Courage Campaign responds to Cease and Desist letter from Prop 8 supporters
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2010
Courage Campaign responds to Cease and Desist letter from Prop 8 supporters
Rejects claim that parody of ProtectMarriage.com logo is an infringement of copyright; Cites ProtectMarriage.com claim that image of family of two mothers and two children is “substantially indistinguishable” from image of family headed by a man and woman
LOS ANGELES, CA – The Courage Campaign responded this morning to a cease and desist letter delivered earlier in the week by lawyers for ProtectMarriage.com and announced it will refuse to remove a logo on their Prop 8 Trial Tracker website that parodies the ProtectMarriage.com logo.
In a letter to ProtectMarriage.com, Courage Campaign legal counsel Nathan Sabri of Morrison Forester explained why the cease and desist letter had no merit. “While our client does appreciate the irony of the suggestion in your letter that a logo of a family made up of a man, a woman, and two children is ‘substantially indistinguishable’ from a logo made up of two women and two children, your assertion is incorrect,” Sabri wrote. “This difference between our client’s logo and your client’s logo is a graphical representation of the core difference between Courage Campaign’s views and ProtectMarriage.com’s views, presented in a sassy way that will not be lost on the public.”
Sabri went on to cite numerous examples of case law, including cases involving the World Wrestling Federation, Mattel, and Universal Studios to show that Courage Campaign has a legal right to parody the ProtectMarriage.com logo.
Rick Jacobs, Chair of the 700,000 member Courage Campaign, commented on the irony of ProtectMarriage.com’s letter. “We are heartened that Prop 8 supporters now acknowledge that a family of two women and two children are no different than a family headed by a man and a woman,” he said. “I certainly hope they will acknowledge that fact in Judge Vaughn Walker’s courtroom.”
Jacobs added, “This is yet another example of Prop 8 supporters’ desire to hide everything about this trial from the public. They are using the Prop 8 trial and this cease and desist letter as part of a political strategy to mask their agenda to discriminate against Americans.”
Courage Campaign’s Prop 8 Trial Tracker has received over 464,000 views since it launched on Monday, and has become the leading source of real-time updates on the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial.
A copy of the cease and desist letter and the response from the Courage Campaign’s attorney can be viewed at:
###
Get Media Updates
Courage Campaign in the news
North Carolina Amendment One Voters Facing Possible Election Fraud As They Hit ... - Huffington Post