legal issues satirizing celebrities, companies

[Anonymous No.13512798]

If I write a book about stealing stuff from Wal-Mart, am I doomed if I use Wal-mart in the title? Or if I write about stalking a celebrity, is that destined to be deplatformed or cease & desisted? I'm an American but I'm not clear on what sorts of hurtles await an author publishing that sort of material.

[Anonymous No.13512805]

give more details

[Anonymous No.13512863]

Just refer to it as Wally World.

[Anonymous No.13512893]

>>13512798
Only if the nature you are using it in is obviously a parody, like an over exaggeration of their working conditions. Though I know art exhibitions are able to freely use trademarks, so maybe there’s a loophole for writing.

[Anonymous No.13512898]

>>13512798
>I'm an American so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to criticize my capitalist overlords without going to jail

Land of the Free

[Anonymous No.13512903]

Get a Jewish lawyer (shouldn't be hard in AmeriKKKa) and invoke Fair Use

[Anonymous No.13512906]

>>13512903
>rely on an affirmative defense
Lol

[Anonymous No.13512909]

>>13512898
What country do you live in m8

[Anonymous No.13512925]

>>13512909
I live in America and I'm genuinely outraged that you can go after the government and president all you want (and rightfully so) but public criticism of a corporation will get you hit with trade slander charges or underhanded censorship

[Anonymous No.13512933]

>>13512925
>but public criticism of a corporation will get you hit with trade slander charges or underhanded censorship
That's not what the thread is about though, criticizing a company is different than publishing their trademarks in your book which you make money off of.

[Anonymous No.13512965]

>>13512933
He said "satirizing" but that hardly makes a difference. You think some anon is harmfully cutting into a multi-billion dollar corporation's profits by selling a book that uses their brand name?

[Anonymous No.13512977]

>>13512965
No, but businesses are obligated to enforce their trademarks

[Anonymous No.13513023]

>>13512925
>>13512965
>>13512977
There are legal teams on retainer to make sport of things like this, although I would imagine its more people making money posing as the trademark, for instance, instead of a writer who references them. Still, why do creative people go through the effort of scrubbing or laundering their targets? It's not like I'm expecting to be Neo. I don't want the experiment to go to waste. I'm trying to understand what risks I can take.

[Anonymous No.13513042]

>>13512977
The purpose of trademarks is not to silence criticism or satire, but to prevent copycat products from hijacking the brand's popularity. Even under American law that doesn't apply here

[Anonymous No.13513047]

>>13512798
Could American Apparel take Tao Lin to court?

[Anonymous No.13513818]

>book about stealing from walmart
>title is something like "the walmart thief"
come on anon, be more subtle. your title shouldn't be a literal description of what the book is about if it's a novel