MoveOn.org's thin skin
So it's not too surprising that the liberal advocacy group would be a mite touchy from all the blowback online, even though it should be used to the abuse by now. So touchy, in fact, that it's been sending out cease-and-desist letters to CafePress, a website that lets people offer custom-designed t-shirts, coffee mugs and the like for sale. Last week it demanded that the site remove eight items, arguing that they violated MoveOn's merchandising trademarks.
Trademark law doesn't confer monopoly rights over all uses of a registered phrase or symbol, however, and it wasn't created simply to protect the trademark owner's interests. Instead, it's designed to protect consumers against being misled or confused about brands. The courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of parodies and critiques; that's why www.famousbrandnamesucks.com doesn't violate famousbrandname's trademark. And most, if not all, of the items targeted by MoveOn were clearly designed to razz it, not to trick buyers into thinking they were the group's products.
Beyond that, it's amazing that MoveOn would try to squelch political speech. That's another clear purpose of the targeted items. Take, for example, this message on a t-shirt designed by a lifelong Democrat from Southern California:
General Petraeus has done more for this country than MoveOn.org. MoveOn.org, the worst friend a Democrat could have! Move Away from Move On!
To its credit, CafePress refused to take down five bumper stickers, and it reinstated a t-shirt that it had taken down briefly in response to MoveOn's initial request. "While we understand that negative commentary is unsavory, our shopkeepers’ parodies of the MoveOn.org trademark are permissible here, especially when one considers the First Amendment implications raised by the social and political importance of your organization, the policies it advocates, and the countervailing messages conveyed by the parodies," wrote Daniel Pontes of CafePress to Carrie Olson, MoveOn's chief operating officer. Olson had been the one requesting the takedown.
CafePress and MoveOn declined to discuss the episode on the record. The anonymous designer of the t-shirt mentioned above withdrew her creation anyway, explaining in a note on her CafePress page that she didn't want to fight "a large group with the money to run ads in the NY Times demeaning a four star general." Not that her t-shirts were flying off the virtual CafePress shelves; she'd yet to record her first sale after a week and a half on the site.
Perhaps the most delicious irony here is that MoveOn hasn't exactly been scrupulous in its regard to other people's intellectual property. After all, it seems to have borrowed the Petraeus/Betray Us rhyme from a familiar radio host -- without crediting him, of course.
The actual reason reads as such:
Why? Because I'm one person. They're a large group with the money to run ads in the NY Times demeaning a four star general. Henceforth, the six-letter group that complained shall be referred to as "The group that shall not be named."
Posted by: calie | September 24, 2007 at 06:30 PM
The store was put up as a lark. We were disgusted with the ad, tossed it up there, forgot about it. Opened up our mail and found the brouhaha had been going on for several days. And though Dem... i don't think she's voted that way for years. Ta!
Posted by: john | September 24, 2007 at 07:20 PM
They didn't sell because the're really pretty lame.
If they were clever and funny, I would have bought one. Especially if it would annoy The GroupThat Shall Not Be Named.
Posted by: dsinope | September 24, 2007 at 07:31 PM
I'm glad to see that CafePress is no longer totally devoid of backbone. In late April of this year and without asking my permission, they yanked from their collection a t-shirt I was selling that featured the cover of my book, Untangling Tolkien. The cause was a cease and desist letter from Carole F. Barrett, a lawyer for the San Francisco law firm of Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabin. They represent Saul Zaentz, perhaps the most hated man in the entertainment industry. He owns the movie and trinket rights to Tolken's works and likes to sue.
I still haven't figured out what sort of lawyer that Barrett is. It's difficult to imagine she could be so ignorant of the law that she fails to recognize that t-shirt is protected by at least three specific written provisions of trademark law, any one of which makes that t-shirt legal. More likely she's simply like her client, a money-obsessed jerk. At times, I ponder having a bit of fun, finding a good lawyer, and suing the socks off her. I wouldn't bother with Zaentz. He's 86 and not long for this world.
At any rate, I gave CafePress such a hard time about their cowardice--they even refused to send me that cease and desist letter--that it may have convinced them that they should quit automatically complying with letters from lawyers. Cease and desist letters are the lawyerly equivalent of drive by shootings, although unfortunately in our present legal climate, run by and for lawyers, they're legal no matter how many lies they contain.
Bravo CafePress. You're finally doing the right thing. Now why not put my Untangling Tolkien t-shirt back online? I've got other books and authors I'd like to promote. You've begun to demonstrate that you might, just might, be trusted to hold up your side of a business deal.
--Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien
Posted by: Inkling | September 24, 2007 at 07:50 PM
Moveon.org is exposed as typical left-wingers willing to use the force of government to suppress the free speech rights of those that dare to disagree. That kind of thinking resulted in the deaths of 150 million people at the hands of their own governments in the 20th century. Thin skinned totalitarians, as exemplified by the Moveon.org crowd, can be dangerous to your health.
Posted by: Mike | September 24, 2007 at 08:04 PM
We saw them. They were on a blog. There were different designs. They were great. But it's not easy to sell things on cafe press without doing a lot of marketing, which after a week, they wouldn't have had a whole lot of time to do unless they were very experienced.
But no big. Hopefully this gets out. It'll get bigger airplay than had the shirt been printed.
Posted by: zesterhazy | September 24, 2007 at 09:01 PM
We have posted four of the anti-MoveOn slogans on our blog as well as the letter from Carrie Olson (MoveOn) to Café Press, with the response from Café Press to MoveOn.
http://www.edpadgett.com/blog/blog.html
Posted by: Edward Padgett | September 25, 2007 at 10:27 AM
I dunno much about MoveOn, but it would seem that like a lot of fans of folk music, they don't have any sense of humor.
Are there a lot of folk music fans at MoveOn.org?
Posted by: Ken Shultz | September 25, 2007 at 04:28 PM
Is the LA Times becoming the Washington Times?
Posted by: Jesse | September 25, 2007 at 08:06 PM
Ken, dude,
don't dis Burl Ives you stinking commie rat.
Posted by: bill | September 26, 2007 at 07:57 AM
It was such an unsuccessful advertisement that the percentage of Americans who want us out of Iraq has increased 3-5%, depending on the poll, since the General testified. Yeah, that ad worked terribly, and got all the GOPsters chasing an obscure (to most Americans) advocacy group in the run-up to the most important election since . . . 2006.
Keep chasing our red herrings boys, and keep talking to your base. We're going to own this country 1/20/09!
Posted by: lieinveigleobfuscate | September 26, 2007 at 09:36 AM
Whatever. MoveOn raised $2mln since that ad. Call it unsuccessful.
Bottom line is that a lot of people agree with them. The ad worked!
Posted by: Alexei | September 26, 2007 at 12:50 PM
Personally, as a Dem, one of the first lessons I ever taught my kids was not to twist anyone's name around to make fun of them.
It's unfortunate that Move On forgot this basic school ground rule. But they are rich, entitled and all rules are off when you've got those two things on your side.
Posted by: sarah | September 26, 2007 at 02:52 PM
Why is it OK for Republicans to run attack ads like this but the moment some non-republican group does, then it is somehow wrong. Republicans shamelessly did this to war veteran John Kerry during the 2004 presidential campaign, they currently do it by manipulating disfigured war veterans to garner support for their lie based war and they will do it again and again. Give it up Republicans, the people of the USA are no longer buying your cheap attempts to twist perceptions about your war and your further attempts to manipulate the impressionable minds of this nation who like to be told what to think. Your quick to judge, quick to anger, slow to understand mentality has been exposed and all your attacks against those who oppose you only further expose your personal greed and hypocrisy.
In retrospect, I'm surprised that the common ordinary US citizen would even care about the Moveon.org Petraues ad. We all knew that General Petraues was going to write his own speech, in his own words, saying exactly all the things that he knew the Bush administration wanted to hear in a form that sounded acceptable to all republican politicians. The very fact that these Bush sycophants in the republican party got some of the spineless democrats to side with them in their wasteful republican efforts to condemn the MoveOn.org add clearly shows that these democrats are no different then these dysfunctional republican politicians. They both only value the interests of the rich minority of the nation, the interests of large corporations and votes in swing states as opposed to standing for their oath to the US Constitution, truth, the facts & doing the moral right thing by the people of the USA. McCain and all Republican politicians should be ashamed of themselves for their self-serving conduct all throughout the Bush administration as it is clear that they are not of, for or by the people.
If these spineless rich republican chicken hawks want their war so much, they should start funding it themselves instead of strapping the wasteful war debt on the backs of middle and lower class children for the next several generations. If these spineless republican chicken hawks really think that their illegal unconstitutional war was and is justified, then they should send their young college republican sociopath offspring to go fight their war. They all claim to be for war but always claim to be too busy to join the military and fight in it. Its time that they put their money where their mouths are by enlisting in the military and going to Iraq to be part of the Bush / Cheney / PNAC occupation of Iraq for oil.
