Henley v. DeVore

[Ive always been a dreamer]

You know, FP - I had totally forgotten about the "national surplus" and "Rupert Murdock" references when I said I didn't recall them making any political comments at shows I'd attended. I would count these as mild political commentary. However, I guess they aren't controversial enough for people to really pay that much attention to them, so they didn't ring a bell with me.

[sodascouts]

DeVore isn't the only one who can file for a summary judgment. Henley has fired back and filed one of his own. Here's the latest, according to Pollstar in an article entitled "All They Want to Do Is Sue" (side note - can these people think of more creative article titles?)

[sodascouts]

Another fascinating read from Ben Sheffner's Copyrights & Campaigns Blog called "DeVore, Henley File Oppositions to Summary Judgment; Henley shocker: I'm No 'Liberal'".

I completely agree with his assessment of the misappropriation of The Lanham Act here, as I stated in my earlier conversation with AmarilloByMorning. I am also in agreement that parody, as it is currently legally defined, does not favor DeVore's cause. Unless DeVore's lawyers can convince a judge to re-define parody to be inclusive of works like DeVore's, I feel Henley will prevail on that count.

[Freypower]

He said that he supported John McCain in the Rolling Stone cover story, but I think he is being somewhat disingenuous. By most definitions, I would say he is a 'liberal' in the American sense.

[sodascouts]

Since I'm one who always likes to see the context of a statement before drawing any conclusions, I checked out the segment of the brief that the blog refers to (pgs 8-9). Here's the entire section that deals with Don's political views:

[sodascouts]

Hmm, looks like the images show up in Firefox but not in IE??? Bizarre! I'll type up the text when I get a chance.

ETA: Try going directly to my Photobucket album. You'll see 2 images that are pages of text; the more squat one is the first segment, the longer one is the second.

http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...reyonline/don/

[sodascouts]

OK, here's the segment of the brief where Don disavows the label "liberal" for those who couldn't see the images:

"In his declaration, DeVore asserts that Henley is a “poster boy[]” for, and “proudly a member” of, the “liberal, entertainment elite”; that he is one of “a group of celebrities associated in the public eye with Ms. Boxer, Mr. Obama and other prominent liberal politicians”; that he has “vocally supported” and is “publicly identified” with Boxer and the other politicians and policies attacked in Defendants’ videos; that Henley “fought . . . hard” to get Obama elected; that he was reportedly “booed” in Orange County for making “liberal political statements”; and that he is supportive of efforts by Boxer and others to “insert[] themselves into the American economy and enrich[] the government and certain special interests.” (DeVore Decl. ¶¶ 2-3, 6, 9-10.)

Even if this litany of Henley’s alleged “liberalism” were somehow relevant to the question of parody (which it is not), it is contradicted by the record in this case: Henley testified that he does not consider himself a “liberal”; there is not a shred of evidence of any “vocal support” by Henley for Obama or Boxer, or for any particular policies of theirs; Henley has never campaigned for Obama or Boxer; Defendants’ assertions concerning the “booing” incident are inaccurate; and the only public statement attributable to Henley concerning a politician in the record is a statement that was supportive of Republican Senator John McCain. (Henley Decl. ¶ 22; Henley Supp. Decl. ¶¶ 3-6, 8-9; Charlesworth Supp. Decl., Ex. 1 at 5-7 (Henley Dep. at 59:2-24, 61:2-62:2).)

[...]

Defendants make much of the fact that Henley is a registered Democrat who (based upon an unauthenticated Internet printout) has given money to Democratic politicians over the years (in addition to a number of Republicans, a fact overlooked by Defendants). (Henley Decl. ¶ 23; Henley Supp. Decl. ¶ 10.)"

[Freypower]

That's fine, but what I would like to know is why doesn't Don consider himself a liberal?

[sodascouts]

This is completely speculative, but perhaps it's because he finds that word too reductive to describe his political viewpoints, which cannot all be stuck into one box with the label "LIBERAL" on it - perhaps he's more complex than that.

[Freypower]

It's absolutely true that you can be both 'liberal' and 'conservative' - in my own case while I remain a 'liberal' at heart I would say my views on economic policy have veered closer towards the 'conservative' side, especially as I have grown older. I am also sure that Don's views are more complex than they may at first appear.