guitar as he lounges in a hammock on his porch.
While “Martha” is already endowed with a natural “a” ending, other words have been infused with an “a” to rhyme with Katonah:
“And that’s why I wrote this song-a. We like you here, you can belong-a. But you just can’t buy us, and simply own-a. Somebody should have told you, it’s very wrong-a. To take our name and try to become chef Katonah.”
Diane Paterson, a spokeswoman for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., said Stewart was requesting trademark protection to “prevent competitors from selling knockoffs.”
“In fact, place-names are commonly used by well-known brands, from Philadelphia Cream Cheese to Nantucket Nectars, without any harm to the residents of those towns,” Paterson said.
The Village Improvement Society has launched a campaign called “Nobody Owns Katonah” to fight the trademarking of the name.
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