Muzzled by MoveOn
I devoted my syndicated newspaper column this week to the targets of MoveOn.org’s speech-squelching bullying campaign. This is a shameful and despicable intimidation scheme abusing copyright infringement law to silence critics of the “General Betray Us” attack ad. You know about it because I’ve been blogging about it repeatedly for the past week. Unlike Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly and Michael Savage, the mom-and-pop t-shirt sellers who received cease-and-desist letters from the thugs at MoveOn do not have daily radio or TV shows. They do not have deep pockets. Who’s looking out for them? Here’s the column. Spread the word:
MoveOn.org, the left-wing extremists who bashed the commander of American forces in Iraq as a traitor, should get out of the political kitchen. The George Soros-funded hitmen can’t stand even a bit of heat from Mom-and-Pop retailers who tried selling T-shirts and mugs on the Internet critical of the “General Betray Us” smear ads against Gen. David Petraeus.
I heard from one of the independent T-shirt sellers targeted by MoveOn.org last week. The seller is a lifelong Democrat and member of the military. Incensed by the attack on Gen. Petraeus, the retailer opened up a shop at online store CafePress. The homemade designs at the PoliStew Cafe (www.cafepress.com/polistew) were stark and simple: “Move Away from Move On!” “MoveOn.org NoFriend to Dems.” “General Petraeus has done more for this country than MoveOn.org.”
For daring to raise a voice and raise some money for the troops (all proceeds from the sale of his items go to the National Military Family Association charity), this T-shirt seller earned the wrath of MoveOn.org’s lawyers. MoveOn.org chief operating officer Carrie Olson brought down the sledgehammer. She sent a cease-and-desist letter to CafePress demanding that PoliStew Cafe’s items and other anti-MoveOn.org merchandise be removed from the store.
Olson warned: “We have been alerted to an entire page of items on your website that infringes on our registered trademark, and we request that you remove all items immediately, and ask the poster to refrain from shipping any items purchased on this webpage. We also request that you give us contact information for the company / person who posted the items. This content has certainly NOT been authorized by anyone at MoveOn.org, nor anyone affiliated with MoveOn.”
Acceptable speech to MoveOn.org: Likening President Bush to Adolf Hitler, as they did in 2004.
Unacceptable speech: Little old mugs and hoodie sweatshirts gently satirizing the thin-skinned, left-wing mafia.
The pretextual copyright infringement claims are downright laughable. This isn’t about protecting MoveOn.org’s property rights. It’s about shutting up citizens who don’t have the deep pockets to defend themselves against frivolous claims by bullies in progressive clothing. Sane liberals should be ashamed at such free speech-squelching efforts. As Los Angeles Times blogger Jon Healey, the only other mainstream journalist to cover the crackdown, notes:
“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.”
CafePress refused to give in on several of the items. But the speech-chilling message is clear: Parody MoveOn.org and they’ll threaten to hunt you down and sue you. The PoliStew Cafe operator took down the pro-Petraeus, anti-MoveOn.org shirts and replaced them instead with merchandise referring to “THE GROUP THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED.” An army of MoveOn mockers online has published photoshopped logos (”MoveOut.org,” “MoveOn.org: Surrender in Action”) in solidarity — daring the far-left lawyers to sue them.
Edward Padgett, a Los Angeles blogger who spread the word about MoveOn’s attempt to silence critics, laments: “For several years I have found MoveOn.org to be an inspirational anti-war group, but the past few weeks they have been an embarrassment to all Americans with their attacks upon President Bush and General Petraeus. I subscribe to the MoveOn newsletter, and even considered hosting an anti-war rally in San Dimas, but now I want no part of this radical group and will remove my name from their newsletter subscription . . . I guess to MoveOn, the First Amendment is only for the rich.”
Dissent-silencing tactics approved, apparently, by the MoveOn.org Democrats who are too busy bashing Rush Limbaugh to notice the gagging of ordinary citizens on their own side of the political aisle.
Welcome to George Soros’s America.
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- Michelle Malkin » MoveOn backs down on Google ad crackdown, but bullying of Cafe Press owners stands
- Mooning Moveon.org; Democratic Slavery « Of Lythos and Lythosants
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- Muzzled by MoveOn « Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian
- Pro General Petraeus, Anti Betray Us Editorial Cartoons « BUUUUURRRRNING HOT
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Over my dead body…
and mine,
I think it is safe to say…over mine too.
