Register now, it's free! |
DEL.ICIO.USA 'resounding victory for First Amendment rights,' says Charles Smith
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/25/08
A Conyers man may continue criticizing Wal-Mart with parodies on T-shirts that compare the retail giant to the Holocaust and al-Qaida terrorists, a federal judge has ruled.
[post a comment below]
 | ||
| Wal-Mart lost its case against Charles Smith of Atlanta. A federal court ruled that Smith may continue to maintain his Web sites, www.walocaust.com and www.walqaeda.com and sell merchandise criticizing Wal-Mart. | ||
|
Rejecting Wal-Mart's claim of trademark infringement, U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten in Atlanta ruled that Charles Smith may maintain his Web sites, www.walocaust.com and www.walqaeda.com. Smith also may continue to sell novelty, satirical merchandise that criticizes the company, the judge said.
"It's great," Smith, 50, from Conyers, said Tuesday about the ruling. "I'm relieved. Whenever you go into litigation against such a big company, you never know the outcome."
"This is a resounding victory for First Amendment rights and sends a clear message to big corporations that would try to use their deep pockets to intimidate and silence their critics," said one of Smith's attorneys, Paul Alan Levy of Public Citizen.
Sharon Weber, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the company is studying the decision and considering its options for appeal. "We feel we have a duty to defend our trademarks and other intellectual property," Weber said.
Smith, who runs a computer store across the street from a Wal-Mart in Covington, invented the term "Walocaust" to express his feelings about the company. He created "Walocaust" designs to call attention to his beliefs and to get others to join his cause.
Once a Wal-Mart shopper, Smith said he came to believe that the company has a destructive effect on communities and treats workers badly.
In July 2005, Smith began marketing T-shirts bearing "I [heart] Wal-ocaust" logos. Another reads, "Wal-Qaeda, The Dime Store From Hell." He sold a few dozen of them through CafePress, an online retailer that imprints shirts with designs created by individuals.
In late 2005 and early 2006, Wal-Mart sent letters demanding that CafePress cease selling all of Smith's products. The retailer soon removed all of Smith's Wal-Mart-related merchandise from its online store.
Smith then filed suit against Wal-Mart to seek a judgment allowing him to continue marketing his satirical logos and designs. A month later, Wal-Mart countersued and said the "tasteless" and "repulsive" logos tarnished its trademarks and business reputation. It also objected to Smith's registration and use of the www.walocaust.com Internet domain name.
In his ruling, Batten noted that Smith has a disclaimer on his "Walocaust" Web site, noting that it has no affiliation with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The disclaimer also provides a link to the real Wal-Mart site if browsers want to go there.
Wal-Mart possesses strong and widely recognized trademarks, and the terms "Walocaust" and "Wal-Quaeda" are clearly a play on the famous Wal-Mart name, Batten wrote. For that reason, the judge ruled, it is unlikely that someone would confuse Wal-Mart's trademarks with Smith's parodies — "particularly one that calls to mind the genocide of millions of people, [and] another that evokes the name of a notorious terrorist organization."
Batten added that he found the designs to be "successful parodies."
More on ajc.com
- Judge: Wal-Mart parodies OK
- Hamas militants fire rockets into Israel, no one hurt
- Cease-fire reported with Iraqi militants in Sadr City
- Commando leaders shift away from Rumsfeld strategy
- Military: 2 Gaza rockets hit Israel synagogue, college
- WORLD IN BRIEF: Key terrorist apparently not caught
- ON THE RUN: McCain ignores Obama comment
- Colombia shows new rebel documents that link Venezuela
- Blackwater unlikely to face charges in Iraq shooting
- Guantanamo detainees spead word to boycott trials
MOST POPULAR STORIESSearch AJC Archives
Search staff-written and other selected articles.
Advanced search
Kudzu.com services
Find the right people for the job:
Powered by 
Comments
By Frahk
Mar 27, 2008 5:05 PM | Link to this
Karen, if what you say is true, why was the suit against the trucking firm settled for a low amount and if the trucking firm were liable, why should Walmart have to pay anything?
By pagan worshipper
Mar 27, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this
you know what, wendy, i was raised christian but i am now a proud wiccan(pagan). and for your information not all pagans are money hungry. and i know a lot of people who shop at walmart and love it. my mom is one of them. and she is a god-fearing christian woman. i respect my mom a lot and by you slandering those who shop at wally-world you are slandering my mom. sometimes i regret joining the military cuz i am out there fighting for you just so you can slander other people. besides that does it not say in the bible, judge not, lest you be judged? just something to think about. have a blessed day!
By Karen
Mar 27, 2008 9:40 AM | Link to this
The last time I walked into a Wal-Mart store I asked 10 employees if they had health insurance. 9 said they couldn't afford it and the 10th had it because of their spouse. Like it or not, Georgians are paying for PeachCare so these hard working people can have their kids taken care of while the Wal-Mart execs make all kinds of bonuses? Doesn't that make you cringe? On another note, did you see the story about the lady working for Wal-Mart that was hit by a car and now living in a nursing home as a vegetable for the most part? Her husband is working two jobs to help pay for the nursing home, and their son was killed in Iraq 3 weeks after he arrived. They have a son ready for college and don't know how to pay for it. The lawsuit with the trucking company was settled for a very small amount, and Wal-Mart is now going after the family for the money their insurance company paid for her care...I would consider walking into a Wal-Mart at this point a very un-American thing to do...
