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Chuck Norris Sues Publisher, Tears Don't Cure Cancer
Google85 writes "Chuck Norris sued publisher Penguin on Friday over a book he claims unfairly exploits his famous name, based on a satirical Internet list of "mythical facts" about him. The book capitalizes on "mythical facts" that have been circulating on the Internet since 2005 that poke fun at Norris' tough-guy image and super-human abilities, the suit said."
Does Chuck Norris runs Linux ?
but Chuck Norris is already there.
Yeahhhhhh good luck with suing someone over what is clearly (read: the very *definition* of) satire.
Satire is one of those things that has been so thoroughly proven to be protected, Chuck is a fool to file suit unless this book reaches the point of slander.
The story is available on countless other sites who don't have javascript:goToPage(2); instead of a normal hyperlink.
You know why Justice is blind?
She crossed Chuck Norris.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire
Good luck Chuck. To win this case you have to break new legal ground. You could go down in history with SCO for the creativity of your legal claims. You are a public figure. You have honed your tough guy image and profited therefrom. If comics want to satirize your actions and image, you're fair game. Not only that but Chuck Norris jokes have become something like elephant jokes. In that regard they are somewhat generic. In that regard you are in the same unfortunate condition as a company that loses its trademark because it has become generic. Suck it up tough guy.
The truth can't handle Chuck Norris.
Software patents delenda est.
Well there's already a joke about it.
Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.You don't know what you don't know.
I hear he's going to represent himself, since nobody else is worthy of the honour.
Software patents delenda est.
The names of famous people are trademarks. If I were to open a restaurant called Chuck Norris' Good Eats, I'd be infringing his trademark, not his copyright.
This even goes so far that someone else who was not famous, but happened to also be named Chuck Norris could not use his own name as a business name.
While IANAL, I heard about this on TV, so it must be true.
Request your free CD of my piano music.
Okay, not like I really feel like defending the guy, but be a little fair. When Norris retired from competitive karate tournaments, it was with a record of 65-5, which isn't precisely anything to sneer at. Also, whatever your opinion of kung fu flicks in general, I think you'd have to concede that "Return of the Dragon" is a pretty important piece of the genre, even if Norris only played the heavy in it.
Pity he's such an ass.
...generates his own gravitational field.
...doesn't bend spoons w/his mind - he shits them out, all shiny and new, as needed.
...once completely sucked a man's eyeball clear out of the socket during a fight in the Philippines - optic never and all. He then spit it out into his hand, handed it to the poor bloke and whispered "I'm betting you NEVER look at me the same way ever again, Hector!"
...was born a woman, but decided early on he liked the thought of having hair on his back, so he willed himself into becoming the man is he today.
...took-off and landed a shot-up Cessna that had lost its landing gear simply by sticking his feet out of the cabin doors.
...chewed his own hand off to get out of hand-cuffs during a hostage situation that involved migrating pygmies. He then sewed it back on, using hair off his back as thread and a straightened paper clip - he burned a hole in one end of the paper clip by stacking disposable contacts onto his left eye, while looking at the clip and staring into the Sun.
...once rode a motorcycle backwards uphill in the desert for thirty-five miles in the dark...blind-folded. Of course drunk and with a bladder full of oxygenated white wine.
...made long distance phone calls in the 1980's using nothing but his vocal cords to hack the tone-controlled switchbanks.
...invented OBEs.
Norris has had good fun with Chuck Norris facts even going as far to cite the ones he liked the most. He has been very hands off when it came to the Internet world. You step over the line when you try to make a book and start selling for a profit. Without his likeness there is no Chuck Norris facts and they can be construed as derogatory. I see no problem here whipping out the lawsuit stick unless the publisher is ready to cut Chuck in for a good portion of the proceeds.
Personally I'd be happier if he remained famous for being the guy who got his ass kicked by Bruce Lee
Everything clever I considered putting here I got from other slashdot sigs.
His official website is http://www.chucknorris.com/
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
..chuck norris can do everything except take a joke :)
Are you aware that the whole "internet Chuck Norris" model may not represent the true person who is known as Chuck Norris?
His wikipedia article says that "Norris mentioned in his autobiography that his father had a very serious problem with drinking and "wasn't there" a lot for him growing up. Norris admitted that he loved his father but did not like him. However, he professed that he only felt pity for the man because "that was just how he was, and he missed so much."
