F*cked Company Cease-And-Desisted

cecil36 writes "Visitors to F*cked Company (FC) were greeted with a cease and desist letter from Idealab!. Apparently, Idealab! is suing FC over the use of the logos of the companies that they own. FC is countering with fair use, stating that these companies have a bad financial record, and FC is making humor out of their situation." Whatever. Wake me when this one is over. Oh, and a caution to sensitive readers: click any nearby links and you will be forced to read the most foul of the foul words (you can't tell what I'm talking about, can you?, because I have cleverly inserted an asterisk to disguise the actual word).

Most foul of foul words....

Hmmm... I have prolems with Fuck being the most foul of foul words.

Say for instance you go to a weight watchers meeting (mostly women I have noticed) and asked the participants if Fuck is the most foul of foul words. Most will probably say yes, until you also mention the word Cunt. It has been my experience that Cunt is the foulest word of all (at least here in the US)

Any one else agree with me that Cunt should be labeled as the most foul of foul words?

How many men does it take to open a beer??
None.

the c-word is almost guaranteed to offend

In my experience, the c-word is indeed the only word in the English language virtually guaranteed to offend everyone present. I've yet to bring the word up in conversation and not have everybody offended. In high school, I used to get a game going by saying I could offend every woman present with just two words. The first, douche-bag, would offend about 95% of those present. The smug looking remaining five percent would almost inevitably gasp in unision when I uttered the dreaded c-word.

I've often wondered what makes it so profane.

A far as the f word goes, its decline as a 'shocker' is perhaps due to the current prevalence of its presence in media of all types. Once you hear a word 10,000 times while sitting through a single action movie, it just doesn't have quite the same impact as it used to.

Hopefully movie-makers won't catch on anytime soon and some words will continue to offend....

regards,

-l

Re:the c-word is almost guaranteed to offend

Some people don't get it.

If you enjoy upsetting people so.. then why do you use 'c-word' and 'f-word'

I enjoy a good wine, but that doesn't mean I want to use it on my corn flakes.

If you don't grok that, consider the following: Just because I find something to be fun, doesn't mean that I want to do it all the time.

After all, variety is the spice of life. And the more frequently offensive language is used, the less offensive it becomes.

Is anyone else old enough to remember when NIN's 'sex crime' video first started playing in night clubs? What impressed me the most the first time I saw it wasn't the graphic violence but the fact that an entire dance floor full of hardened goths, punks, alternatives, etc. had stopped dancing entirely and were staring slack-jawed at the screen. That is a powerful statement. Good old Trent managed to shock the whole scene full of rejects.

But then, by the end of the month everyone was used to the video and mostly ignored the formerly shocking scenes of mutilation. The shock had lost its effect.

If you want to shock, be tight fisted with your profanity. A zinger at the correct time and place makes a much, much stronger statement than ad naseum repetition.

have a day,

-l

You're dead wrong.

Freedom of speech absolutely gives him the right to be an asshole.

It gives him the right to express himself even if nobody wants to listen.

It does not require him to say anything relevant, meaningful, or even truthful.

That being said, Slashdot certainly has the right to ban any user for any reason, even feeding trolls.

Re:Fair Use

This IS protected by fair use. Um, no, it isn't. The trademark law basically says "don't use other people's trademarks if such use leads to confusion between you and these other people". Now, if you're creating a parody of the logo, you are using the logo. The confusion part should make TFC safe, because nobody's going to confuse TFC with idealab!, or TFC's products with idealab!'s ("heck, can you ever form a possessive of something that ends in exclamation point?"'s a gratuitous joke inserted in the middle of a sentence to make you laugh) products.

IANAL, but my second cousin plays one on TV.
--

IdeaLab may not be *able* to sue...

IdeaLab! is not suing just yet, but it is going through the procedure to get their name removed from the page. This includes a formal warning that FuckedCompany.com is potentially liable for infringements on certain aspects of IdeaLab's IP.

The formal filing of a complaint does not take place until later, if FuckedCompany.com (or the guy who runs it, Pud) does not comply with a written letter and IdeaLab decides the case is worth fighting in courts.

If IdeaLab is going under and trying to gain additional funding, however, they would not want to further the humiliation by formally suing about having their company posted, causing more publicity to the fact that they are, well, fucked.

