Nathan Newman on the silliness and danger of companies like Faux News and Verizon trying to shutdown satire/criticism by launching trademark infringement lawsuits against critics.
Basically, corporate America is asserting the right not to be mocked for their b——- slogans. Let’s be clear what parody and satire aimed at corporations is usually about — it’s the hijacking of the money spent by megacorporations to destroy the warm-and-fuzzy feelings the public may have. Which the corps hate, but it’s one of the main weapons of those without those megabillions to have chanc e in public debate, much as many martial arts allow a smaller combatant to use the strength of an assailant against them.
Trademark law should have a simple rule– if you aren’t selling the same product and there is no consumer confusion, a lawsuit should be dismissed on its face. That’s unfortunately not the legal situation now, but it should be.