Garrison Keillor v the Prairie Ho
p2p news / p2pnet:- Garrison Keillor – a liberal comedian! – is threatening to sue MNspeak over a t-shirt that pokes fun of his mega-gigantic media empire, states Rex on MNspeak. “You’d think we shot Guy Noir or something,” he says. “Man, this guy is getting old.”
Mnspeak is improperly using Keillor’s trademarked “A Prairie Home Companion,” says the latter in a Cease and Desist lawyer’s missile.
“I immediately call Keillor’s lawyer, and the brief conversation goes something like this,” says Rex.
Read on >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Trial Of The Century: Keillor V. MNspeak.com
By Rex Sorgatz – MNspeak.com
Me: “Listen, you really don’t want to do this. I highly suggest you tell your client to revoke this cease and desist.”
Him: “Why?”
Me: “First off, your client has no legal basis for this, and it’s clear you’re just trying to bully me. Secondly, this is going to make your client look extremely out of touch. I’ll even write the headline for you: ‘Liberal Comedian Sues Blogger.’ Do you really want that?”
Him: “Is that a threat, Mr. Sorgatz?”
Me: “Dear god, no. I’m trying to be nice about this. I’m just telling you to let this go. I’ve made no real money off this, and there are only a handful of t-shirts left. If you let it go, I’ll let it go. This is just going to blow up in your client’s face.”
Him: “I’ll consult with my client.”
The lawyer disappears for 10 days, and I assume it’s over. Then he calls back late last week to say Keillor still wishes to pursue his cease and desist.
Woebegone Legalities
Exhibit A: This is the t-shirt page (with the “Buy” buttons removed and image redacted).
I have no doubt about where I stand legally. Parody typically falls under Fair Use (or sometimes, the First Amendment), and this is clearly an instance of parody. There are a series of factors involved in the definition of parody, including this: it is probably parody unless a “reasonable person” could mistake the new work [the t-shirt] as the work of the copyright owner [Prairie Home Companion]. To claim copyright infringement would involve arguing (as the cease and desist letter below implies) that some lost soul could find their way to MNspeak.com, click through to the t-shirt, and ignore the message in bold that clearly says “WARNING: This shirt is not associated in any way with Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor, MPR, The Fitzgerald, or, well, anything — it is PARODY.”
In other words, Garrison Keillor would have to prove in court that Minnesotans are stupid.
‘Liberal Comedian Sues Blogger’
So what now? I’ve temporarily honored the cease and desist, but haven’t decided how to proceed. Since there were only about 10 shirts left (and I had no plans on reprinting new ones), there’s no real economic reason to pursue this. And besides, let’s be clear about the scope of what we’re actually talking about: a fairly stupid t-shirt with four words on it. In an age of much bigger problems, is this really worth fighting for?
But here’s the thing: it annoys the living hell out of me that Garrison Keillor thinks he can bully me. And not only that, he incorrectly invokes our legal system to do it.
I am starting to talk to lawyers about my options, and am filing a report with the ACLU this week. But since this site makes minimal money, I have no plans to pay for legal assistance – if anyone knows a young sparky first amendment lawyer who wants to investigate a potentially high-profile case (on a pro bono basis), email me at rex@mnspeak.com.
Congratulations Garrison, you’ve won the round.
To be continued…
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First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
- Mohandas Gandhi
September 14th, 2005 at 1:32 am
That’s the best t-shirt you can come up with? Big yuks!
September 14th, 2005 at 2:46 am
Why is Keillor avoiding eye-contact with the Ho?
No offence intended to the lady in the t-shirt =)
Morg
September 15th, 2005 at 5:19 am
Maybe it’s cause i’m not an american, but before reading this story, i had never heard of Garrison Keillor. He should be grateful for the free publicity.
January 18th, 2006 at 2:41 am
I do agree that it’s a somewhat insignificant reason to invoke the wrath of Keillor. However I do feel as his program seems to be very wholesome and family oriented that he would take offence to the shirts message. On this basis I would call you a hypocrite as you state “he incorrectly invokes our legal system to do it” and then later you plead for pro bono legal support based purely on your “opinion” that he is bullying you. For something so silly to begin with how can you justify your opinion worthy of legal action and his opinion not worth the pursuit. It all boils down to you somehow offended him with your parody and he offended you with his taking offence. It’s his show. It’s your parody……It’s his show
Nick M.
February 7th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!!!
February 7th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
Yes, it is Garrison’s show.
As far as the shirt goes, I do not understand it beyond the obvious play on words. The message falls short of my otherwise well-rounded sense of humor. Yet, is one out of line legally, morally, intellectually, or otherwise by creating such as shirt? Not being up to speed in this realm of the law, I am not certain how the situation will be resolved. However, I do feel that Garrison is behaving in a most surprisingly disappointing manner. I mean, what real harm and/or infringement does this silliness possess? I curiously await the conclusion.