Those of you not put off by the blogging 'inside baseball' aspect to this post will be interested by the dispute between blogger/author/interviewer Shel Israel, author of 'Naked Conversations,' and the naked Shel Israel parody puppet. As noted by TechCrunch, the parody show seems to be doing better than the original, which does not please the original.
From the August 2002 Trademark Blog, we dredge up a Judge Mukasey opinion in the TIMMY HOLEDIGGER case. Tommy Hilfiger had gone after a parody usage for pet perfumes and the Judge cited language in the previous Barbie Girl in which the Court had advised the parties to chill.
Discussion here.
TheSmokingGun provides a copy of the complaint filed by Evel Knievel in the Middle District of Florida, alleging that musician Kanye West infringed Mr. Knievel's rights in his name, likeness and jumpsuit (I'm serious about the jumpsuit), by portraying a character named EVEL KANYEVEL who attempts to leap a canyon in a rocket, in his music video for the song 'Touch The Sky" (above).
Interestingly, AOL is a named defendant, apparently because it returns the video as a search result for a search for EVEL KNIEVEL.
Atrios is the pseudonym for a blogger who writes for the popular Eschaton blog. Three times today he posted critical comments of Arlen Specter and ended all of them by providing Specter's contact info and the exhortation that his readers call Specter and ask him provocative questions.
If many people called Specter and ask him provocative questions, Specter may well be annoyed.
Does Specter have a cause under the new Intent to Annoy law (that he had a hand in drafting)? Can he force Atrios to testify as to his 'intent'?
Atrios provides a link to what he says is his real name. Is that a complete defense? Does Atrios have to forego anomynity because of this law?
More on Intent to Annoy here from Professor Volokh, (emphasizing that for purposes of anti-stalking laws, one-to-one communications such as phone and emial, are qualitatively different from one-to-many communications, such as websites.
The Church of Scientology has protested the use of SCIENTOMOGY.INFO by a website parodying Scientology and famous Scientologist, Tom Cruise.
See Lamparello v. Falwell (re use of FALLWELL.COM to comment on Rev. Falwell).