MoveOn.org should be commended for their willingness to present the facts and stand up for the truth. Apparently, the Republican Party has not changed for the better and still has the very same unstable mindset of their vicious pseudo-conservative, quasi-Taliban mouthpieces like Ann Coulter who speak at their fund raising efforts. The appealing part about being like these viscous mouthpieces who attack MoveOn.org is the fact that it allows them to think that they are superior to others and further promote hate and war mongering within the masses. The sad reality to being one of these sociopaths is the fact that they usually cannot find anything filthier then their own personal reflection. When they are confronted with that reality, they always resort to the same cheap tactic over and over which is to rally their chicken hawks, hate mongers & vicious mouth pieces to make up lies against those who expose their sins. Very predictable…
Posted by: Leon Jones | September 26, 2007 at 04:20 PM
MoveOn enjoyed freedom of the press when it came to using one man's image and name.
But they couldn't take it when someone used their name on a mug or t-shirt to criticise them.
I don't think they should be commended for a damned thing, other than being a bunch of hypocrites who want the use of the First Amendment for their use but not others.
They're trampling on the rights of others by screaming trademark infringement, when in fact there wasn't any. What they've committed is trademark abuse.
Posted by: Karina | September 27, 2007 at 08:31 AM
Ann Coulter is not necessarily embraced by all conservatives. Hugh Hewitt, for one, despises her and refuses to be on any panels she's one. He's said this and has taken her to task for her comments on Edwards.
Moveon doesn't speak for all Democrats. And not all Democrats are liberals. If that's the point the shirts were making, then good. More power to diversity within the Democratic party.
Posted by: zacy | September 27, 2007 at 08:44 AM
MoveOn is RightOn with their New York Times ad. MoveOn voiced an opinion that a lot of people agree with, that is, the Honorable General read from his prepared script, did what he was told by his Idiot in Charge and now, like a good old soldier, ought to fade away. His statements changed nothing and neither will his plan of action in Iraq. If he really wanted to make a change he would have brought change to the table. He didn't. He betrayed us.
Posted by: Alan Goodin | September 28, 2007 at 07:05 AM
Moveon proves once again that liberals are for free speech as long as its correct speech.
I think the only thing relevant here is that the NY Times continues to slide into obscurity as they continue to beat the socialist drums. The Moveon.org ad just pushed them closer to the abyss.
Posted by: harkin | September 29, 2007 at 01:04 PM
Move.On points out that Petraeus is a partisan Republican General prolonging an unwinnable war, causing the right wing wing media to embrace the White House's efforts to distract the public's attention from its failed Iraq policy by focusing on an advertisement. Extremist right wingers can try to sell all the T shirts they want mocking Move.On, since polls show the great majority of Americans have never heard of it.
Posted by: Ahamiltonian | September 30, 2007 at 12:17 AM
The left sickens me, and I am a Democrat. And if this party thinks that I am going to merely hold my nose to vote for Hillary, or Obama, or Edwards, who want to destroy this country's security and economy, they have another thing coming. I am going to show my disgust for what the congressional Democrats have done - or haven't done - in 10 months of power. If I have to stay home on election day next year, I will. Better to have a lousy Republican than another lousy Democrat. At least we can vote the Republicans out. The Clintons and their ilk stay around like dead fish and stink everything up.
James Marsden
Posted by: James Marsden | September 30, 2007 at 09:04 PM
Leon you moron.
Posted by: The other leon | September 30, 2007 at 09:07 PM
Leon Jones is brain-dead zombie. He is by his own comments clearly a kool-aid drinker. Thats whats wrong with every single moveon.org ad, all lies, backed-up by regurgitative mindless zombies. Ken if brains were dynomite, you would be harmless.
Posted by: robertintexas | September 30, 2007 at 09:23 PM
hillary clinton, ceo of moveon.org, needs to shake things up in there. she should let Senator Kennedy run the org. he knows how to get rid of people. he will show her how to get the most for your money.
Posted by: jerry | September 30, 2007 at 09:25 PM
move on needs to move along and go away into the pages of history
Posted by: mark | September 30, 2007 at 09:53 PM
Where were all the war protestors and Moveon.Org when we bombed the hell out of Bosnia and Kosovo? We left hundreds of thousands homeless, and ended up destroying cardboard tanks.
Perhaps because Gore and Rockefeller made millions off rebuilding those areas, they got a pass from MoveOn.org.
I also have never seen a plan by MoveOn on how to deal with aggressor states who seek WMD's....Anyone have a site to look at?
Posted by: Keith Gatchalian | September 30, 2007 at 10:01 PM