“THE GROUP THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED.”
I love it…they know who they are.
Support Cafepress!
With the newly registered folks, we might need to add to the ranks of the soon-to-be-inacurately-named M6…
M4, out
And to think I spent most of my adult life defending their right to free speech! Count me in.
opps, guess I better cancel the hats I ordered.
M6, out
Actually: Support military families by supporting the CafePress owners targeted by Moveon.
Buy a t-shirt or two or 10.
Do it today!
Is MoveOn.org that completely ignorant of the double-standard they wish to apply?
What is the adage - “Don’t dish it out, if you can’t take it”?
“Thin-skinned”, indeed.
If there’s one thing MoveOn.org cannot do is (copyright infringement warning): M-O-V-E-O-N.
Jerks!
Ordered my tee yesterday.
Support our troops and their families every chance I get.
Free Speech for all
*disclaimer* but only if you agree with us.
They must do custom orders, I’ll take a peak, if so we can print any dang shirt we want with slogans way worse than the original they whined about ….wayyyyy worse. lol
Anyone going to the playoff ballgames on National TV could have a whole bunch a fun.
Mattel tried to silence a band’s “Barbie Doll” song and failed. MoveOn has no case.
Did I do something wrong swj719AWG?
On October 3rd, 2007 at 11:21 am, swj719AWG said:
With the newly registered folks, we might need to add to the ranks of the soon-to-be-inacurately-named M6…
M4, out
it’s a compliment 30 pcs, m6 = Malkin ‘6′ he’s m4,
Let’s keep making shirts,mugs,hats, whatever. Let’s keep these morons on the go and expose them for what they are. Let’s start naming names. Let the lawyers come. Maybe the Silk Pony can represent them:):):) Moveon is nothing close to what they are about. Elitism at is finest in the liberal Bay Area!!! The Bay Area does not speak for the rest of us and it never will.
No, 30 pcs…
Just a little ‘insider’ clique-ing we joked about recently…
A ‘gaggle’ of about 6 of us regular commenters here recently labeled ourselves the “Malkin 6″ during one string of discussion.
Swj was just commenting, I believe, that with the new additions we may need to expand our ranks!
Welcome!
jrl ( aka M6-1 )
I see, thanks for the clarification…you guys sure do know how to make someone feel at home.
I think I read that thread…
Thanks jrl!
Hearty agreement! Let’s establish a national “Mock a Stalinist Day.” We can wear our t-shirts & ball caps en masse, and use our coffee cups in hippie coffee shops. That would just drive them into a foaming rage. hehehe >:}
How about we purchase one coffee mug for every Republican member of Congress - and have them use them in chambers for all the C-Span cameras?
MoveOn.org knows nothing about intellectual property law. Here’s hoping CafePress sticks it out and if need be, the guys selling the parody stuff can find pro bono representation.
MoveOn continues to Conservatives a great service. The Dims are trying to reach moderates with Hillary’s rhetoric. Fortunately, by aligning themselves with MoveOn, the Dims encourage moderates to head right. The closer MoveOn stays to the Dims, the better for conservatives.
jrl…sweeet idea!…oh to dream that they would. They’d have to make sure they have enough straight jackets for the left side of the aisle though…it would be insanity run amok.
Looks like I’ll be adding to the balance on my credit card today. I need a new t-shirt to go with my “infidel” t-shirt I proudly wear around town. Will give to a great cause and a wonderful way to poke the moonbats of moveon.org in the eye.
Copyright wouldn’t apply but it would depend on how the store represented Moveon.org if trademark were infringed. I don’t think just typing out “moveon.org” in a statement is enough to claim trademark infringement but if it were presented in the same font and color and look as the group uses they could have a case. (didn’t see the original design) Trademark, unlike copyrights, must be defended or be lost. Even by that useless group.
I’m really hoping cafepress doesn’t cave to moveon when people just mention the group in their statement t-shirts though.
More playground bullying tactics from the folks who cannot stand being criticized or told “NO” … like a bunch of spoiled brats …
If I want to protest them with a T-shirt or a sign or a website I will do so and they cannot stop me …
In the MoveOn.org leftist dictionary there are the following definitions:
Democracy - the birthright of the Democrap party to rule your world.
