Intellectual Property run amok, or a DMCA-inspired Aggie Joke

Why I hate intellectual property lawyers and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act….Exhibit A

This is the kind of crap that Siva Vaidhyanathan, Jessica Litman & others are warning us about. This is the kind of actions that are emboldened by legal raw deals like the DMCA.

I'm normally a 2%'er WHEN IT COMES TO AGGIELAND, but this story makes my blood run boiling MAROON.

-JJR '93

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UT sues Aggie retailer over
'saw em off'

10:27 AM CST on Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Associated Press

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- The University of Texas is countering a jab from an Aggie business owner by taking him to court over his “saw em off” variation of the familiar Longhorn logo.

'Saw em off' lawsuit

The UT System Board of Regents claims in its lawsuit that Fadi Kalaouze’s merchandise adorned with an inverted Longhorn logo with its horns detached is a trademark infringement.

The lawsuit argues that Kalaouze, a 1991 Texas A&M University graduate and the owner of two College Station stores, is illegally using a design that tarnishes and mutilates the trademarked Longhorn logo.

“This is not a dispute with Texas A&M. It is a dispute with a private company that is unfairly profiting from use of the UT logo and at the same time mutilating the logo,” said Craig Westemeirer, director of the University of Texas Office of Trademark Licensing.

Kalaouze contends that his emblem is a parody and is protected by the First Amendment. He said in court filings that the lawsuit is a “legally baseless display of poor sportsmanship.”

The lawsuit filed last month names Kalcorp, which is owned by Kalaouze and is the parent company for both of his stores. It seeks a permanent injunction to stop the company from selling the symbol, as well as attorneys fees, damages and the company’s profits from selling the emblem.

UT’s lawsuit says that the “saw em off” logo, which has been placed on merchandise such as T-shirts and bumper stickers, could confuse consumers because of its similarity to the Longhorn logo.

Kalaouze said nobody would mistake his emblem for the actual Longhorn logo, and he doesn’t believe any Longhorn supporters have accidentally purchased one of his shirts or stickers. He has established a Web site to raise money for his legal fight.

“We honestly don’t believe anyone is confusing this logo with their logo. We have been sawing their horns off for many years,” Kalaouze said. “We just want to make sure the tradition lives on.”

Westemeirer said the UT logo is “one of the most recognized brands in America” and must be protected.

“We want to present the logo as a consistent image to the public — that is not possible if others, such as the defendants, modify or mutilate the logo,” he said.

Mike Huddleston, Texas A&M’s vice president for business development, said Texas A&M would likely have taken similar action if it faced the same scenario as UT.

“I’m just surprised it took them so long,” Huddleston said.

Oh, Really, Mr. Huddleston!? Way to boof your buddies there, as we used to say in the Corps. They (UT) don't have a case, this is clearly SATIRE and PARODY, and I hope this case gets laughed out of court. I hope this case is NOT heard by a judge who graduated from either school--lest accusations of bias come in...give us a Rice judge or a Baylor judge. A Rice judge especially, since PARODY and SATIRE are the lifeblood of the Marching Owl Band ("M.O.B.").

The UT "brand" isn't diminished by these parodies, though stupid lawsuits like this only reinforce the negative "T(ea)-sip" stereotype. It's not diminished anymore than a parody of the TAMU logo, like the clever " E-aTm-E " (eat me) graffiti I've sometimes seen in Austin. I wouldn't be offended if this was put on a T-shirt. I'd laugh. Hell, the Aggie "mascot", Rock a.k.a. "Ol' Sarge", is in large measure SELF-parody. Everyone knows Aggies write the best Aggie jokes. The A&M "brand" capitalizes on a kind of "aw, shucks" self-parody, as does this blog, for that matter ;-) Rice U has some of the self-deprecating humor, like putting upside down the bumper stickers that read "I must be smart, I go to Rice".

I remember during library school there was earnest and quite serious discussion about reinventing the UNT "Brand", what it symbolized, etc. etc. I could not take any of it seriously, no matter how hard I tried (which, admittedly, wasn't very), no matter how much these pontificators DEMANDED to be taken seriously, and took seriously their own project.

It is just another sad symbol of how powerfully the ideology of Marketing, Spin, and PR and extreme hyper-capitalism have corrupted what remains of the already corroded and anemic Realm of Ideas in these United States. No idea, no matter how ridiculous, will be dismissed or ignored so long as it invokes the ideology and language of marketing and the nostalgia for stalwart American business mytholgies.

One of the last films hosted by the currently defunct Texas Film Festival on the A&M campus was the documentary on Ron English, the subversive Pop-o-ganda rebel artist. Ron would make an excellent "expert witness" for a case like this.

More ramblings later. Gig 'em.