Germantown Times continues to make waves - from their currently running “ ” parody poll to their recent print edition, people around town are continuing to take notice. Not all of the recognition GT is receiving is positive, however - plans to print a bumper sticker making fun of Norton Commons was met with a cease and desist from their legal team.
The letter from local legal heavyweights Stites and Harbison points out that the use of the trademarked name “Norton Commons” is in violation of their copyright on the “urban” neighborhood’s moniker. They state that while they don’t have a problem with GT satirizing Norton Commons in writing, they do take offense at the use of their trademark for the production of consumer merchandise.
As you may be aware, there are laws dictating
fair use of copyrighted materials
, and it could be easily said that GT’s use of Norton Commons’ trademark falls within that use. For cases of parody, the
supreme court defined parodic use
as “use of some elements of a prior author’s composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that author’s works.” Satire, they qualified, isn’t protected, but occurs when a piece “has no critical bearing on the substance or style of the original composition, which the alleged infringer merely uses to get attention or to avoid the drudgery in working up something fresh.” In the case of the offending bumper sticker, It seems that the use of Norton Commons’ trademark falls under parody, while the use of the “Keep Louisville Weird” style of sticker is the only element that could be construed as not being used fairly.
If merchandising is the problem, a legal decision against the TSA should clear that up - tshirts mocking the TSA were found to not be against the law, and that they could be sold. If fair use under parody protects people mocking the government and appropriating the seals of agencies for commercial gain, doesn’t it seem like using the words Norton Commons should be legal?
Frank Thompson responded with a well worded letter (hint: read the first letters of each line), but I’m still left with the feeling that Stepford Norton Commons went a little heavy handed on this one. If they’re so quick to jump to legal threats, then maybe there’s a nerve that was struck? Perhaps the bumper sticker is right.
