Peabody Energy, by way of St. Louis law firm Senniger Powers, has sent a nastygram (PDF) demanding the takedown of an enviro-activist website that critically mimics the “Consortium for ‘Clean Coal’ Utilization,” of which Peabody is a part. Along with trademark infringement claims, the letter advances a congeries of other legal theories (defamation, tortious interference with contracts) and insists on the total removal of the site. [Citizen Media Law, EFF, Riverfront Times]
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Daddy, won’t you take me down to Mulenberg county
Down by the Green river, where paradise lay?
Well I’m sorry, my son, but you’re too late in asking,
Mr. Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away.
Not really clear to me that it qualifies as a parody when it uses the same name and a misleading domain name and would have a tendency to mislead people. There’s a disclaimer at the very bottom of the screen, but it’s “below the fold” as it were.
I don’t know about that. When the “Vision” of the group is “…. dedicated to perpetuating the myth that coal can be used in a clean and sustainable manner,” and the “Mission” says “to be a public relations tool for industry for the advancement of misinformation intended to manipulate the public to believe that clean utilization of coal is possible by hijacking the credibility of universities, industries, foundations, and government organizations,” I certainly thought that the site was either parody or satire.
(emphasis mine)
But I will admit that I could be wrong.