Freedom of speech - the right to agree with all the left’s views.
Government - an organization created to further only the left’s agenda.
Freedom of choice - the right to choose as long as it is on the DemoCraps approved list.
As much as I despise Moveon.org, as a graphic artist, I can see where Moveon.org could be upset with the use of its logo without permission.
I often tell my students that they are never to use, manipulate, or “borrow” an existing logo without permission from the company who owns the logo or the artist who created it.
I think that’s what Moveon.org is trying to convey….but of course, they are doing a poor job of it!
Anyone can use the “move on” phrase, but permission is needed to use their logo on items for sale.
Just so you know…….
Court rules for anti-war T-shirt maker
The T-Shirt printer will be protected by Free Political Speech if this ruling stands.
movonsucks.org is already claimed:
He doesn’t own it yet. I think he still has a couple payments to go before title passes.
I don’t understand the controversy over “phony soldiers”.
The media has been rife with phony soldier reports. And phony accusations against soldiers. Politicians and grassroots advocates inflating their own military records. Kerry’s Winter Soldier Investigations and the Swift Boat controversy. Harkin’s fake Vietnam War claims. The New Republic’s series. Phony Iraqi soldiers and police officer reports.
MSM outlets rush unverified claims of anti-war soldiers, even “anonymous soldier” sources.
Didn’t Kos claim he was a Persian gulf war veteran, when in fact he served elsewhere during the war?
How can anyone seriously take issue with Rush’s choice of words to describe soldiers who lie and obfuscate in opposing the war?
It is astonishing that the MSM is buying into a revision of Rush’s comments such that he’s talking about “anyone who opposes the war”. No, he’s talking about phonies who happen to be soldiers.
Personally, I think Rush’s responses could be more effective, and trot out all these examples.
ROFL, shedevillery leads the pack for fundraising. Shocka! I wonder wonder ew, who cooked the books for youuuuu.
Phony political leaders covering for phony soldiers….
How appropriate.
From my quick perusal, I think MoveOn is a registered trademark for T-Shirts, but MoveOn.org isn’t. (It is for mugs and buttons and other things…)
However I think satire trumps all of that. But they can still try and bankrupt you like that dopey “judge” who sued the dry cleaners.
Funny, all the lawyers who read this blog seem silent…
Irony:
Allowing an anti-war citizen to make money by using the names of dead US Soldiers on t-shirts,
But disallowing another person to use a parody of an anti-war group on a T-shirt to make money for soldiers….
The good ‘ol USA, circa 2007…..
Hello all,
Just another retired Navy guy checking in on the net.
Thanks Michelle for opening up the registration again. How do I volunteer for the new Malkin 6?
I will be making T-shirts with the logo ”Move On from MoveOn.org” and HOPE they want to take me to court. I relish it. I would take the drumming from a decision just to get the publicity against them..
Why are these guys fearful of them? GO TO COURT… it would be worth it…
-Wolf
If moveon.org is so worried about their “trademark” maybe the IRS needs to take a good look at their tax exempt status too.
Everywhere you look today there are shirts, hats, bumber stickers, and the like that parody slogans, logos, and other “intellectual property.” Most of the time permission is given if the the merchandise will be sold or mass marketed in regular old stores. But sometimes it isn’t needed since they are “playing off” of something and not strictly copying.
These shirts are not being sold for a profit. They aren’t mooching off an idea someone else had. And if they were doing it to a group that MoveOn.org opposed, Move On would be supporting them. It’s a double standard that I just don’t like.
jrlingreenbay … good point …
Boomer … yep … all one has to do is remember that the “.org” domain is supposed to be for “non-profit” groups only …
AlohaGuy … trademarks have to be separately registered just like a patent … so did you find there is a trademark registration filed with the US Gov’t?
Aw,come on! We all know it’s the Commie/puke-al Qeada way of doing business.Do as I say,Not as I do!Like real organized crime,they get downright baligerant,when you don’t go their way.
The same goes for the REAL scientists,who are labeled Crazy by Gore’s lying bunch.The way Kerry tried to demonize the Swift Boat Veterans.
It’s business as usual.
They do that they can kiss the 2008 election goodbye.
