[NCSG-Discuss] Chick-fil-A loses UDRP vs Chick Fil A Foundation

[Joly MacFie]

[Disclosure BLIP director Jonathan Askin is on the ISOC-NY Board]

http://www.brooklaw.edu/newsandevents/news/2013/01-16-2013.aspx

Another BLIP client, Chick Fil A
Foundation<http://www.brooklaw.edu/newsandevents/news/2013/www.chickfilafoundation.com>,
recently won a victory in a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution case
(UDRP) against Chick-fil-A, the national fast food chain. Students in the
BLIP clinic conducted research and drafted pleadings in defense of their
clients Jason Selvig and Davram Stiefler, two New York based comedians and
parodists who created a website to criticize the controversial views
expressed by Chick-fil-A and its president with regards to same-sex
marriage.

Chick-fil-A’s parent company, CFA Properties, Inc. brought the UDRP claim
challenging Selvig and Davram’s rights in the domain name, arguing that it
was confusingly similar to their trademark and that it was registered in
bad faith. In response, students in BLIP, in partnership with the Dumbo law
firm of Lewis & Lin, argued that their clients had a legitimate right and
interest in the domain name as they were simply exercising their First
Amendment right of free speech and their right to criticize the
controversial views expressed by Chick-fil-A. They also argued that the
company could not prove bad faith, as Selvig and Stiefler were not seeking
to commercially benefit from the website.

“BLIP students won this victory for the clients in the end by drawing a
line between lawful parody and unlawful satire,” said Askin. “This was a
great experience for students to defend clients in an actual case and
really get a feel for the complexities at the intersection of internet law
and free speech.”

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Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
 http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
 VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
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