KFL%MX.LCS.MIT.EDU@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU (08/22/86)
[ Has this Hustler case made it to the Supreme Court?
No.
If it is, then this is very bad, if not, then its still bad, but
it may be correctable. -CWM]
I hope Hustler does appeal to the Supreme Court.
I read that Hustler has countsued, alleging that Falwell reprinted
and distributed thousands of copies of Hustler's fake interview.
Falwell admitted doing so, and admitted that he did not have Hustler's
permission. So how did the court rule? They threw it out, on the
grounds that he was not reducing sales of Hustler since nobody on
Falwell's mailing list reads Hustler! An amazing doctrine, as well as
an incredible overgeneralization. I would be willing to bet plenty of
people on his mailing list read Hustler. Not as high a percentage as
in the general population, but still quite a few. Did he hurt their
sales? Who knows. And who ever said that harm to sales had to be
proven to prosecute copyright infringement?
Whatever happened to a government of laws not of men?
...Keith
[ I dunno; I agree with you (surprise!) that courts of late have lost
the big-view of things, in favor of making popular rulings on
individual cases. - CWM]
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