Topic: Lanham Act

The hosts address the announcement of a new Fox Nation show titled "No Agenda with Lara Logan." They express concern over potential trademark infringement and consumer confusion, noting that their podcast has dominated search results for the term "No Agenda" for over a decade. While they admire Logan's past work, they discuss the necessity of taking legal action to protect their brand, despite a general distaste for lawyers.

Lawyers for Donald Trump sent a letter to CNN threatening legal action under the Lanham Act, alleging false advertising. The claim suggests that if a network portrays itself as unbiased news while being partisan, it violates commercial standards. The discussion notes that such a legal theory could also be applied to other networks like Fox News and is unlikely to succeed in court.

The hosts clarify the legalities of playing music at political rallies, noting that campaigns with proper ASCAP or BMI licenses cannot be forbidden from playing specific songs. While artists often complain publicly, they have little legal recourse under copyright law, though they may attempt to sue under the Lanham Act or right of publicity.

Adam Curry presents his research on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA). He argues that PIPA is 75% identical to SOPA and that both bills focus on punitive measures—such as DNS blocking and cutting off payment systems—rather than creating new laws. He references the 1946 Lanham Act to explain how these bills leverage existing trademark and copyright law.

Curry highlights a specific provision in the proposed legislation that would ban the trafficking of VHS recorders lacking built-in copy protection. The hosts find it absurd that such outdated technology is being targeted in modern internet legislation. They view this as evidence of the broad and potentially overreaching nature of the Copyright Act updates.

Goldman Sachs is reportedly pursuing legal action against the owner of the "GoldmanSucks.com" domain. The hosts discuss the Lanham Act and the concept of consumer confusion in trademark law, drawing parallels to Adam Curry's past legal battle with MTV and Viacom over domain rights.