So it's come to this... Warren Kremer Paino Advertising LLC, a big New York City advertising agency, has decided to sue a small time blogger into fiscal submission after the defendant apparently hurt their delicate feelings.
Basically, Lance Dutson, owner of a blog critical of the Maine Department of Tourism has been sued for defamation, libel and copyright infringement by the advertising agency it hired to run its tourism campaign. Dutson posted a mock-up of an advertisement created by Warren Kremer Paino Advertising LLC on his blog and mentioned a few times along the way that Maine was wasting its taxpayer's money with this advertisement (and indeed its current campaign) and this somehow constitutes libel and defamation. Apparently Warren Kremer Paino believes that Mr. Dutson infringed on their intellectual property rights when he posted the ad too. Boo f'n hoo.
After looking at the advertisement in question produced by Warren Kremer Paino, I'd be concerned too. It looks like a fourth grader put it together... and I mean NO OFFENSE to fourth graders.
To think that Warren Kremer Paino included a telephone sex line number in the original mock-up of the ad makes me wonder (aloud) just what type of clients do they take on the down-low over there.
The most preposterous part of the lawsuit was the extraordinary action of its attorneys to sue Mr. Dutson for each of the six different images used in the montage advert (at $150,000 a pop) rather than treating the entire ad as one image. One of the IP lawyers I work for laughed so hard he literally sounded like he fell out of his chair. He and I both agreed that this move sounds more like "shock and awe" rather than "tort and law," which only goes to my hypothesis that this lawsuit is more akin to an "extort and gag" operation rather than a bona fide claim of the violation of specific intellectual property rights.
Trust me, Dear Reader, if I even felt a tingle of the possibility of a copyright transgression in this case I would be putting the smack down on the violator instead. (Who can forget my exposition on the Glenn Canady matter?)
You can read about the lawsuit filed against Lance Dutson by Warren Kremer Paino Advertising LLC by referring to this Boston Globe article: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/04/28/blogger_who_criticized_maine_tourism_office_faces_lawsuit/
Let's get to the meat of this Voodoo Hex of the Moment and why I am so worked up this morning:
We have the right to free speech but it has increasingly become a very expensive right to exercise...
Today it seems that if someone publicly expresses an opinion about another (business or entity) that is contradictory to their carefully crafted image or brand then the offended just sues the offender, regardless of any possible merit to the claim. That'll shut 'em up, right? I mean, who has to have a spine or thick skin these days when you can subjugate or obliterate your adversary with a legal summons? This is typically referred to as a S.L.A.P.P. or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. There is hope... ANTI-SLAPP!
Refer to my blog's most important precept- “Fraud and falsehood only dread examination. Truth invites it.”
Mr. Dutson, a self-proclaimed middle class guy from Maine (one of the poorest states in the United States of America) and father of three children may not be found liable, ultimately, for his trespasses but the financial toll his defense will take on his family will be nothing short of catastrophic. In intellectual property cases it often costs a whole lot more scratch to defend a suit that it does to bring one. He’s lucky he has some heavy hitters on his side; First Amendment lawsuits tend to rally champions to the cause. This highlights our nations need for Federal SLAPP legislation; law firms and their clients who have been found by the court to have brought a SLAPP suit should not only have to reimburse the defendant but be subject to harsh penalties, too.
Subjugate or Obliterate. In my most humble opinion, I am sure that this is exactly what Warren Kremer Paino Advertising, LLC has intended to accomplish: the ruin of an outspoken Maine small business man concerned with the mismanagement of Maine's number one domestic product- travel and tourism after he would not succumb to the yoke of their will.
I applaud his efforts to stand up and fight for his right to criticize government and to question the handling of its resources and his tax dollars. I implore you, Dear Reader, to visit his website, contribute to his cause in some way if you can, and personally encourage him to fight for what he believes. I see a lot of bloggers posting the story but most of them don't have the balls or the ability to form or express an opinion and then follow up with a call to action. I personally sent an email to the head of Maine's Department of Tourism, copied the Governor of Maine, the heads of the State Senate and State House of Representatives, WKPA and MDT's PR firm telling them I would NEVER visit Maine again, at least not as long as the department head was in place and WKPA remained under contract, and that he should be held personally responsible for the actions of his subcontractors. It took me 5 minutes.
Support this uber-American.
If you are as pissed off about this as I am, please send Warren Kremer Paino Advertising, LLC an email, better yet fax or call them, letting them know exactly how you feel about lawsuits whose primary aim is the wholesale extortion of our most sacred right- the unalienable right of free speech. Let WKPA clients know that you will no longer support them because of their choice to retain Warren Kremer Paino Advertising, LLC. Their clients include The New York Palace, the Maine Department of Tourism, the Alex Hotel, Helmsley Hotels, T. Anthony LTD, Delta Dental, Hershey Resorts, Sony, Cushman & Wakefield, The Four Seasons, Bulova, American Express Corporate Services and others.
WKPA contact information:
Eml: wcrandall@wkpadv.com
Ofc: (212) 686-2914
Fax: (212) 686-5652
If nothing else, create your own Voodoo Hexes and unleash them upon those who seek to quash American liberties through frivolous lawsuits.
A Voodoo hex on you and your litigation, Warren Kremer Paino Advertising, LLC.
Voodoo, VooDOO, VOODOOOO!
Finally, I would like to give Mr. Dutson the biggest possible props for his description of Maine’s tourism, "it's being run like a trailer park daycare on its 3rd notice from the Human Services people."
Damn... I wish I would have thought of that one! I hate it when people snap better than I do. Voodoo on you too, Mr. Dutson.
Thank you for leading by Hexample.
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