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GetAFirstLife.com
Darren Barefoot's hilarious parody of Second Life drew the perfect legal response. |
Humorists in all media, and their favorite targets, and those targets' attorneys, should take note: When you get skewered, the best response is to join the laughter. That way, it can work to your benefit.
Case in point: Check out Get a First Life -- a hilarious one-page online parody of the popular virtual environment Second Life. It was created by the Canadian technologist and marketer Darren Barefoot. It's so rife with potential copyright and trademark violations that I certainly would have hesitated to publish it.
Soon after his parody went live, Barefoot did indeed hear from Second Life creators Linden Lab -- or at least, it appears that way. On Jan. 21, an extensive comment attributed to Ginsu Yoon, VP and General Counsel of Linden Lab, appeared on on Barefoot's blog posting about his parody. It wasn't a cease and desist letter, but rather a "proceed and permitted" letter. (UPDATE JAN. 29: I have confirmed that Yoon did indeed post this comment.)
That letter says, in part: "Linden Lab objects to any implication that it would employ lawyers incapable of distinguishing such obvious parody. Indeed, any competent attorney is well aware that the outcome of sending a cease-and-desist letter regarding a parody is only to draw more attention to such parody, and to invite public scorn and ridicule of the humor-impaired legal counsel. Linden Lab is well-known for having strict hiring standards, including a requirement for having a sense of humor, from which our lawyers receive no exception. In conclusion, your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected."
Brilliant! And well done by all concerned.
(Thanks to Derek Slater of the Electronic Frontier Foundation for the tip. Read more about it at MIT's Convergence Culture Consortium)
