Blog Response to Law Firm's Demand for Photo Takedown: We'll Mock You
When bloggers posted about a seemingly way-too-thin photo of a model featured in a recent Ralph Lauren advertisement, the company and its lawyers reportedly responded with a takedown demand, as far as the reprinted, copyrighted photograph is concerned.
While at least one blogger and/or its Internet service provider has apparently capitulated, Boing Boing is taking a different approach that illustrates the difficulty of attempting to address Internet issues with traditional legal tactics.
Reprinting the photo along with criticism of the way the company chose to portray the model is legally permissible fair use under copyright law, BoingBoing contends in a post yesterday. And, instead of relying on a traditional legal defense, the website says it’s going to mock those who are threatening litigation over its circulation of the photo.
After telling Ralph Lauren, Greenberg Traurig and PRL Holdings, Inc. they can “sue and be damned,” the post says BoingBoing intends to “publish your spurious legal threat along with copious mockery, so that it becomes highly ranked in search engines where other people you threaten can find it and take heart.”
It also threatens to offer nourishing food to the company’s models.
A spokeswoman for the law firm did not immediately respond to an ABAJournal.com request for comment.
Additional coverage:
Popehat: “If Ralph Lauren Sues Everyone Into Poverty, Maybe We’ll Be Skinny Enough To Fit Into Ralph Lauren Jeans”
Techdirt: “Ralph Lauren And Its Lawyers Discover The Streisand Effect On Bogus DMCA Takedown”
The Register: “Ralph Lauren says sorry for incredible shrinking pelvis”
Updated on Oct. 9 to link to subsequent Register post.
