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Friday, October 2, 2009

About This Glenn Beck Internet Meme

Posted by Matt Davis on Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 4:20 PM

Friday afternoons were made for stories like this:

WIPO is considering a domain name dispute between conservative commentator Glenn Beck and the owner of a satire site called GlennBeckRapedAndMurderedAYoungGirlIn1990.com.

Beck is suing the proprietor of the site, claiming that it's a violation of the "trademark of his name." Can't sue in regular court, because of the first amendment as it relates to satire. The site's proprieters are defending the trademark allegations, saying Beck doesn't understand the nature of "internet memes."

Instead of doing any real work, this is a good time to start laughing your ass off at the full pdf of the legal brief. Of which a fragment:

“The term Internet meme is a phrase used to describe a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an esoteric inside joke.”2 See Internet For Beginners (Annex B)

From “Mr. Spock Ate My Balls,” (defunct) to ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US3 to “Leeroy Jenkins”4 to a slew of sub-memes based on the movie “300”5, internet memes are as old as the internet itself, and almost as ubiquitous as actual cybersquatters. See Squidoo “Top 10 Internet Memes” (Annex C). Memes are often puzzling to those who have never encountered them before, and they are similarly puzzling to the subjects of the memes when they involve real people.

And:
Memes often involve famous people, and they are often unflattering. Richard Gere has never dignified the infamous “Gerbil story” meme with a response, even though the story is nasty and false, and it too has entered the culture as an irrepressible meme, even making an appearance in The Simpsons, Episode 183. This is the price of celebrity — you just might wind up in a meme, and you might not deserve it. Richard Gere did nothing to bring the meme monster to his door. On the other hand, Mr. Beck has all but begged to become the subject of a meme.

 

Comments (9) RSS

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1
Woot. reddit represent! :P
Posted by NIG GER on October 2, 2009 at 4:29 PM · Report
2
Behold, the power of Fark!
Posted by Chris_Wilson on October 3, 2009 at 1:45 PM · Report
3 Comment Pulled
4
The "police report" for Mr. Beck's crime has the address of the incident as one block down from where I used to live in North Carolina. Weird.
Posted by ElGordo on October 5, 2009 at 9:11 AM · Report
5
Thanks for that post.

Clear Wireless
Posted by myvillagegreen on October 13, 2009 at 6:49 PM · Report
6
I had a great time reading around your post as I read it extensively. I am looking forward to hearing more from you.

Regards,
http://www.goldcoinsgain.com
Posted by goldbaker88 on October 13, 2009 at 11:18 PM · Report
7


Thanks a lot for the post!

http://www.myvillagegreen.com
Posted by myvillagegreen on October 16, 2009 at 2:21 AM · Report
8
I really love to read articles which are very informative and the topics are based or concerned with the current issues in our society. I admire these writers in sharing their views and or opinions that can enlighten the mind of the readers. Great job!


http://www.goldcoinsgain.com/gold-bullion-…
Posted by myvillagegreen on November 1, 2009 at 9:10 PM · Report
9
Glenn Beck tried to rape and murder 1st Amendment and failed
http://unreasonablysafe.com/2009/11/10/bec…
Posted by 2sayf on November 10, 2009 at 6:05 AM · Report

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