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Satire is and should continue to be protected by Freedom of Speech, but you should understand there are lines satire can cross to become libel, and illegal. Wh

Satire is and should continue to be protected by Freedom of Speech, but you should understand there are lines satire can cross to become libel, and illegal. When a corporate or person's name/trademark is used explicitly and intentionally, freedom of speech does not automatically inherently protect the publication or media. In such a case, damages (if any) are resolved on a case-by-case basis, generally depending on the content and how indistinguishable it is from the real thing (and whether it's potentially damaging). Saturday Night Live and The Onion are protected because both are widely known and clearly labeled as comedy/satire content. Neither is the case for this video, and as a result it's extremely likely they would fail at defending a lawsuit from the NRA if they did decide to prosecute. P.S. My post assumed nothing about anyone's political views. The planned parenthood example was meant to provide balance via an analogical example from the other stereotypical political side.

whyenot 10y ago
I would think a video from The Yes Men would be easily identifiable as parody based on their past actions. Even if you are not aware of who they are, it's easy to find with a quick Google search.
- simbalion 10y ago
  That's not a fair assumption, I've never heard of the Yes Men for example. I'd assume they knew what they were doing, as these sorts of concerns are often on the mind of satirists. They should have included a disclaimer or something making it clear that the video was a parody. It's reasonable to think they may have been counting on short attention spans and ignorance to spread false rumors about NRA positions.
- gozur88 10y ago
  You're assuming people will actually do that search. If it's sufficiently misleading they may assume it's legit.
  - hga 10y ago
    And that doesn't work for the web site, which is, after all, the only thing taken down. No mention of The Yes Men, it really tries to look legit and claims an NRA copyright etc. Even the whois info for the domain dead ends at the Whois Privacy Corp.
emodendroket 10y ago
What about the Jerry Falwell thing?
splawn 10y ago
Its such delicious satire too. It has forced a lobby group that has an unyielding view point on the 2nd amendment to clash directly with the 1st amendment. Which in turn causes me to question my own unyielding view on the 1st amendment... Hilarious and brilliant stuff IMO, assuming this was all in the design of the satire.
- hga 10y ago
  It has forced a lobby group that is perceived to have an unyielding view point on the 2nd amendment The NRA's stance is very much exaggerated, e.g. every piece of Federal anti-gun legislation passed with their approval until the 1994 AW ban, and since the passage of the Brady Bill the year before, which eventually set up the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), their baby, you might say, they've supported and are right now supporting legislation that uses the NICS to prevent people from buying guns from FFLs (gun stores). To cover a bit more of their relationship with the 1st Amendment (which after looking at the Wayback Machine copies of the website, I'm not so sure is implicated, e.g. it does not come off as satire unless you know enough about the NRA's stolid style), they fiercely opposed McCain-Feingold, since it banned a lot of their political speech before elections (this was resolved in their favor in the Citizens United case).
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- Kephael 10y ago
  This doesn't look like satire, they've even gone and created nrapress.org which mimics the actual NRA-ILA site. It is not obvious satire and the press release page looks absolutely authentic because they've ripped the NRA-ILA site design and are redirecting to the NRA-ILA site.
  - splawn 10y ago
    I suggest you watch their movie. This is what they do. Imo, its satire at its best and purest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3s_pJw7OAU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3s_pJw7OAU

whyenot 10y ago

I would think a video from The Yes Men would be easily identifiable as parody based on their past actions. Even if you are not aware of who they are, it's easy to find with a quick Google search.

simbalion 10y ago
That's not a fair assumption, I've never heard of the Yes Men for example. I'd assume they knew what they were doing, as these sorts of concerns are often on the mind of satirists. They should have included a disclaimer or something making it clear that the video was a parody. It's reasonable to think they may have been counting on short attention spans and ignorance to spread false rumors about NRA positions.
gozur88 10y ago
You're assuming people will actually do that search. If it's sufficiently misleading they may assume it's legit.
- hga 10y ago
  And that doesn't work for the web site, which is, after all, the only thing taken down. No mention of The Yes Men, it really tries to look legit and claims an NRA copyright etc. Even the whois info for the domain dead ends at the Whois Privacy Corp.

emodendroket 10y ago

What about the Jerry Falwell thing?

splawn 10y ago

Its such delicious satire too. It has forced a lobby group that has an unyielding view point on the 2nd amendment to clash directly with the 1st amendment. Which in turn causes me to question my own unyielding view on the 1st amendment... Hilarious and brilliant stuff IMO, assuming this was all in the design of the satire.

hga 10y ago
It has forced a lobby group that is perceived to have an unyielding view point on the 2nd amendment The NRA's stance is very much exaggerated, e.g. every piece of Federal anti-gun legislation passed with their approval until the 1994 AW ban, and since the passage of the Brady Bill the year before, which eventually set up the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), their baby, you might say, they've supported and are right now supporting legislation that uses the NICS to prevent people from buying guns from FFLs (gun stores). To cover a bit more of their relationship with the 1st Amendment (which after looking at the Wayback Machine copies of the website, I'm not so sure is implicated, e.g. it does not come off as satire unless you know enough about the NRA's stolid style), they fiercely opposed McCain-Feingold, since it banned a lot of their political speech before elections (this was resolved in their favor in the Citizens United case).
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
Kephael 10y ago
This doesn't look like satire, they've even gone and created nrapress.org which mimics the actual NRA-ILA site. It is not obvious satire and the press release page looks absolutely authentic because they've ripped the NRA-ILA site design and are redirecting to the NRA-ILA site.
- splawn 10y ago
  I suggest you watch their movie. This is what they do. Imo, its satire at its best and purest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3s_pJw7OAU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3s_pJw7OAU