A Corporation Challenges the Pigeon's Free Speech

Thursday afternoon began innocently enough... got ready for Blacksmith class, put some quick dinner in the oven, sat down to my laptop... and was greeted by this: 

Don Liu:  Wrongful Use of Toll Brothers Materials

The link reeked of porn spam, but I figured I'd better read it.  Drum roll, please:

"I am informed that you are wrongfully using the intellectual property of Toll Brothers, Inc., specifically the photographs of the Toll Brother's homes attached hereto, on the madpigeon.blogs.com website that you control.  Please be aware that Toll Brothers has spent considerable time and money developing and marketing our homes.  Your use of our materials on the madpigeon.blogs.com website represents copyright infringement and unfair competition in violation of the law.  These activities have already caused or are likely to cause Toll Brothers to suffer harm for which it is entitled to injunctive and monetary recovery.

You should be aware that Toll Brothers vigorously protects its intellectual property rights and intends to do so in this case.  Accordingly, we demand that you immediately cease use and distribution of our intellectual property, including without limitation, removing photographs of the Toll Brother's homes from the madpigeon.blogs.com website that your control.

Your anticipated cooperation is appreciated.  This letter is sent without prejudice to any rights and remedies that Toll Brother's may have had, currently has, or may have in the future.

Please call if you have any questions,

Sincerely,

An Overpaid Corporate Functionary

cc. Yet Another Overpaid Corporate Functionary

Man, did this [PIGEONED] send me spiraling through the roof (although I did chuckle in that the legalese writing sounded like one of those Nigerian 411 scams).  Indeed, I hammered at the forge as if the iron itself was Toll Brothers Inc (out of which I made a very nice S-hook for the Hummingbird).  But immediate reply usually leads to poor writing and regret, so I decided to sleep on it.  And by Jove, I'm still pissed off!  Therefore, I've penned the following reply:


Toll Brothers Inc,

     I've received your demands, and reply as thus:  Balderdash.  I run a satire blog that critiques social phenomena, to include the rampant construction of absurdly large homes.  The target of my article, thus, was directed at the concept of individuals wasting their hard-earned capital on such eyesores and contributing to our society's need to "be bigger and better than ones neighbor"  (read my About page for further sordid details).  I had no intention to pick on your company on purpose;  rather, I used and cited a published article to back up my argument--and article that made many of the same points I did and written by The Wall Street Journal, which has a much larger circulation and far more capability to do your company catastrophic harm (I don't imagine you've also contacted said publication about this issue?).  In short, it was an opinion piece against a concept, not a specific company or individual. 

But, since you've chosen to make an issue of this and degrade your company's dignity in front of myself and my readers, I've done my research on fair use and satire (let alone my First Amendment right to free speech), consulted with a lawyer who confirmed the post as satire and covered under fair use and free speech, and will not cower to your demands.  Similar to your own claims, I've spent considerable time and money developing my blog, and will vigorously defend my intellectual property rights--indeed, Toll Brothers is threatening to cause me harm by denying my rights under the First Amendment. 

You see, my credibility depends on being able to cite source documents in similar fashion to academic papers.  My opinions by themselves are in a vacuum; they require outside material to encourage readers to stay focused on the topic, conduct their own research, and reply based on their own work.  For example, a reader could have retorted how your company in particular has a rigorous environmental protection policy:

At Toll Brothers, we believe that preserving the natural environment is an integral part of creating a community you'll be proud to call home. We take our commitment to environmental stewardship seriously. Nationwide, Toll Brothers encourages environmental awareness by partnering with conservation groups such as the National Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society-earning community certifications for programs such as Backyard Wildlife Habitats and Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries for Golf Courses, respectively. These certifications assure our residents that the natural beauty of their communities will remain a proud legacy for generations to come. 

The luxurious homes we build are specifically designed to harmonize with the scenic beauty of the surrounding landscape. We preserve as much open space as possible, incorporating the existing hills, trees, and ponds. As part of our award-winning efforts, we've saved and subsequently transplanted thousands of trees, preserved peaceful creeks, and restored sparkling ponds-and we've created community walking trails so residents can enjoy these tranquil settings.

...and guess what?  By mentioning the above point to my readers I just gave you positive press.  I'm curious, then, if you would've made similar demands had I used your graphic to illustrate how splendid I thought your company was?  As a gesture of or good faith, though, I won't charge you my flat $2,000 advertising fee for mentioning your surprisingly well-thought environmental agenda.

With that, if anyone in your company is a regular reader of my blog they should remember I joined the military for two main reasons:  to defend freedom of speech, and to defend freedom of religion.  To put it in terms you'll hopefully be able to grasp, I'm willing to die in the defense of free speech--do you really think, then, if I'm willing to take a bullet to say what I think, that your fancy letterhead and legal jargon will convince me to soil myself and rush to edit a piece that's two months old and ancient content in blogosphere time?  I think you know the answer. 

