The Onion Sunday Magazine, January 26, 2007
Our class discussion regarding parody and satire in relation to trademark and copyright law raised a question about my most trusted news source, The Onion.
As we read in Lawrence Lessig’s “Free Culture,” the law’s response to the Internet has greatly increased regulation in America. This is causing our society to move away from the guiding lights of a free culture—which encourage us to question, reinterpret, and propagate our culture by building upon the work of others—toward a permission-based culture.
Lessig writes:
To build upon or critique the culture around us one must ask, Oliver-Twist-like, for permission first. Permission is, of course, often granted—but it is not often granted to the critical or the independent.
Parody and satire are my favored tools of criticism, but they only flourish outside of approval and consent. They are not compatible with a permission-based culture. Thus, reading The Onion, which deftly uses parody and satire to highlight serious issues, can feel downright defiant after reading the Kindle TOS. The Onion is powerful because it provides an opportunity to laugh at the absurdity of our world (i.e., catharsis) while also refreshing our ability to examine sources of information – newspapers, blogs, cable news—with a more critical eye (i.e., demystification).
Once you’ve adopted The Onion paradigm, you can’t listen to a news anchor’s breathless transition from discussing some tragedy to raving about the latest winner of “American Idol” without thinking two thoughts: “That was an Onion moment” and “We deserve better from our news.”
Which brings me to my question: has The Onion run afoul of copyright/trademark laws in its crusade to misinform us?
The answer: yes, but apparently not often.
In my admittedly brief search of LexisNexis and the Web, the only hint of trouble for The Onion surfaced in an interview with former Onion editor-in-chief Robert Siegel, who revealed that “we were very nearly sued out of existence by Janet Jackson” for running a story titled: “Dying Boy Gets Wish: To Pork Janet Jackson.” Details of this drama don’t appear to be readily available.
On a related note, there are instances when The Onion has been taken too seriously, causing some trouble:
- Fred Phelps used an Onion article as proof of a gay conspiracy;
- An article about Harry Potter was widely used to support claims that the books recruit children to Satanism;
- The assistant counsel to President George W. Bush wrote a cease-and-desist letter to The Onion, asking the publication to stop using the presidential seal when lampooning the president. (“We do have a sense of humor, believe it or not,” said one Bush staffer).
Final thought: here’s my all-time favorite Onion article.
Andy, great blog post! I love The Onion and have read it for years but I’ve never thought of it in this light. The Onion must have tens of thousands of articles that spoof pretty much every trademarked, copyrighted or patented entity out there, yet they face relatively minor legal scrutiny. Is it because The Onion is beloved (or at least guffawed at) by enough of the general public for major corporations and celebrities (well, except Janet, apparently) to steer clear, fearing PR troubles? Has The Onion found some kind of popularity/ubiquity loophole?
Also, here’s The Onion articles.
Just a side comment, but this past week’s episode of This American Life gave a brief glimpse at how The Onion’s editorial team develops satirical content. It totally surprised me because I didn’t realize how collaborative their editorial process is.
My grandmother has been practicing Wicca for 17 years. In 2000, I happened to be visiting her when Goblet of Fire was released. Every time something about the book came onto the news, I had her stop her channel surfing. In hindsight, this was a mistake. The more people said that the books
the angrier she became. Most real witches don’t believe in satan. There is dark magic, but not like what those against Harry Potter believe.
I suppose my point is this: people will grab at anything to make their points. The onion is a satire meant to entertain and, perhaps, give an alternate view on the news. Fear mongers and people who fall into their traps are willing to believe everything they read. This makes The Onion a very powerful “news” source.
I enjoy The Onion as well. One of their videos which is particularly relevant to our class is the Google Opt Out Village story, a hilarious look at what happens to those who resist Google’s intrusions into our privacy.
This one is totally awesome! I’m a firm believer in laughing at the absurdities of life. The Onion is a great source for reviewing those absurdities. I also believe that the most uptight, backwards, and reactionary elements of humanity deserve to be laughed at the most. The beauty of satire and parody is that the ammunition these intolerable people throw out into the world is being thrown back at them and their ridiculous nature is shown for what it is. One of the best things I’ve ever heard in an university classroom from a professor is “Laughter is subversive.” I truly believe that. Great post!
By the way, this is my favorite Onion story:
http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/video/pregame-coin-toss-makes-jacksonville-jaguars-reali,14266/