Bobblegate roundup

Synopsis for the uninitiated: Late last month, California governor Arnold Schwarznegger directed his attorney, Martin D. Singer, to use a cease-and-desist letter to attempt to intimidate dollmaker Todd Bosley. Schwarzenegger wants Bosley to stop sales of his bobble-head caricature of the governor. Claiming Schwarzenegger's "right of publicity" prohibited such unauthorized caricatures, attorney Singer (who brags on his official bio that he's been called an "attack dog of L.A. law") threatened numerous legal actions that, if successful, would ruin Bosley and his company many times over.

Singer, in a novel and sinister bit of additional intimidation, also claimed that Bosley had no right to make public the threat letter he sent. Why? Because the letter is "copyrighted" by Singer's law firm.

But the letter was made public, and now Governor Schwarzenegger's crude attempt to intimidate Bosley is blowing up in his face, as well it should.

Here's a roundup of stories about Bobblegate:

The Smoking Gun apparently broke the story by publishing Martin Singer's threat letter.

Martin Schwimmer of The Trademark Blog quickly pounced. Excerpt:

Think of the public policy ramifications of granting confidentiality to unsolicited communications. Evil law firms could send demand letters to widows and orphans accusing them of imaginary violations of statutes, asking them for undeserved damages - and threatening them with further damages if they tell a soul.

Ernest Miller of Copyfight posted about it. Excerpt:

I'm no fan of the rights of publicity law, which I think gives Hollywood actors far too much control over their image, but this is ridiculous! Governor Schwarzenegger has a right not to be caricatured?!? Give me a break. He should apologize just for threatening such a lawsuit.

Then Wendy Selzer of Copyfight added her two cents. Excerpt:

Seemingly oblivious to the fact that the Governor of California is a political public figure, the lawyers demand millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages for the "egregious and malicious" "use of Mr. Schwarzenegger's publicity rights."

Then Fair Use Press released my mini e-book, Sue Me, Asshole, featuring a cover photo of a naked Arnold Schwarzenegger. Excerpt from the site description:

In his letter, Singer claims that Bosley's creation of the bobble-head doll is "outrageous" and "malicious." Well, we here at Fair Use Press think that Singer needs to learn what outrageous really is. In accordance with our mission to "ridicule, shame and attack those who attempt to subvert the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," we viciously offer our second book: Sue Me, Asshole. In addition to an appropriately shaming picture of Arnold on the cover, it contains all three pages of Singer's copyright-protected threat letter.

Please let me know about more good links. Put them in the comments and I'll add them here.

UPDATE: Bloggers on Sue Me, Asshole.