A couple of points:
1. The name moveon.org is a registered mark - see uspto.gov.
2. The .org domain name is recommended for non-profits - but its not required.
Now a couple of questions:
1. How would anyone exercise their free speech rights on a t-shirt in talking about a company with a registered trademark? So, is moveon saying that you can’t have a t-shirt that says x.com sucks?
2. I agree that any shirt should probably not use the exact logo from moveon’s website. However, shouldn’t you be able to simply use the letters m-o-v-e-o-n.o-r-g?
Mr Wolf, would you also be willing to pay their attorneys’ fees when you lose? Your passion and outrage are admirable I guess, but it’s kind of an empty puffing out of the chest unless you have some pretty deep pockets and are willing to take a financial hit for the cause.
Move on moveondotorg
“I will not submit.”
Maybe the law firm that did the pro bono work for the “John Does” will involve themselves?
Yes, there are fifteen. I listed many on a separate thread yesterday. You can search at http://www.uspto.gov. This link hopefully will take you to the results.
I searched for moveon, and that brought both moveon and moveon.org. I may have missed it, but didn’t see moveon.org registering t-shirts. In yesterday’s thread I offered to go halves with Michelle on registering it. But like I said, maybe I missed it.
How about this instead:
And have a nice big cow being ridden by a jack-ass.
This is a grey area, but there are a couple of points for the Mom and Pop people, as I have understood and had such matters explained to me in the course of jobs and commissions for over 25 years.
Using the exact trademak might be a stumbling block, but only if both the words and the graphic in which the words are presented are exactly as the trademark is presented. It’s simple to get around this in any number of graphically-oriented ways. Here are a couple of suggestions:
1. MoVEoN. Org.
2. MOVEON.ORC (with a picture of an Orc creature)
3. Color it green and have an additional reference to vomit, mold, or some other putrid green thing. Pick another color, too. As long as you connect the color to an underlying cynical idea, you are safely in parodyville and can tear up their lawyer’s letters.
4. Grey zone but probably legal via parody protection: Print the logo for moveon backward and beneath iot write:
“If this makes sense to you, you have your head on backwards”
5. The words moveon in any other font or typeface.
6. Use of the logo as it stands in art of an existing print ad that they themselves put out, and incorporating parody into that is probably fair. Otherwise, change one of the caps to lower case as part of the parody and you’re doing the deed fair.
Anyone can use any of the creative ideas above with my blessing. I promise they won’t get a letter from my lawyers for infringement of intellectual property.
Start doing this kind of stuff, boys and girls, and do it alot, and I suspect that MOVEON.ORG will wish they never raised this issue in the first place. And I think many of the people here would agree that that’s a good thing. You can’t strike first and then cry foul when someone else strikes back.
There you go with Hillary and Bill again…
@dakine-
I don’t plan on losing- it will never make it to that stage.
-Wolf
AlohaGuy and jrlingreenbay
Only question to be answered is “which one is the cow and which one is the jack-ass?”
OT-
dl, Good luck tonight, you too Rick.
Oh man - I thought Boomer was the only one here who did spit-takes that wiped out their keyboards…
You got me rollin on that one, Aloha…
dumbmove-on.org
Every move we make is Dumb!
Bowelmove-on.org
“Talking out of our @$$ for the progressive way of life.”
San Dimas? chosen because of it’s low crime rate or because the residents
are almost all conservative? nothing more san dimas residents would love then to have a reason to counter-protest. I’m glad you saw the light.
aj … thanks … am going to be at the game …
I know! How about MoooVeOn.org, where the demoCRAPS are nothing but full of s**t
I just got an email saying that my order from Polistew Cafe has shipped. Mr. Wolf, you let me know when you get those shirts up. I’ll buy several! And may I make a request to have them put on toddler shirts as well?
#28 Artbyruth
I agree with you… in part. As a retired graphic designer myself (40 years in the business), I have some slightly different thoughts on how one might be able to get around restrictions.
Here is what I posted at Michelle’s blog “Fight the bully smear merchants at MoveOn.org” on Saturday:
In other words, you can use the bold italic style, the color and positioning, but change it to, say, “MorOns.dork” and make up a completely different sub-heading (slogan).
I am 99.99% sure I am correct. Any lawyers in the house today?
Nothing says HYPOCRITE like Liberal Democrats.
Nothing says STUPID like people who bully their own teammates.
Do it today! MM
Done