The same article says "He also created
How does that fit with your own preconceived image of Chuck Norris?
is he has become a joke but unlike most of the Hollywood hero types he is the real deal. He's won more Karate championships than anyone and is a legitimate star athlete in the sport. His films were rarely all that serious other than maybe the one with Bruce Lee. He had fun making some silly movies and an even sillier TV series but it's sad it's damaged his name. He's not an actor and has terrible tastes in what projects he's taken on. He's made a lot of money at it and not really harmed anyone along the way, with his films and TV series anyway, so I say more power to him. He worked hard for his name for better or worse so he has the right to protect it. It's just too bad he'll be remembered as a third rate action hero instead of the world class athlete he is.
It's a totally different story when someone turns out a book/movie which exploits his name, then it's no longer a fan based material, and I totally agree with him in suing the bastard.
echo '[q]sa[ln0=aln80~Psnlbx]16isb572CCB9AE9DB03273snlbxq' |dc
As far bad Kung Fu movies, it would see he played in Meng long guo jiang(1972) and a couple of Bruce Lee documentaries. It would seem they often trained together. There would also seem to be a cheesy CB/trucker movie in his history. If it wasn't for Chuck Norris Facts, he would have faded into an obscurity brought about by late-night reruns and informercials for TotalGym. Since 2001 he's done two movies, and two made for TV things. He is an action superstar.
I'm not a fan of the guy, nor his politics, but i'm not going to knock the guy either. He has a very respectable career, and is a very accomplished martial-artist. So then why the hell does he have a website hosting them? Near as I'm aware he doesn't host them.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
Is it just me, or are other people getting kind of sick of providing all the material for someone else to make money from? I know Norris will lose this, and rightly so, but I'm just getting a bit tired off all the pricks capitalizing on our creativity. Off topic, I know....
My take on this is that Chuck isn't so much looking for a cut of the proceeds, but objects to the idea of somebody taking an Internet meme and attempting to sell it.
If that is the case, I'm behind him 100%.
Not that Chuck needs my support...
DG
Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
If you actually knew anything about the story you would know that Chuck Norris never had a problem with the mythical facts satire itself, he even has quoted his favorites on occasion. He is fine with the satire bit. What he is NOT fine with is that this book by Penguin has collected these facts/jokes about him (jokes the author collected, NOT wrote himself) and now published them for profit using his name (a trademark) and likeness.
I am also not quite sure that original creators of the various facts appreciate having their work printed without getting a share.
This seems to be a publisher wanting to make a quick buck of someone elses work using someone elses reputation. Somehow I can't see a jury having much sympathy for them.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I actually met and attended a seminar of one of those that did defeat him, Vic Moore (a seriously tough dude!). I was actually a student of John Jelks and George Davis, who were Vic Moore's second and first black belt students, respectively.
http://victormoore.org/
I also met Chuck Norris, as a child, at the USKA Grand Nationals back in the 1970's. He was a very nice guy. I don't understand the hatred for the guy. He's never bragged about himself in public the way that Steven Segal has, and he's lived up to everything he's about. He actually was a great champion during his competitive days, and thus struck a bond with Bruce Lee and was featured in one of his films as a result. What's to dislike about him?
When Chuck Norris sues, he brings the verdict, not the charges.
I was reading up on the gent IMDB and it would seem there is this bit of trivia
In the past it would seem Mr. Norris took "facts" about him very lightly and even commented on his favorites. But to someone who's strongly religious it's often pretty offensive to suggest they are some sort of prophet or have some supernatural ability.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
That is not socks mate. Just ask anyone who has been anywhere near carrier group about the "Diaper club". Personally, I do not know how true it is as I have managed to skip as far away from the entire military thing as possible. Many people claim to be true (or that it was true at some point).
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
I heard he's the only man to ever divide by zero!
Let's see if I read this correctly;
and so;
"Defendants have misappropriated and exploited Mr. Norris's name and likeness without authorization for their own commercial profit,"
Weird Al Yankovic makes money by parodying other artists; but the key concept is he does it, by creating the parody himself with his own sick-warped genius; He doesn't steal other peoples parodies.
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
...he doesn't need lawyers. He's his own lawyer, defendant, and prosecutor.
The USPTO lists a number of trademarks owned by Mr Norris including:
Chuck Norris is... "The Fact"
Chuck Norris Facts
Chuck Norris Approved
Chuck Norris
He is as is required by trademark law, defending his trademark in order to prevent it becoming generic. He is concerned that his name is being attached to rascist versions of these jokes. It damages his mark to be assosiated with these unauthorised versions. A trademark is a sign of origin for a customer, he does not want customers to be confused at the origin of these unauthorised versions. All he has to do to win is prove that he did not authorise this book.
