Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: Robert_Paulson2
SORE/LOSERMAN t-shirts, bumper stickers et al. were made by a company here in Ohio. They are not an example of Corporate logo stealing. They are the perfect example of Protected political speech. The Democrat slogan is politcal advertisment and free speech is all about that. They did not use the DNC or alter that.

And that is the difference, alter a Logo of a private company and it is stealing. Parody a politician and it is protected. Both are different. I can call a senator, congressman etc.. a theif and a liar and not much can be done to me. Do that to a CEO and it can be libel or slander. Free speech is all about not being prosecuted for anti political speech. It is not freedom to print whatever you want about anybody. I cannot stand on company property and protest, but I can on public property, they are also seperate. I can get a speeding ticket on public roads not in a private parking lot. There is a distinction between what is protected.
28 posted on 06/28/2003 1:34:18 AM PDT by Michael121
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies ]


To: Michael121
Great post!

You must be relate to Miss Cleo because you just posted what I was composing basically.

I added some legal civil lawsuit court case precedents involving internet "look and feel" civil lawsuits by private commercial for profit corporations and individually owned businesses.

- - - - - - - - - a u t o r e s p o n d e r - - - - - - - - - -
30 posted on 06/28/2003 1:45:27 AM PDT by autoresponder (. . . . SOME CAN*T HANDLE THE TRUTH . . . THE NYT ESPECIALLY!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies ]

To: Michael121
And that is the difference, alter a Logo of a private company and it is stealing. Parody a politician and it is protected. Both are different.

  I think you're getting at something fairly significant here - and the resolution is not at all obvious. First off, I personally think the defendant is in the right here - the logos are clearly political in nature, and I think they should fall clearly under 1st amendment protection. Whether or not that will happen, of course, is a different question.

  Now, the analogy I'd like to make is to the case that Nike is currently involved with in, I think, Oregon or California. They responded to some attack ads about their business practices with their own version of the story. The people who put out the attack ads found some error or other, and sued under a law banning false advertising, claiming that it was commercial, not political, speech. I disagree with them, again, but their case rests on the idea that a private, commercial company only engages in commercial speech.

  And that seems to be at the root of this case as well. Fox is, I assume, trying to maintain that they are a commercial company, and this parody is commercial, not political, speech. Especially for a news outlet, I find this tenuous - maybe laughable. Fox and CNN regularly engage in political speech, so do a host of other companies. When they do, they deserve the protection we afford such speech. But they should also take the blows, that other people can engage in such against them.

  These t-shirts are attacking Fox and CNN's political views. The original writer may not find them clever, but personally, I did. I don't agree with them, but I thought they were amusing. More, I thought they were very clearly political themselves. Thus, I think they deserve a very high degree of protection.

Drew Garrett

46 posted on 06/29/2003 3:51:13 PM PDT by agarrett
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson