Imagine, if you will, your client gets a cease and desist letter. Except you believe in your heart and soul it’s bullshit. There’s no basis for the DMCA takedown — the opposing side probably even knows it, but they’re hoping a quick C&D letter will scare your client into taking it down. (Honestly, you know that’s how a lot of these go down, especially as major corporations’ default is just to remove the subject of the takedown letter regardless of the merits of the underlying claim.)
Given that, would you be as brave as attorney Mike Dunford? In the face of a DMCA takedown notice over the word “LAPD” (his client was selling “FUCK THE LAPD” shirts), Dunford had two words.
LOL, no.
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The LA Police Foundation sent a C&D letter to the seller of shirts that said "FUCK THE LAPD."
The Foundation said it holds exclusive IP rights to the word "LAPD."
The seller's response was succinct: pic.twitter.com/5U4REgAQsi
— Rob Freund (@RobertFreundLaw) May 2, 2024
Now I’ve got two words for Dunford: fucking brilliant.
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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].