North Face Lawsuit Against South Butt Going Viral With Facebook App

from the can-you-tell-a-butt-from-a-face dept

Thu, Dec 24th 2009 1:03pm — Mike Masnick

Following North Face's incredibly short-sighted decision to sue parody clothing maker, South Butt, it seems that the story is going viral in a variety of ways. Not only is the press and various blogs talking about it, but Paul Alan Levy alerts us to the news that South Butt has released a Facebook app that helps you "sharpen your skills" to see if you can "tell a butt from a face." As Levy notes, this sort of application and attention gaining effort shows why these types of lawsuits are likely to bite you in the butt. Even if there's a legal basis here (and that's questionable), the backlash against such a lawsuit is clear (and was widely predicted when North Face first made its threat). Anyone filing lawsuits these days needs to realize how the court of public opinion can weigh in quite loudly on such things.

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Filed Under: backlash, facebook app, lawsuits, trademark, viral
Companies: facebook, north face, south butt

15 Comments

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MLS, 24 Dec 2009 @ 1:51pm

Cute, by I do hope that this kid realizes that he is digging himself even deeper into a hole.
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interrobang!?, 24 Dec 2009 @ 2:34pm

actually the app could work in his favour. if used as evidance in court showing a loarge proportion of people being able to make a distinction between face and butt (maybe some mistakes for the butt-ugly?) then it may be able to get off the trademark infringment claim. and it may even increase sales untill an injunction is requested
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BearGriz72 (profile), 24 Dec 2009 @ 2:37pm

Re: (by MLS)
"Cute, by I do hope that this kid realizes that he is digging himself even deeper into a hole."

What hole is he digging? Did you read any of the linked previous posts? As far as I can tell this is a pretty clear case that the kid has a fair-use argument in the aspect that it is a clear parody. Not to say that North Face wont bury him in legal fees.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 24 Dec 2009 @ 3:01pm

Re:
I do hope that this kid realizes that he is digging himself even deeper into a hole.

Perhaps you could expand on that. I do not see how he is digging a hole at all. It would appear like quite the opposite. He is proving the lack of confusion, and doing so in a way that should make quite clear why North Face made a huge mistake in bringing this lawsuit.
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 24 Dec 2009 @ 5:38pm

Trial By Media
Always a good way to decide important questions...
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~xL^, 24 Dec 2009 @ 6:45pm

It's just a matter of time
NFace has done a lot of harm to their brand by suing. It's only a matter of time before US kids are hooking their nintendos up to embroidery machines (no bs, actual product) if they get viral fame. Kids just wanna buck any image that is plastered on them, and the early reports of this story were more focused on the clicky nature of other students wearing NF apparel. Not a guide idea for the brand at all.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Dec 2009 @ 9:52pm

The phrase "North Face" makes me think of the Matterhorn, not some directionally obsessed person.
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Brian the Ubergeek, 26 Dec 2009 @ 6:07am

I seem to recall ...
There was a small company several years ago that made 'designer' jeans called "Lard Ash". Jordache sued them, and I believe that the Lard Ash company won, but they lost so much money to the lawyers that they went out of business. I hope SB fares better.
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Chicago Fence, 28 Dec 2009 @ 7:00pm

North Face just isn't what it used to be and the public is taking notice.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Jan 2010 @ 12:44pm

never stop relaxing
who ever heard of extreme skiing a mogels butt,
competing in the north face masters snowboarding on your butt
going butt first up a climb on a mountain
or rafting a river --backwards
good thing north face isn't marketing to hunters or the butt of that rifle might really hurt.
gee did anybody ever know that a tee shirt it to most widely used global art for talking about changes in living.
that fleece is really great to walk your dog and mans favorite friend wears one too especially to cover the other end.
that backpacks carry anything anywhere not just during exploring
sweatshirts are for everyone not just elitest outdoor dirt bags.
vf(the parent owner of north ace) was really only a lingerie and loungewear clothing company when they started in business, then they decided to explore buying other company's to get out of their silky undies.

Sounds like "never stop exploring" is really all about how many brands can VF own at one time, not anything to do with a kid trying to make a buck.
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chiropractic marketing, 20 Mar 2010 @ 8:31am

chiropractic marketing
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Bobbee | Chiropractic Marketing Maniac, 5 Sep 2010 @ 8:26pm

Too funny, yet I want one of their jackets
Living in Boulder, Colorado everyone sports North Face gear. This lawsuit is a blessing in disguise as now South Butt can be a global brand (well...maybe not). I would like to see what their down jacket looks like anyhow!
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Memory Foam Mattress Topper, 26 May 2011 @ 7:48pm

North FAce
The phrase North Face makes me think of the Matterhorn, not some directionally obsessed person.
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Oakland Restaurants, 27 May 2011 @ 9:31am

North Face
Kids just wanna buck any image that is plastered on them, and the early reports of this story were more focused on the clicky nature of other students wearing NF apparel. Not a guide idea for the brand at all.
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gaounion.net, 1 Nov 2011 @ 8:53am

Wonderful site! Thank you very much for sharing this with us
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