Exodus International Resorts to Legal Threats Over Billboard Parody
Posted on | March 2, 2006
The "professional heterosexuals" Exodus International is jumping on the band wagon of "If you cannot counter your dissenters with facts, threaten them " in sending the author of Justinsomnia a cease and desist letter demanding he remove an image which parodies a photo of a billboard that Exodus International put up. The billboard says "Gay? Unhappy?" and gives the address of Exodus’ site. The parody replaces "Gay?" with "Straight?" and Exodus’ address with that of Gay.Com. Exodus, using the right-wing religious law firm The Liberty Council, also sent a second cease and desist letter to Ex-Gay Watch which also posted a copy of the image.
I decided to post the parody image myself for two reasons. First of course there is the obvious act of defiance. I think Exodus International is full of shit and their attempt to use legal extortion is just as pathetic as they are. But that aside, I feel that now that Exodus International and the Liberty Council have made this a legal issue and thus more public, the public deserves to see the image in the interests of legitimate discussion and debate. I freely post the image under the comment and criticism category of fair use.
In preparing for writing this entry, I did a little research into copyright law in regards to parodies which would fall under the Fair Use laws. In order to be deemed a fair use of a copyrighted work, in this case the photo, must pass four tests:
- Purpose and character of the use
- The nature of the copyrighted work
- The amount taken from the original work
- Effects on potential markets
The first category is easily taken care of because the the Justinsomnia photo is clearly a parody and thus easily distinguishable from the original work. More than that though, I can also see the image being critical of Exodus International as well. As I do not see how the second category applies so I cannot comment on it. The third category is not valid in this case because there is no set threshold in instances like this where it is clearer in non-artistic works like newspaper articles. For example fair use allows me to quote articles and such here on this blog, but I cannot publish the entire article. The fourth category is oftentimes seen as the strongest test because it deals with money. When looking at how a use of a copyrighted work effects the market for the original, it is not looking at whether the use damages the marketability of the original work but rather whether it can supplant it. For example Weird Al Yankovic’s parodies, while using the exact same music tracks, cannot take the place of the original works. So say Madonna got angry over the "Like a Surgeon" parody of her "Like a Virgin" and decided to sue. In order for Yankovic to fail this fourth test Madonna would have had to have proven that Weird Al Yankovic’s version could be substituted for her original work.
What is even funnier to me than this pathetic attempt to use extortion to silence a critic is that the Liberty Council and Exodus International were stupid in doing this because from everything I have read they have no real case because the work is clearly a parody meant to subject Exodus International to ridicule but, more importantly, does not really cause them any loss of marketing on the original work itself since Justinsomnia’s parody obviously cannot be substituted for the original work. But even more to the point it will just spread more word about the image and more instances of it when this site, and others who also decide to discuss the image and thus create more of a buzz around it and their extortion tactics. But I wonder if they will try this same shit with me and these other sites.
Blog Links:
External Links:
Comments
7 Responses to “Exodus International Resorts to Legal Threats Over Billboard Parody”
Leave a Reply
March 2nd, 2006 @ 5:05 pm
Excellent post, many thanks. And I’m very glad you’ve included the image on your site. I’ve submitted the C&D to Chilling Effects. We’ll see what happens next.
March 2nd, 2006 @ 11:28 pm
Please don’t give in to these fanatics who want to threaten you? Keep that blog on there and don’t you dare remove it. Use it as an act of non-violence and hold your ground. It may get a lot of national attention and these jerks (Jerry Falwell and James Dobson) will be in the media crosshairs. Keep up the powerful and fantastic work!!
March 3rd, 2006 @ 12:32 pm
Here’s my tuppence on the matter:
http://www.tidmus.com/blog/index.php?id=257
Thanks for supporting Justin and free speech.
Staver doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on and he knows it.
Best,
Mike
March 4th, 2006 @ 3:51 pm
We’ve posted some on this last night and have added a bit more today on Exodus International’s head changling.
http://blierwatch.blogspot.com/2006/03/straight-cease-desist.html
March 4th, 2006 @ 6:57 pm
They don’t need to send you a letter too. All they need to do is find one judge to stop one of the parody billboards and then use that one to stop you.
March 4th, 2006 @ 7:03 pm
Yes, they do. They would have to get a decision in my juristiction. Decisions in California or whatever have no affect on me. Neither do ones in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The only court where one decision is universal is SCOTUS.
March 7th, 2006 @ 6:58 pm
I keep telling them, (straights), to let us get married so we can be as unhappy as they are.
Handi in Dallas