By Karen
Mar 27, 2008 9:38 AM | Link to this
The last time I walked into a Wal-Mart store I asked 10 employees if they had health insurance. 9 said they couldn't afford it and the 10th had it because of their spouse. Like it or not, Georgians are paying for PeachCare so these hard working people can have their kids taken care of while the Wal-Mart execs make all kinds of bonuses? Doesn't that make you cringe? On another note, did you see the story about the lady working for Wal-Mart that was hit by a car and now living in a nursing home as a vegetable for the most part? Her husband is working two jobs to help pay for the nursing home, and their son was killed in Iraq 3 weeks after he arrived. The lawsuit with the trucking company was settled for a very small amount, and Wal-Mart is now going after the family for the money their insurance company paid for her care...I would consider walking into a Wal-Mart at this point a very un-American thing to do...
By Jimbo
Mar 26, 2008 11:14 PM | Link to this
The suit should have possibly been for slander not infringement. It seems to me that the guy was trying to accuse the business of something with no real basis other than an opinion. Imagine you are the owner of Wal-Mart or some other business and someone takes a liking to beating you up with a couple of websites and sells tshirts to promote his cause. Seems like he could have pursued other avenues of protest rather than to try to hurt a business owner or corporation that way. Why is this okay? Business owners for the most part are trying to pursue a profit stream in a reasonable fashion, but people get bent out of shape when that business is wildly successful like Wal-Mart is. Put yourself in their shoes and think about how you'd feel. I disagree with the judges ruling in that the person acting may have had a right to do what he did, but did so with malicious intent with no real cause almost just to hurt the business of Wal-Mart.
By Tech
Mar 26, 2008 8:24 PM | Link to this
Dawn,
Posting the same thing over and over does nmot make it true! By
Boilermaker Walt
Mar 26, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this
Once upon a time Walmart advertised inside its store how they helped generate American jobs. Somehow they seem to ignore products produced by factories owned by the Red Chinese people's Liberation Army, or products produced by slave laborers such as political prisioners.
Boilermaker Walt you are correct.
I guess wwe just have to let folks know that MEXICANS are now being put out of work!!! Wake up WALMART is a sin against the undocumented!!!
By Paul Lentz
Mar 26, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this
Unions destroying this country? Please. If big business had their way, slavery would still be legal. Without unions and government regulation, big business would have no incentive to pay decent wages. They would all collude and pay the same pitiful wages they all so crave to pay. Classic example, minimum wage. To tell a man or woman that making $6 an hour to flip burgers or mop up some rich prick's mess is "morally ok" shows how selfish and cold big business is. If your neighbor asked you to come over and clean his house, would you do it for $6 an hour?
Some of you may need a refresher in history, of how labor practices used to be in this country. Back in the late 1800's, a worker would be working double shifts, 7 days a week for crap wages at a meat processing plant. Let's say his hand got caught in a cutter and a few of his fingers were cut off and fell into the meat grinder. His *** would have been fired (no medical or severance pay), some other poor slob who needed a job to feed his family would have replaced him, and to top it off, the meat would have continued to be processed and sold to the public (I guess that is where the term "finger licking good" came from). You have to remember there was no FDA to enforce product safety back then. While we have made progress as a civilization, basic human behavior and motives has not changed over the years. Greed, getting over on others, looking out for one's interests, being selfish, etc. will always be around. Without unions and government regulation, why would big business have any incentive to pay fair wages and benefits? Oh, I get it, we are surposed to "trust" our business leaders to do the "right" thing...how foolish of me to not think of that....Get real you facist, right wing, religious zealot, rich prick bastards!!!!
By t
Mar 26, 2008 2:47 PM | Link to this
Unions are a problem. When all the prices go up because of union dues, insurance, etc... Then you can't go to your mom and pop stores because they've closed down. Then you can't afford the prices at Wal-Mart, then where do you go?
on a side note....What is wrong with making a profit? So If I work hard, save my money, and make responsible fiscal decisions am I a greedy fat cat? Would you want to work for a poor man? giving you no job security and little pay or a rich man who knows how to run a company and gives you the employee fiscal safety? Think about that when you trash the succesfull. And lets say I want to hold on to what I worked so hard for, I vote conservative, thats my money, not yours, and not the democratic ran congress' to spend on grants ear marks to colleges so they can study the smell that pigs and cows give off. Apply a little common sense and logic, it doesn't hurt.
By Sam What Am
Mar 26, 2008 2:00 PM | Link to this
There is absolutely no question that parody and criticism are protected "fair use" of trademarks. I had a dispute with Buick and GM over a car, and spoke with their in-house trademark attorneys before painting a sign on the car. They assured me that only an "intent to confuse or mislead" readers that you are the trademark owner, when you are not, is infringement.
I too am disappointed in WalMart's decision to quietly abandon its "Buy American" campaign. Conversely, they hire people mom & pop stores would never hire, giving them a chance to participate in the economy.
By jason
Mar 26, 2008 1:48 PM | Link to this
to unionize wal-mart - which is what many of it's detractors really want - would be to destroy it. the unions in this country have driven countless businesses and industries into the ground - and they want wal-mart to be next. does wal-mart treat it's employees well? probably not, but this is standard procedure in private industry, it is not unique to wal-mart. does it push some small businesses out? that's possible. but it also has lower prices and a better selection than most other stores. and the one-stop shopping it enables helps to save gas money - no small thing with prices headed to $4 a gallon. "think"
[1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8] next
Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F, except on Tuesday when it's open until 9 p.m.
Post a comment
*HTML not allowed in comments. Your e-mail address is required.
Request a comment be removed