美国国家公共电台 NPR In Battle Over Band Name, Supreme Court Considers Free Speech And Trademarks

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: 

Today the United States Supreme¹ Court considers just what you can trademark². Most familiar names and logos are registered trademarks³, from the McDonald's golden arches to the apple on an iPhone.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

In the last two decades, the federal Patent and Trademark Office has approved roughly 4 million of them. That helps businesses protect their ownership rights, but there's a limit to what they can do.

INSKEEP: A federal law says you may not register a trademark that disparages⁵ a group or individual, and that is the law that's before the court today.

Be warned. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg's report, which runs about five minutes, does contain terms that people find offensive.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE⁶: Disparage⁴ is a nice-sounding legal word, but be forewarned, there is no way to tell this story without some offensive language. The protagonist⁷ here is an Asian-American band called The Slants⁸.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SAKURA, SAKURA")

THE SLANTS: (Singing) For the Japanese and the Chinese and...

TOTENBERG: The band members picked that name precisely⁹ because it is offensive to many Asian-Americans, a cliche¹⁰ about Asian eyes. Simon Tam is the group's frontman.

SIMON TAM: We could turn this phrase upside down, flip¹¹ it on its head and kind of re-appropriate it to something that's positive and about self-empowerment.

TOTENBERG: Now, there's nothing to stop The Slants from trademarking their group. But when they went to get the extra protections afforded by registering the name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, they were turned down under a section of the 1946 federal law that bars registration¹² of trademarks that, quote, "disparage or bring into contempt or disrepute persons, institutions, beliefs or national symbols."

Thus, for example, the trademark office has denied registration to a group calling itself Abort¹³ the Republicans and another called Democrats¹⁴ Shouldn't Breed. It recently canceled the registration for the Washington Redskins at the behest of some Native American groups who said the name was offensive to them. But while the Washington football team will survive regardless, The Slants say they really need the registration.

TAM: If you want a record label deal, oftentimes companies will not sign with you unless you have a registered trademark.

TOTENBERG: And the band points to lots of other registered groups that are viewed by some as offensive, like the rap group NWA, which stands for Niggaz Wit Attitudes. So The Slants went to court, contending that the denial of trademark registration violated their free speech rights.

ILYA SHAPIRO: Does the government get to decide what's a slur¹⁵?

TOTENBERG: Ilya Shapiro of the libertarian Cato Institute.

SHAPIRO: It shouldn't be the government that makes that call.

TOTENBERG: The government counters that it's not doing anything to stop The Slants from speaking or calling themselves anything they want. But as the government sees it, if it's going to give its imprimatur to a name, the law appropriately forbids disparagement¹⁶. Otherwise, the federal government would be required to register, publish and transmit to foreign countries marks containing crude references to women's anatomy¹⁷, repellent racial slurs¹⁸, white supremacist slogans and demeaning illustrations of the Prophet Muhammad and other religious figures. Cato's Shapiro has a different view.

SHAPIRO: Surely it's not the case that the government endorses²⁰ every trademark that it registers. There are a lot of crazy trademarks out there. Is the government saying that it endorses the idea of Take Yo Panties Off or Capitalism²¹ Sucks Donkey Balls? And those are some of the tamer ones.

TOTENBERG: Georgetown Law professor Rebecca Tushnet replies that once the government creates a program, it usually is allowed a fair amount of control over it.

REBECCA TUSHNET: And preventing the government from even seeming to officially endorse¹⁹ discriminatory or disparaging²² terms is probably a good enough reason, as long as the government never punishes someone for using that disparaging term elsewhere.

TOTENBERG: Indeed, the government points to other Supreme Court decisions that have upheld similar programs. The ban on discussions about abortion²³ in programs that get government grants or the 2015 decision upholding the Texas ban on specialty²⁴ license²⁵ plates. But Ilya Shapiro maintains there's a difference in the trademark registration case because the government is not providing any subsidy²⁶. Moreover, he contends, the trademark disparagement provision is unconstitutionally vague with insufficient²⁷ criteria²⁸.

