Justice in the Case of Did Glenn Beck Rape and Murder a Young Girl in 1990
If you’ll remember, the website www.glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com was started as a way of satirizing the Glenn Beck style of argumentation (which became rampant in punditry well before Beck got involved). Beck, who has long opposed any cases of international authority ruling on domestic matters as a case of “one world government” usurping the divine sovereignty of America, nevertheless realized he could never win a legal challenge against the website because it’s clearly protected under the first amendment, so chose instead to pursue a course of appealing to an international trade body on spurious grounds as an end run.
Today the body ruled, and Beck lost (PDF).
Respondent appears to the Panel to be engaged in a parody of the style or methodology that Respondent appears genuinely to believe is employed by Complainant in the provision of political commentary, and for that reason Respondent can be said to be making a political statement. This constitutes a legitimate non-commercial use of Complainant’s mark under the Policy.
So, ironically, Beck lost his appeal because the tribunal didn’t want to override the defendant’s right to free speech, as Beck was requesting them to do.
Immediately upon receiving word that Glenn Beck lost his case to acquire his domain, the defendant (Isaac Eiland-Hall) decided to make a point—and give him the stupid domain name anyway. His letter to Mr. Beck (PDF):
As you are now aware, I have prevailed in the WIPO action that you filed against me. I write now to voluntarily relinquish the disputed domain to you, even though you did not win the case. My criticism of you has been amply made — in no small part, with your assistance in this case — and I have no desire to attempt to punish you personally beyond the levying the criticism itself.
It bears observing that by bringing the WIPO complaint, you took what was merely one small critique meme, in a sea of internet memes, and turned it into a super-meme. Then, in pressing forward (by not withdrawing the complaint and instead filing additional briefs), you turned the super-meme into an object lesson in First Amendment principles.