老澳门开奖结果

VIRGINIA 鈥� Matt Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell, the hosts of the 鈥淜now Your Enemy鈥� podcast, and Dissent magazine have filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought by the Young America鈥檚 Foundation (YAF). YAF's lawsuit claims that the podcast鈥檚 tongue-in-cheek use of 鈥淵oung Americans for Freedom鈥� as the name of its lowest membership tier on Patreon violates their intellectual property rights. This comes almost exactly a year after YAF voluntarily withdrew the.

"Conservatives love to scold woke leftists for not being able to take a joke, but it's the Young Americans for Freedom who don't have a sense of humor," said Matt Sitman, co-host of the Know Your Enemy podcast. "These self-styled champions of liberty are trying to bankrupt us in a fit of pique over an obviously satirical reference to their organization on our podcast鈥檚 webpage."

The Know Your Enemy podcast, billed as 鈥渁 leftist鈥檚 guide to the conservative movement,鈥� is an intellectual history podcast hosted by Adler-Bell and Sitman. Dissent Magazine, an independent leftist publication, promotes the podcast. Know Your Enemy鈥檚 motion to dismiss argues that the ironic reference to Young Americans for Freedom on the podcast鈥檚 Patreon page is protected by the trademark fair use doctrine and the First Amendment; and that potential listeners are not likely to be confused about whether conservative groups like Young Americans for Freedom sponsor or support the Know Your Enemy podcast.

鈥淣obody is seriously confused about whether Young Americans for Freedom sponsors the Know Your Enemy podcast,鈥� said Brian Hauss, senior staff attorney with the 老澳门开奖结果 Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. 鈥淭his baseless trademark lawsuit is just an attempt to bully those who comment critically on the conservative movement.鈥�

The podcast offers Patreon memberships that include different listener privileges. The lowest membership tier, akin to a student discount membership, is labeled 鈥淵oung Americans for Freedom.鈥� Its listed benefits include 鈥渁ccess to Patreon-only bonus episodes鈥� and the hosts鈥� 鈥渆ternal adoration and gratitude.鈥� The two more premium membership tiers, the 鈥淲est Coast Straussians鈥� and the 鈥淛ohn Birchers,鈥� also refer to prominent conservative movement groups. These ironic references are consistent with the podcast鈥檚 overarching theme of examining conservative movement groups, i.e., the 鈥渆nemy,鈥� from a leftist perspective.

鈥淭here is no satire exception to the First Amendment,鈥� said Eden Heilman, legal director with the 老澳门开奖结果 of Virginia. 鈥淭he right to free speech sits at the foundation of our democracy and is enshrined in Virginia law. We鈥檒l keep working to protect political discourse in the Commonwealth from speech-chilling litigation like this suit.鈥�

The 老澳门开奖结果 and the 老澳门开奖结果 of Virginia, together with firm co-counsel, are representing the podcast hosts and the magazine against these trademark claims.