Wal-Mart Parody Site Censored by DMCA

davidwr writes "Wal-Mart used the Digital Millenium Copyright Act to temporarily shut down a university student's parody of the Wal-Mart Foundation." The story's details are also available via BusinessWeek. From the article: "Papasian launched the Web site April 16 for an art class at Carnegie Mellon University called 'Parasitic Media.' The class teaches students about the political uses of satire in the media. He acknowledged using Wal-Mart's graphics on his Web site but said he believed he could use the images as part of a parody."

Comments

Is the Wal-Mart Foundation a legit non-profit?

[Ktistec Machine]

From the article: "An interesting aspect of the cease and desist is that it was signed by a lawyer who wrote that she was acting on behalf of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. This statement unintentionally emphasizes one of the main points that my parody was trying to prove all along: The Wal-Mart "Foundation" is nothing more than a front group for Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated, and should not be confused for a real charitable non-profit."

Re:Look alike graphics would be OK.

[AKAImBatman]

Dude, you need to check that. Despite your claims of your site being "so absurd that it must be a parody", the truth is that it is very easy to confuse with the original. You used a domain name that's nearly the same, you appropriated trademarks (which aren't protected), you used the exact same graphics, etc., etc., etc. A "parody" that's easy to confuse with the original is not protected!

Next time do a *good* job of it as call the site "Dull-Mart" or somesuch, and use a matching domain. Also ajust all the images so that they betray the intent of the site (i.e. a parody). Every last line should say something insightful or funny that it difficult to mix up with the original. Someone else pointed to this site as an example of how it should be done.

Good luck.