SHAPIRO: Vagueness means that a law doesn't give enough instruction to citizens about how to follow the law. What is disparaging? It depends on the particular trademark examiner that you get or the particular judge.

TOTENBERG: Rebecca Tushnet replies that in a program with 500,000 applications for trademark registration each year, there will inevitably²⁹ be some inconsistencies, just as there are in the judgments³⁰ made under the other parts of the law and other laws. In each case, she observes, if you get turned down for a trademark registration, you can appeal within the agency. And if you lose there, you can go to court. But she adds that the trademark registration system has served the nation well.

TUSHNET: It's a complex system, and if you pull out a chunk³¹ of it without extreme care, you're going to upset the rest of the system.

TOTENBERG: And that, she says, could put the whole trademark system in jeopardy³². As for The Slants, they're enjoying their current legal fame. But as guitarist Joe Jiang puts it...

JOE JIANG: We're going to keep playing music 'cause that's what we were first. We're musicians first.

TOTENBERG: Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FROM THE HEART")

THE SLANTS: (Singing) Sorry if our notes are too sharp. Sorry if our voice is too raw. Don't make the pen a weapon and censor³³ our intelligence until our thoughts mean nothing at all. Sorry if you take offense³⁴. You made up rules and played pretend. We know you fear change. It's something so strange. But nothing...

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。

3 trademarks   

n.（注册）商标( trademark的名词复数 )；（人的行为或衣着的）特征，标记

参考例句：

• Motrin and Nuprin are trademarks of brands of ibuprofen tablets. Nuprin和Motrin均是布洛芬的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many goods in China have the trademarks of a panda. 中国的许多商品都带有熊猫的商标。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 disparage   

v.贬抑，轻蔑

参考例句：

• Your behaviour will disparage the whole family.你的行为将使全家丢脸。
• Never disparage yourself or minimize your strength or power.不要贬低你自己或降低你的力量或能力。

5 disparages   

v.轻视( disparage的第三人称单数 )；贬低；批评；非难

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country. 聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She often aggrandises herself and disparages her colleagues. 她经常吹嘘自己而贬低同事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

8 slants   

（使）倾斜，歪斜( slant的第三人称单数 )； 有倾向性地编写或报道

参考例句：

• Most handwriting slants to the right. 大多数字体是向右倾斜的。
• That tree slants to one side because of the heavy winds. 因为刮大风，那棵树歪倒一边去了。

9 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

10 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

11 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。

12 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

13 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

16 disparagement   

n.轻视，轻蔑

参考例句：

• He was humble and meek, filled with self-disparagement and abasement. 他谦卑、恭顺，满怀自我贬斥与压抑。 来自互联网
• Faint praise is disparagement. 敷衍勉强的恭维等于轻蔑。 来自互联网

17 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

18 slurs   

含糊的发音( slur的名词复数 )； 玷污； 连奏线； 连唱线

参考例句：

• One should keep one's reputation free from all slurs. 人应该保持名誉不受责备。
• Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian. 种族主义辱骂，种族笑话，都是跟亚裔有关的。

19 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

20 endorses   

v.赞同( endorse的第三人称单数 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• There isn't one country in the Middle East that now endorses the Eisenhower Doctrine. 但至今没有一个中东国家认可它。 来自辞典例句
• Whether any of this truly endorses Dr Patel's hypothesis is moot. 这些视频能否真正证明帕特的假设成立还是个未知数。 来自互联网

21 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

22 disparaging   

adj.轻蔑的，毁谤的v.轻视( disparage的现在分词 )；贬低；批评；非难

参考例句：

• Halliday's comments grew daily more and more sparklingly disagreeable and disparaging. 一天天过去，哈里代的评论越来越肆无忌惮，越来越讨人嫌，越来越阴损了。 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡
• Even with favorable items they would usually add some disparaging comments. 即使对好消息，他们也往往要加上几句诋毁的评语。 来自互联网

23 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

24 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

25 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

26 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

27 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

28 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

29 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

30 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

31 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

32 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

33 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

34 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。