The other thing to consider is their ability to sue - if much of IdeaLab's venture capital is contained in their fixed assets (e.g., computer stuff) and maintaining their employee overhead, then they will not have the ability to do more than send off threatening letters. A threatening letter costs ~$200 from an attorney; a lawsuit costs much, much more... and not only in terms of money.

Lucas

--
Spindletop Blackbird, the GNU/Linux Cube.

Fair Use

I think that this is a wonderful example of Fair Use. The Fair Use exception was built into copyright law EXPLICITLY to permit people to criticize, and/or make light of things in situations where the owner of the copyright might object.

Unfortunately, IANAL, but as far as I know there IS NO exception for "fair use" built into TRADEMARK law. Which is what this is. So f*ckedcompany should create a parody of the logo, and use that. This IS protected by fair use.

-- Michael Chermside

Re:Is F*ckedcompany getting ready to list itself?

Actually, smiling at people on the street is subject to a cease and desist letter under US law. In fact, ANYTHING is subject to a cease and desist letter... it's just a letter! The letter has no legal significance EXCEPT for one small thing: after having received such a letter, the recipient cannot claim "I didn't know about it" as a defense. So they're used only in cases of IP infringement, where "I didn't know about it" is sometimes a valid defense. If you think that you have a RIGHT to use the image/text/soundbite/idea/whatever, then you can go ahead and use it despite having received the letter... however, if you consult a lawyer, then the odds are VERY good that they will advise you to play it safe and stop "infringing". But the letter itself has NO legal significance.

Also worth noting is the fact that "fair use" does not apply to trademark law (as far as I know, IANAL).

-- Michael Chermside

Re:Fair Use

Yeah, infringement happens for commerce only. See 15 U.S.C. Sec 1114 [cornell.edu]:

• Any person who shall, without the consent of the registrant -
• 
  (a) use in commerce any reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation of a registered mark in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of any goods or services on or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive; or
  (b) reproduce, counterfeit, copy, or colorably imitate a registered mark and apply such reproduction, counterfeit, copy, or colorable imitation to labels, signs, prints, packages, wrappers, receptacles or advertisements intended to be used in commerce upon or in connection with the sale, offering for sale, distribution, or advertising of goods or services on or in connection with which such use is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive,
  shall be liable in a civil action by the registrant for the remedies hereinafter provided.

--

Re:Fair Use

My impression (IANAL) is that trademark law comes into play for *commerce only*.

You couldn't get into trademark trouble for showing the idealab! logo and saying "This is the idealab! logo -- they are a screwed up company". You are not trying to pass yourself off as them. You are not trying to steal their business by using their logo. You are not trying to make it look like they endorse you. That's the end of the tradmark area.

As for copyright, you can apply fair use to their argument that you're violating their copyright.

Ralph

Fr** Spe*ch

I am t*red of my r*ghts being trampled. Seems all oru p*liticians are trying to c*nsor the web. I can't say "f*cked". Wh*t's n*xt? Soon any w*rds, th*ughts, expr*ss*ons are g*ing to b* c**sored because my *deas don't happen to agree with people like J** Lib**mann and T*pper G*re. I'm going to do the only thing I can in a d*m*cracy. I'm v*ting for the candidate ***** *. *****. I hope that by joining the *********** party, I will be doing something to preserve **** speach. Thank ***.

This is what all the fuss has been caused by...

This is the URL for the parody FuckedCompany.Com did:

FuckedLab.gif [vfxweb.com]

It's a parody, which is protected by US Constitution (and it's a right that has been defended successfully in the Supreme Court). For the parody to REALLY be funny, look at Idea Lab's site [idealab.com] Pretty much a perfect parody, design wise! Best part - eToys is in the dead center of the pile, on both IdeaLabs and FuckedCompany's version!

Note to idealab!

1) Do you think this sort of action:

a) Evokes a favorable disposition towards your company in the eyes of people who`ve never heard of it before?
b) Makes you look like a clueless bunch of tossers?

2) As a result of this action, do you think your company will perform:

a) Better than before?
b) Worse than before?
c) Wont make any difference, but will make you look like a clueless bunch of tossers?

3) Do you understand the concept of satire, and recognize that it is specifically protected, even under current U.S. law?

a) Yes
b) No
c) Dont know, we`re just a clueless bunch of tossers.