Fwd: Carnegie Mellon Student Threatened by Wal-Mart Lawyers over Parody Website

April 25, 2005

Type: discussion

>
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
>
> Contact:
>
> Daniel Papasian
>
> (860) 977-1398
>
> [email protected]
>
>
>
> April 23rd, 2005
>
>
>
> Carnegie Mellon Student Threatened by Wal-Mart Lawyers over Parody
> Website
>
>
>
> (Pittsburgh, PA) - Lawyers representing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have used
> a cease and desist order to force a website ran by a Carnegie Mellon
> University student offline. The website, created by junior Political
> Science major Daniel Papasian, parodied The Wal-Mart Foundation
> (www.walmartfoundation.org), a subsidiary of Wal-Mart that promotes
> community development.
>
>
>
> The website was a project was for a class called "Parasitic Media,"
> an offering in the College of Fine Arts that encourages students to
> participate in political criticism through the tactical use of satire
> in the mainstream media. Other projects created in the class include
> mcactive.com, a parody of McDonald's Go Active campaign, and
> 700-club.org, which announces the online sale of indulgences for
> Catholics.
>
>
>
> "The site was a form of 'identity correction,' in which I used a
> parody to highlight real problems with companies like Wal-Mart. My
> site was designed to get people thinking about the consequences of
> importing goods from countries with poor labor laws, the environmental
> effects of big-box stores, and whether Wal-Mart is as benign as some
> would like us to believe," Papasian said. "The site was designed to
> look like a page belonging to the real Foundation, but I can't imagine
> anyone who read the site didn't realize it was a parody."
>
>
>
> The cease and desist alleged copyright infringement, claiming that
> Papasian's usage of graphics found on the real Wal-Mart Foundation
> website were in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
> Papasian, however, believes the content of his site is protected as
> "fair use." He said Wal-Mart's motives for serving the order are far
> more sinister.
>
>
>
> "They're trying to shut me down by going after me for copyright
> infringement, but I have a hard time believing that's what they care
> about. They didn't even bother to contact me to ask that anything be
> removed from my site. They're not worried because my page has a
> similar layout or design. They're worried because my ideas are a
> threat to them. They're threatened by my belief that big corporations
> like Wal-Mart have too much influence on the world. Multinational
> corporations have won immense powers over governments with recent
> international trade agreements, so it's no surprise they're going to
> start going after people directly."
>
>
>
> Papasian is not discouraged by the cease and desist, however. He
> plans on documenting his experience and making it available on his
> site, www.walmart-foundation.org.
>
>
>
> "I don't want to get sued," said Papasian. "But I won't be silenced."
>
>
>
> Papasian is available for interview.
>
>
>
> ###
>
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