Stay Free! | Illegal Artist threatens AT&T

Carrie McLaren carrie at stayfreemagazine.org
Thu Jan 23 10:11:26 EST 2003


Hello, here's some late-breaking info about another Illegal Art 
event. See the article in today's New York Times for more info:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/23/business/media/23ADCO.html

Or check out Stay Free's site:
http://www.illegal-art.org

thank you thank you
carrie

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MEDIA ALERT
January 23, 2003 | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Iowa Professor Owns Phrase Freedom of Expression, Threatens Suit 
Against AT&T for Violating His Trademark.


New York Times reporter Nat Ives writes, "Freedom of Expression, it 
turns out, may not be for everyone."

At a January 25, 2003 press conference in Chicago, IL, University of 
Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod will formally announce his plans to 
pursue legal action against AT&T for trademark infringement. The 
telecommunications giant used "Freedom of Expression" as the slogan 
for a recent print ad campaign, which violates Dr. McLeod's federally 
registered trademark, Freedom of Expression, which is also the name 
of his long-running publication.

"Yesterday, Mr. McLeod sent AT&T a 'cease and desist' letter, 
asserting that consumers might infer a link between the company and 
his anti-corporate publication, 'Freedom of Expression,'" wrote Ives 
in a January 23, 2003 New York Times column. McLeod objects to the 
fact that AT&T, in reality, cares little for freedom of expression; 
he is also concerned with the way intellectual property law is 
accelerating the privatization of our culture. 
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/23/business/media/23ADCO.html

"Your company has usurped my client's registered trademark in its 
attempts to sell long-distance telephone service to college 
students," McLeod's Iowa City-based attorney Gregory Williams wrote 
in the cease and desist letter mailed to AT&T on January 22, 2003. 
"Consequently, we demand that you immediately cease and desist from 
further use of the registered mark 'Freedom of Expression.'"

"I want AT&T to think twice the next time they try to use 'Freedom of 
Expression' without my permission," states McLeod. He acknowledges 
the irony of trademarking the very phrase that sums up the American 
commitment to free speech. "But 99.999% of the time it is 
corporations that shut down individuals' Freedom of Expression," he 
said, "so it's satisfying that trademark law allows me to do the same 
to AT&T." McLeod is an assistant professor at the University of Iowa 
who has written about the impact of intellectual property law and the 
privatization of culture in his book Owning Culture (2001).

This is not the first time a commonly used phrase has been 
trademarked. Food manufacturing company Mrs. Smith's fires off cease 
and desist letters to bakeries that dare to infringe on its 
trademark, "home style." University of Massachusetts ex-basketball 
coach John Calipari trademarked "Refuse to Lose" and charges the 
school royalties to use his slogan. And Ohio University and Ohio 
State engaged in a lengthy, expensive battle over the word "Ohio."

The Trademark for Freedom of Expression (no. 2,127,381) was filed 
under Class 16 of the international register of services and goods, 
which covers printed matter, and the like.

The press conference is part of the Chicago opening of "Illegal Art: 
Freedom of Expression in the Corporate Age," an art show that runs 
from January 25 through February 21. "Illegal Art" 
(http://illegal-art.org) debuted in New York City, and it will also 
travel to San Francisco. The show is sponsored by Stay Free! magazine 
and the Chicago exhibit is hosted by In These Times magazine. 
McLeod's framed Freedom of Expression trademark certificate is part 
of the show, which highlights art and ideas on the legal fringes of 
intellectual property law. Works include the cover art of 
Negativland's infamous "U2" sound collage, which prompted a lawsuit 
by the Irish band's record company, as well as director Todd Haynes' 
"Superstar," a short film that sympathetically tells the story of 
Karen Carpenter with Barbie dolls, but which was enjoined from 
distribution.

Media representatives and others are invited to the press conference 
at 5pm on January 25, 2003. It is located at 2040 N. Milwaukee 
Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60647, at the In These Times magazine building. 
The show opens at the same location at 6pm.

High Resolution Images Available for Media at http://kembrew.com.

CONTACT INFO:
Kembrew McLeod
319-621-4620
kembrew at kembrew.com
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