John Joseph Bachir’s blog
The brilliant and prolific Kembrew McLeod is at it again. The intellectual property scholar, author, filmmaker, and prankster has put together a new website promoting his book and newly released film:
http://freedomofexpression.us.
Also be sure to check out his recent interview with Jonathan Lethem, and op-ed in the LA Times.
See previous Kembrew coverage here.
My buddy Kembrew just wrote a great article for this week’s Chronicle of Higher Education, discussing how universities are taking on the structure and methodologies of corporations. And of course he manages to involve a couple pranks in the story. Check it out. (I have no idea why it’s in the careers section, or what that means).
A little over a year ago, there was some buzz about Leo Stoller, a slimey guy who claims to have the intellectual property rights of thousands of words that he claims are his trademarks and brands.
My buddy and hero Kembrew McLeod, who is a professional prankster, tenured professor, and filmmaker, happened to actually own a trademark on the phrase “Freedom of Expression” (for use as a periodical title, now expired). For completely unrelated reasons, I had registered the domain freedomofexpression.org. Turns out, Leo Stoller also claimed to have a trademark on this expression.
Kembrew came up with the brilliant idea of sending a cease and desist letter to Stoller. My friend Julie Gilberg was game for making us some art, we got a couple other domains registered, and soon we had the Freedom of Expression Security Consortium: Regulating Freedom in the Marketplace of Ideas.
People were pretty into the whole thing, and it was even covered on Boing Boing. Whoo hoo!
But Stoller never responded, and the whole thing faded away as a happy memory.
Well, I recently got a nice surprise in the comments section of my post on the stunt:
links cleaned up by me
Stoller has now been enjoined as a vexatious litigant and barred from filing any more lawsuits or trademark oppositions without first getting permission from the court. The bankruptcy judge has also revealed how Stoller’s business scheme was working. See, document 1 (pdf) and document 2 (pdf).
Wow! I don’t know what enjoined means, but it sounds like justice to me! And how cool is it that a lawyer involved in the case found my blog and left an update on the story! (this is why I love blogs and other new media… the simple, powerful ways through which people can connect).
So it seems that Leo Stoller’s racket is shut down. Clearly Kembrew, Julie, and I are at least partially responsible…
Leo Stoller
Rentamark.com
P O Box 35189
Chicago, IL 60707-0189
Re: Freedom of Expression
July 22, 2005
Dear Mr. Stoller,
Please be advised that we are stakeholders in the Freedom of Expression� Security Consortium (FESC), which, as our motto states, �regulates freedom in the marketplace of ideas.� We are writing in response to your infringing use of FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, a federally registered trademark that is controlled by FESC member Kembrew McLeod, who owns the domain http://freedomofexpression.us. This mark, granted by the USPTO on January 6, 1998, is also used as the title of Dr. McLeod�s book, published in 2005 by Doubleday/Random House.
In the July 4, 2005 New York Times article about your business, �He Says He Owns the Word �Stealth,�� you said, �If a trademark owner doesn�t go up to the plate each day and police his mark, he will be overrun by third-party infringers.� Also, as you state on Rentamark.com, �There is no free well-known intellectual property left in the 21st Century. No free rides!� As a group that monitors unauthorized uses of FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, we couldn�t agree more.
In the course of policing FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, we at FESC (consisting of the websites freedomofexpression.us, freedomofexpression.org, freedom-of-expression.org, and freedom-of-expression.com) have learned of your infringement, which can be found at this URL: http://www.rentamark.com/e-marks/E-I/e-i.html.
We are troubled by (1) your unrestrained use of FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION and (2) the fact that you have offered to license this phrase to third parties without permission. After all, not just anybody can utilize FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, and it is clear that your use of this phrase constitutes unfair competition and a blurring and tarnishing of this federally registered mark.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION will be substantially and irreparably damaged should this infringement continue. We, therefore, demand that Rentamark.com immediately cease and desist using FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION within five days. We eagerly await your response.
Very truly yours,
Kembrew McLeod
http://freedomofexpression.us/
Freedom of Expression� Security Consortium
1037 E. Washington St.
Iowa City, IA 52240
kembrew@freedomofexpression.us
cc:
John Joseph Bachir http://freedomofexpression.org/
Fletcher Moore http://freedom-of-expression.com/
Julie Gilberg http://freedom-of-expression.org/