In conclusion, by sending me the above letter:

1.  You've given me an extraordinary topic to discuss with my well-educated and highly vocal audience. 

2.  You get to watch in horror as I defend myself in front of 3,000 monthly readers from 27 countries (at last count), some of which will no doubt TrackBack or copy this onto their own blog, which will potentially bring this issue to the attention of millions.  Which, in retrospect, is probably much worse for your corporate credibility than had you not contacted me in the first place.  God, I love American Democracy!


This reply is sent without prejudice to any rights and remedies that I (the Mad Pigeon, that is) may have had, currently has, or may have in the future; although as far as I'm concerned, this a dead issue and I will move on to other issues far more worthy of public evisceration. 

By the way, you really should think about changing your corporate name;  I had you confused with Toll House cookies and have yet to satisfy my need for a cold glass of milk.

Sincerely,

The Mad Pigeon
Making the world safe for Democracy since 1994

cc.  Robert Toll, CEO (providing I discerned his corporate email correctly)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a lighter note, I am also somewhat giddy with triumph for having received my first "Cease and Desist" notification--I've crossed into a deeper level or rabblerouserdom!   But if I find the individual who "informed" Toll Brothers and caused all this mess in the first place, I'm going to roll him or her in glass shards and grain alcohol.

"Fools are my theme, let satire be my song." Lord Byron

Comments

[Stella]

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! A ballsy reply to a corporate bully. Shame on them for picking on the little guy. And shame on the blog snitch , pathetic. Is there any way MOGS can track this snitch down and bust some kneecaps??!!

Way to go Pidge!!

[Sar]

Ridiculous and unbelievable. But, your response was incredibly impressive, Pidgeon. If I ever get jammed up by some corporate half wit, I'm turning to you for retrobutional assistance!

[MOGS]

I have to give you credit Pidge, this was single-handedly the finest piece of writing I've seen from you to date. Now that we're done being self-congratulatory, brace for round 2, which always comes.

[Amal]

You have got to be "pigeoned" kidding me. Someone somewhere has way tooooo much time on their hands. Good on you for your reply though mine would have likely been much more cutting as I am a less than friendly personality when faced with garbage like that.

These guys have just opened a can of whoop-ass on themselves..... Hehehehe.

[Amal]

I cheerfully volunteer for busting knee cap duty...

[AndyG]

May I some day obtain the level of "rabblerouserdom" as you fine sir!

[jeff albrecht]

Pidge:

right on!

my s/o is building a Toll Brothers house, and lil ol' me was goofing - and I created a Toll Blog - and "lo and behold" I TOO got a call that my blog was infringing + WHO the hell gave me permission to use their pictures!

wow - throw those amendments out the window!

great blog!

Jeff Albrecht
www.JeffAlbrecht.com

[Evil Minx]

My first visit to your coop, pigeon, Amal sent me. Excellent blog, i will be back.

And on the corporate rabble-rousing... oustanding. You can't invent that kind of comedy. Am highly impressed.

Minxxxxxx

[Foamy]

May the level of musing I do about your sanity continue to decrease.
Nice sassy reply, hope they grow up soon and realize that a person is perfectly entitled to express their opinion in a legal manner of their choice, a basic human right of being a citizen in the same country that has allowed them to build ostentatious housing, touchy-feely advertising and a hulking reputation.
O.o
These people and frickin' pissing me off.

[Catnip]

Great response !!! I happen to know people who work for Toll Brothers. They deserve the tongue-lashing !!! Great blog, keep up the good work, Pigeon !!! (oh, and i'm here, from, hmmm, let's see .. trophy wife, then amal ...)

[Michael]

Rock on, Pigeon! My first visit to your site linked directly to this page.

[Lori]

Toll Brothers invited you to the task of defending Freedom and you performed that task so well! It is way to often that people are forced to succumb to threats by large corporations like Toll Brothers. They often do not have the knowledge or financial means to defend their Liberties. Thank you for your well written defense of our Freedoms! I felt proud to read it and was pleasantly entertained. I loved your comments! I especially liked the Toll House Cookie reference. I am still giggling.

***********************************************************
Thank you for your service in the military to protect us!
***********************************************************

[Squando]

Is there more to this story? More letters or responses from Toll Brothers?

[Sharpie]

http://xkcd.com/c137.html says it all. Freedom of speech forever.

[Terry L. Smith]

Dear Mad P.,

I applaud you for your stance against Toll Brothers. As one who lived on Long Island, N.Y., I am a witness at this not absurd, but INSANE construction of homes that are bigger, more gaudy, and more costly than the neighbors.

Case in point, circa 1993. Just across the old two-lane road that separated Connetquot State GAME PRESERVE, and bare property, arose two-story homes of the, then, newer designs with beginning prices of $420,000.00! (No, that is not a typo.) The locals winked and started "making books" about how soon the new occupants would be calling the cops to come get the raccoon out of the attic.

You did well!

[The Mad Pigeon]

Much obliged, kind sir!