Even in situations where no legal action takes place, some still point out there is plenty of reason to avoid the worry all together. April Besl, a partner and member of the Trademarks Group in the Intellectual Property Department of the law firm Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, said that any situation where a brewery is drawing a direct connection between original work and their own label or names runs a risk. The creation might entice a consumer to be interested in one beer among hundreds to choose from, but Basl also gives an analogy of waking a sleeping giant.

It’s difficult for some examples to be considered parody—which would be allowed under law—when it’s unclear if a beer’s artwork or name is actually making a comment or critique about something, Basl said. Which is to say: a beer’s artwork must spoof the original inspiration in some way and be different enough to be clear for the consumer there is absolutely no connection between the two. In many cases, though, breweries are just pulling directly from an original source.

One example was a collaboration beer between The Veil Brewing and Trillium Brewing called Extra Kreme. Cans for the beer were done in the same color and font as Dunkin' Donuts, including a direct play on the fast food store’s slogan, “America runs on Dunkin’.” In the same font, the beer can said “Virginia runs on DIPA,” referencing The Veil’s home state. Extra Kreme received a cease and desist within a week of its debut.

“We often use artistic interpretation in our can designs in a lighthearted way,” The Veil wrote in a subsequent Facebook post. “In an effort to avoid conflict with existing brands we have agreed to take down images and advertisements related to Extra Kreme.”

Another example from the same brewery was The Veil’s Broz Broz Night Night, which features drawn interpretations of child characters from Netflix's Stranger Things. The branding also showed the beer’s name flipped vertically, referencing the show's "upside down" dimension, where alien villains originate.

“If those rise to the level of potentially reaching the actual persona of the individuals on the can, those actors or children then have an issue for right of publicity claim,” Basl says, noting that a potential lawsuit could be brought for benefiting off their likeness.

Added Candace Moon, a partner and member of the Corporate Department at Dinsmore & Shohl: “I’ve had clients ask me about this strategy, and I can see the appeal, but I wouldn’t hit up any one person or company more than once. These are generally one-offs and sold in one day, so by the time they might get a cease and desist, the beer is gone and it’s over.”

Of course, one easy solution to avoid these challenges is to not step into the fray at all, and that’s become something of a recent mantra for Joel Kodner, head brewer at West Palm Brewery & Wine Vault. In recent weeks, Kodner points to breweries using the likeness of celebrities for their benefit, including Angela Lansbury, Carrie Fisher, and Barry Bonds. He's found beers using characters from the Street Fighter video games and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series. As someone who has to create ideas for his own beers, he doesn’t appreciate the way some have been utilizing pop culture references as a way to sell beer.

“It wasn't long ago two breweries would go at it over similar beer names, but now they're perfectly OK with using outside-industry [intellectual property] without permission,” he says. “We've gone from inspiration, homage, or sampling, to straight-up stealing instrumentals.”

Kodner admits that he has no interest in taking the fun out of beer, and the core of his complaints are simple: he doesn’t want to see anyone get sued. “But it’s going to happen,” he adds.

At his own brewery, finding personal ways to have fun with names doesn’t just make it exciting for a customer, but staff as well. He recently named a Pale Ale “1-Star Dougie,” thanks to a customer who left the business’ first one-star review on Yelp. And he released Unfashionable Oatmeal Brown Ale to poke fun at a a New York Times story that used the word “unfashionable” to describe Brown Ales.

“I'm not the label police and I'm no expert in IP law,” Kodner says. “I do know nothing's worse than settling for a boring name or label because you're afraid to take risks. But your next New England IPA can release probably shouldn't feature Tony the Tiger high-fiving Meryl Streep in the Apple Store.”

In terms of use, these practices may include some ethical gray areas and, ultimately, individual businesses can take legal risks as they please. But Basl and Moon particularly emphasized that breweries shouldn’t make using other’s property, visuals, or likeness a regular practice. A one-time joke may fly under the radar, but weekly releases that could violate trademark or copyright can quickly become a serious problem.

“It’s about finding that middle ground of making your point, but not quite as blatantly to piss somebody off,” Moon says. “If you wanted to do it one time, you get the one for free, but if it’s a repeated pattern of behavior, then these big companies will start to look for it and not be as forgiving.”

“You’re no longer David and Goliath if you keep poking Goliath in the eye,” Besl adds.

“Then you’re just an asshole,” Moon says with a chuckle.