Notice how Chuck and his lawyers haven't made a peep about this until someone tried to cash in on an Internet phenomenon. Someone is trying to make a quick buck out of Chuck Norris' fame (i.e. his likeness) without his permission.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
Parent Moderation, 2007-12-23, 18:20 (GMT-1): 50% Doesn't know when to shut up 50% Whiny 50% About to get roundhoused in the groin by the entire model of what it means to be male
He's not suing over the jokes. In fact he's always seemed to take them in pretty good humor and I believe he's quoted some of his favorites in interviews before. The satire aspect doesn't appear to be what has Norris in a snit.
:P
He's suing some guy who took a bunch of jokes other people wrote, and is now trying to turn those jokes into a profitable venture. Satire is one thing, but unauthorized use of a celebrity's name or likeness for profit is something else entirely.
It may turn out to be protected speech, as there are a lot of gray areas here. For example, I doubt the National Enquirer gets permission from Brad Pitt (for example) every time they run some BS story about him, but they're capitalizing on his name to sell their magazine.
I guess we'll just have to see what the courts decide, but it's just incorrect to suggest that Norris is suing random people over some jokes. He's never really complained about any of them until the moment someone tried to use his name for profit, and that's really a different bag.
And, furthermore, you could argue that since every one of the statements about Chuck Norris is completely true, it isn't satire, but an unauthorized biography of his life.
mirrorshades radio -- darkwave, industrial, futurepop, ebm.
If anyone should sue, it's NBC. Half of the "Chuck Norris" jokes are really "Bill Brasky" jokes - in fact the whole meme is a ripoff of those sketches from the late 90's.
"Well kids, you tried your best, and you failed. The lesson is, never try."
Had they instead tried to release a book based on the
Bruce Schneier Facts, when they tried to print it they'd have discovered the text was encrypted.
Chuck can have his roundhouse kicks. Bruce Schneier is the /. role model of choice.
http://geekz.co.uk/schneierfacts/fact/921/
In Soviet Russia Chuck Norris overthrows the evil godless commies (by like kicking them and stuff, a lot) thus causing it to paradoxically not be Soviet any longer, but to be free.
So: with Chuck Norris, Russian reversal reverses Russia!
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Do you really think that Pam Anderson, who has been said to suffer from one of the worst treatments of American society -- that is, to be famous but not wealthy -- has actually had an image boost by doing charity work? Similarly, I'm sure Paris Hilton has publicists. Why isn't she out there pounding in nails for Habitat for Humanity?
I think you're being OVERLY cynical in this regard. Sure, there's reason to be a cynic when it comes it American celebrity. But to suggest that wealthy, famous people could not POSSIBLY want to help there mere plebes at the bottom of the foodchain, that just overlooks the fact that there are a lot of genuinely good people who just so happen to be successful.
Here's how the conversation at the publisher must have gone:
"Hey, Jim, did you see this funny Chuck Norris shit on the internet?"
"Yeah Bob, I did, it's funny shit. Let's turn it into a book and sell it!"
"Awesome, it will be the best Chuck Norris book ever! Hey, do you think we should ask Chuck Norris if we can publish a Chuck Norris book?"
"Nah, fuck him, what's he gonna do?"
(sadly, these were the last words Jim and Bob ever spoke. Bob blinks that he's very, very sorry. The doctors think Jim is blinking too, but no-one wants to look into his arse to find out.)
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
So what? IF the book violates copyrights, which is not stated in the suit, they are not Chuck Norris's copyrights; he has no standing to sue. There isn't some kind of legal right to control what jokes can be published about you. Especially when you're a public figure. This is so absurd, I have to wonder if he's getting royalties in exchange for filing the suit, to generate publicity.
-Chuck Norris can divide by zero.
-Chuck Norris has counted to infinity. Twice.
He just stares at the screen. The internet won't dare not turn up, even if the screen isn't even powered. Or working.
Who the hell cares about Chuck Norris? What the hell is this doing on Slashdot? This is ridiculous.
Actually, I do know that, I just don't care. I don't care why people do good things, I'm just glad when they do. I'd even have given Paris Hilton the benefit of the doubt had she come through on her word to help ease the transit from jail to the real world for women. She didn't, so fuck her. As for Bill Gates, I think he's a ruthless business man who will do whatever he can to win the game, but I also genuinely appreciate what he's doing in his charitable ventures, and wish him the best there.
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]