The Detty December Trademark Saga: When Culture Meets Commerce
We have all heard the slang and have probably said it ourselves. In fact, that is what we believe December should be: “Detty”. But what exactly does this slang mean, and is it just a slang or is there more to it?
What Is “Detty December”?
"Detty December" is a contemporary West African pop culture phrase, primarily popularised in Nigeria and Ghana, that refers to the lively, high-energy festive season spanning mid-December through the New Year. The term is a playful twist of the word "dirty," implying a festive period with no restraint.
It gained mainstream prominence in the mid-to-late 2010s, propelled by the global rise of Afrobeats and the annual return of diaspora communities for holiday festivities. While its exact origin remains unclear, some trace its cultural roots to the 2004 Calabar Carnival, dubbed as “Africa’s Biggest Street Party” by former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke.
According to Nigerian magazine BellaNaija, and The Guardian, the term was coined and popularized by Nigerian singer Mr. Eazi, who used it as a hashtag for his concert in Lagos in 2016. Mr. Eazi also took steps to trademark the term, sparking conversations that highlighted the friction between creativity, ownership, and culture.
The Trademark Twist: Detty December Becomes a Registered Mark
In 2019, Nigerian musician Dare Art-Alade and his wife Deola Art-Alade, through their entertainment company Livespot360, successfully registered "Detty December" as a trademark under Class 41 covering entertainment services such as concerts, festivals, and events. Their goal was to launch a "Detty December Fest" in 2020, but these plans were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, when the Art-Alades revived the idea for their 2025 edition, using the registered trademark for promotion, social media erupted. Critics questioned the ethics of claiming an exclusive right to a popular phrase considered by many to be part of shared pop culture and heritage. They argued that by 2019, the phrase had already become a shared cultural identity and mainstream slang, not a unique brand identifier, making its private ownership unethical and an exploitation of grassroots creativity.
Can One Even Trademark a Slang?
This is where things get legally interesting.
To understand the heart of the matter, we need to know what a trademark actually is, but let’s skip the legalese for a moment. Think of a trademark as your name tag in the business world. It’s how customers recognize you in a crowd. It can be a word, phrase, logo, or symbol that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes them from others.
When you see Nike’s swoosh, you don’t just see a checkmark; you see “Just Do It.”
When you hear “Apple”, you think of sleek tech, not fruit.
That’s the power of distinctiveness, the ability to make people think of you and no one else.
But here’s the catch, not everything can be trademarked.
A trademark must be distinctive. That means it can’t just describe what it is, it has to identify who it comes from. You can’t trademark “bread” for a bakery or “spicy” for noodles. Those words belong to everyone.
So, where does that leave “Detty December”?
The Legal & Ethical Debate
There are two major schools of thought on this, the pro-registration and the anti-registration views.
1. The Pro-Registration View
Supporters argue that registering “Detty December” was simply a way to formalize a grassroots idea. By protecting it legally, they say, the term could be used more strategically in the entertainment industry — in branding, events, and festivals. It doesn’t “take” the culture away from the people; it just gives it structure in the commercial space.
2. The Anti-Registration View
Opponents see it very differently. By 2019, they argue, “Detty December” was already a generic cultural expression, something everyone used to describe the festive season. And trademark law doesn’t protect generic or descriptive terms. Giving one person exclusive rights over such a phrase, they insist, is both legally flawed and culturally tone-deaf. Trademark law, after all, is designed to protect distinctiveness, not monopolize common language.
To trademark “Detty December” would be like trademarking “shege pro max”, implausible in theory even more absurd in spirit.
Should Culture Become Commerce?
This isn’t the first time the world has seen this kind of tension. Similar debates have erupted over attempts to trademark phrases like “Aloha” in Hawaii, or “Hot Girl Summer” in the U.S. In each case, the question remains the same:
When a phrase belongs to the people, can, or should, it belong to a company?
Cultural expressions exist in the public domain; they’re shared property, woven into language, art, and identity. They evolve organically, not through boardrooms or filings. And when private entities claim ownership over them, it raises questions of cultural appropriation and ethical boundaries.
Trademarking a phrase like “Detty December” risks turning a communal celebration into a controlled brand, one that could, ironically, limit the very creativity it was born from.
The Distinctiveness Dilemma
Trademark lawyers often talk about a “spectrum of distinctiveness.” Here’s the short version:
● Generic Marks: Common names like bread or soap. Never registrable.
● Descriptive Marks: Directly describe the product, like Creamy Yogurt. Usually not registrable unless they gain special recognition.
● Suggestive Marks: Hint at the product creatively, like Netflix or Coppertone.
● Arbitrary or Fanciful Marks: Completely unique or made-up terms, like Kodak or Apple (for computers).
So where does “Detty December” fall?
It sits somewhere between descriptive and generic. It describes the December party season, and everyone uses it that way. Unless someone can prove that people associate “Detty December” with one specific source (i.e., a brand or company), it simply doesn’t qualify as a protectable trademark.
In trademark terms, it lacks secondary meaning, that extra layer of recognition that transforms a word from slang to symbol.
Challenges of Registering Slogans
Slogans are tricky in trademark law. By nature, they’re expressive, catchy, and public.
For a slogan to be protected, it needs to have built distinctive association with a particular source.
Think of “Just Do It.”
That phrase succeeded as a trademark not because it was unique at first, but because Nike used it so consistently that it became inseparable from the brand itself.
For “Detty December” to meet that same threshold, two conditions would have to be true:
1. It would need long-term, exclusive use in commerce by a single entity.
2. The public would need to recognize it as belonging to that entity, not as a general cultural expression.
Sadly, neither condition currently applies.
Why This Matters: Culture, Ownership, and Awareness
Trademark law aims to balance private rights and public interest.
It’s there to protect innovation but not at the cost of public language and cultural heritage.
Granting exclusive rights over “Detty December” could mean that creators, musicians, event promoters, or even everyday users might be restricted in using the phrase that defines their shared festive identity. It could silence grassroots creativity, the very thing that made “Detty December” special in the first place.
This controversy is more than a legal technicality; It’s a cultural test case, one that challenges us to rethink how intellectual property laws should operate in societies rich with oral tradition, shared language, and collective creativity.
Final Thoughts: The Balance Between Protection and Participation
Pop culture slang, street language, and cultural expressions don’t just belong to individuals, they belong to the community that breathes life into them.
Yes, businesses deserve to protect their brands. But protection should never become possession. Trademarks should celebrate distinctiveness, not suffocate it.
If anything, the Detty December saga reminds us of three timeless lessons:
● Trademarks should protect identity, not monopolize expression.
● Cultural phrases belong to the people who made them meaningful.
● Legal literacy among creatives is not optional, it’s essential.
Let’s remember that understanding intellectual property isn’t just for lawyers; it’s for anyone who creates, performs, or names. It’s how we make sure our culture remains both protected and free.
So, the next time you say “Detty December” while describing your end-of-the-year experience or laughing with friends, remember, it’s not just a slang.
It’s a story. A movement. A reminder that culture should be protected, not exploited.