White House Orders Satirical Paper 'The Onion' to Stop Using Presidential

[Postman]

Seal....

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001350761

[Lerkfish]

1. they're on shaky ground there, satire is free speech.

[Maddy McCall]

7. I don't think so. I'm on a state commission, and only official state...

commissions, representatives, etc. are allowed to use the state seal.

It's shitty that the Onion was targeted, because it is obviously satire. But it's pretty much standard policy that only official representatives can use official seals.

[rzemanfl]

9. I think that applies only if the seal is used to imitate an official

document. Here it is clearly satire.

[Maddy McCall]

10. No. It's in any case. The secretary of state holds the seal.

You have to be an official representative of the state to have access to the seal. Our commission had to apply for permission to use the seal on our stationery.

At least that's the way it is with state seals.

I reiterate, though, that going after the onion is just freakin' stupid.

[rzemanfl]

16. Exactly. If I had stationery with the State Seal on it, I could wreak

a lot of havoc. Nobody is going the confuse the Onion with the White House, the folks at the Onion are much smarter.

[Metta]

2. I'm glad they're standing up. I hope it doesn't cost them much.

The fascists in the WH will stop at nothing to get there way, we know.

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. Is it trademarked?

Even if it is, satirical works are fair use.

[AlCzervik]

4. The Whitehouse also went after

www.whitehouse.org and they lost. They being Bush.

[longship]

5. And The Onion basically tells them to stuff it.

You'll have to search for the thread. But The Onion got a lawyer and sent the WH a response.

This is going to be great. I can't wait for The Onion to respond on their Web site.

[davidinalameda]

6. my first thought--could they be that stupid to go after The Onion

but of course they are!

:rofl:

[Maddy McCall]

8. Yes, that is their folly.

Going after the Onion, of all battles to fight right now. Silly.

[rzemanfl]

11. The Onion should issue a press release with their January 17th

2001 satire of Bush "Our Long National Nightmare of Peace and Prosperity is Finally Over" and argue that the ban is because they were so correct in their predictions.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28784/print

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

12. It is only fair use, and it is fair use, as long as it

can cleary be satire or parody.

Of course, considering some of the things the WH actually does say, it is hard to tell sometimes if The Onion is satire or real.

[complain jane]

13. They have to - it confuses their Repug base of imbeciles. Seriously.

I've seen one female Freeper in particular totally take stories posted on a right-wing website that were cut & pasted from The Onion or Satire Wire as gospel truth. She gets herself in a tizzy and sends out a spam-blast to all her imbecile friends about whatever bullshit issue the make-believe story is about, before one of us lets on that it was actually a joke. She thinks if it has the seal in the photograph, it must be a real story. She falls for it every time. It's hilarious.

[HawkerHurricane]

14. Didn't they learn there lesson with Dan Quayle?

NEVER argue with a satire/comedy group. Because they can win just by being funny or giving themselves the last word. Dan Quayle tried to link Murphy Brown to the L.A. Riots... and got roasted by the (fictional) Murphy Brown in a later episode.
G. Bush the Greater hit on the Simpsons ("We need fewer families like the Simpsons and more like the Waltons!") only to get hit back by the Bartman: "We're just like the Waltons, we're all praying that the depression will end!"
The Onion makes a living mocking people. The best response is to chuckle with self depreciating humor, mention you like a good satire, and move on...

[Freedomfried]

15. Why? this satirical administration uses it.

e0m