Here in Philadelphia, it’s rare to walk by the Art Museum steps without seeing some tourist trying to reenact the triumphant conclusion to Rocky Balboa’s training runs in Rocky and Rocky II. Movie studio MGM has no issue with selling out this iconic scene to a questionable payday loan operation, but if someone actually wants to use the word “Rocky” to organize a completely free running event that retraces the Italian Stallion’s jog through Philly, well… MGM has a problem with that.

This story actually goes back a year, to when Philadelphia Magazine’s Dan McQuade set out to determine exactly how far Rocky ran during the training sequence in Rocky II. In response to his efforts, which estimated Balboa’s Rocky-thon at around 31 miles, a local woman then organized a free run for anyone who wanted to come along that she dubbed the Rocky 50K Fat Ass Run.

It apparently went off swimmingly, with around 100 people participating and no damage done to the Rocky film legacy or the trademark.

But when MGM learned that a second Rocky 5OK was scheduled for Dec. 6 of this year, its lawyers tried to knock the fun run out with a cease-and-desist left hook.

“MGM recently became aware that you are infringing MGM’s intellectual property rights in Rocky,” reads the letter from the studio’s lawyer. “Specifically, you are wrongfully using the Rocky name in connection with a race called the ‘Rocky 50K Fat Ass Run,’… MGM demands that you and your affiliates immediately remove the Rocky name and any references, images or promotions related to Rocky from any… materials you may be disseminating in connection with the Unauthorized Rocky Event.”

The letter warns that “failure to comply with these demands will cause MGM to take appropriate legal action to protect its rights and interests to seek all injunctions, damages, fees and costs to which it is entitled under law.”

As McQuade points out in his Philly Mag piece on the trademark dispute, it’s likely no coincidence that an officially licensed Rocky Run race — sponsored by Clif Bar, Runner’s World magazine and others — is coming to Philadelphia this November (though it is only a 5/10K and covers virtually none of the actual territory run by Rocky in the movies, with the exception of the museum steps).

The organizer of the Rocky 50K, which stays true to the insanely convoluted path wound by Sylvester Stallone in the second Rocky film but which doesn’t use any images from the Rocky movies on its website, says she’s not surprised by the cease-and-desist.

“To be honest, I was shocked it hadn’t come sooner,” she admits, while saying she can’t be negative about the turn of events. “My mom was like, ‘How cool is it that you did something that got a cease-and-desist?’”

And so she’ll honor the MGM demand and change the name of the race, but she doesn’t know what to call it just yet. She’s soliciting suggestions on the event’s Facebook page now, so if you have any (non-rude) ideas, feel free to share them.

But she’s not giving up one Rocky-related aspect of the race — the runner who is able to gather the most donated sneakers for Back On My Feet Philadelphia is still going to get a miniature Rocky statue donated by the daughter of the sculptor who made the one that is now located at the foot of the museum steps.

MGM Lawsuit Threat to Force Rocky 50K to Change Its Name [PhillyMag.com]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.