Intellectual property lawyers are always on patrol, policing publications and the Internet for copyright and trademark violations. Now and then they go too far, overlooking the fact that they can’t protect their clients from news reporting, criticism, instruction and parody.
Lawyers representing the National Pork Board showed no familiarity with this concept when they confronted the ThinkGeek website over an April Fool’s Day promotion of canned unicorn paté as “The New White Meat.”
On behalf of the Pork Board, the law firm of Faefre & Benson threatened legal action, asserting that the unicorn advertisement violated its rights to exclusive use of the phrase, “The Other White Meat.”
It was an empty threat, since any lawsuit would face the prospect of being laughed out of court. The Pork Board eventually conceded that unicorns are mythical creatures, while still asserting that it would protect its rights vigorously.
For a vigorous assertion of intellectual property rights, it’s hard to beat Viacom, which filed a billion-dollar lawsuit over the unauthorized use of television clips on YouTube.
Viacom has pursued this case aggressively, even though the clips were taken down promptly after its objection. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit last week, finding that YouTube was well within the safe harbor established by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Viacom would like YouTube and other Internet companies to police their users more aggressively. Fortunately, last week’s decision preserves an approach that protects copyright, while not stifling the spirit of innovation that sustains the Internet.
”“ Contact Managing Editor Nick Cowenhoven at nickc@journaltribune.com
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