A few days ago, I visited Daily Kos for the first time in a few weeks. On the sidebar, I noticed an ad. I'm sure you've all seen it, but here it is just to refresh your memory:
Anti-War T-shirts are Illegal Three shirt designs include the names of 3,461 U.S. troops killed in Iraq. The shirts are illegal in Texas, Florida, Arizona, Oklahoma, & Louisiana. But we keep selling. An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that passed in the U.S. House in May would outlaw the shirts nationwide. Shirts, magnetic bumper stickers, fridge magnets, buttons, bike stickers, etc. Free Shipping. CarryaBigSticker.com. Enter code KOS for 5% off.
This ad pissed me off. Let me tell you why.
First off, it can be argued that the ad's title is an outright lie. It is certainly deceptive. "Anti-war T-shirts are illegal" is an extremely misleading statement. It should read "Three anti-war T-shirt designs are illegal to sell in five states." It is not illegal to buy, possess, wear, or donate these designs, or any other anti-war T-shirt designs. You will not be arrested for wearing any of the T-shirt designs, in any state.
That, however, is really a secondary concern. The main issue here is why the aforementioned T-shirts are illegal in five states.
For those who have not been following the issue, here is part of an archived article from the Arizona Republic, a Phoenix newspaper.
Dead soldiers' names or photos could not be used for commercial purposes without their families' consent under a proposed law written to stop a Flagstaff businessman from manufacturing anti-war T-shirts.
The bill in the Arizona Legislature mirrors successful efforts in two other states to curb Dan Frazier's T-shirt sales. It's the latest front in a national effort to protect the use of dead soldiers' names and photos.
/snip
Family members of several of the service people listed in the very small type have (...) asked Frazier to remove their kins' name.
Here's where it gets messy. The next of kin of some of the servicemen listed did not want their family member's sacrifice to be remembered on the back of a T-shirt, being sold for a profit. But Frazier said no, I'm going to keep selling them the way they are.
When he refused, they turned to their federal and state lawmakers, leading to new laws in Louisiana and Oklahoma, two bills in Congress, legislation in Texas and, now, Arizona.
State Sen. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix, is sponsoring Senate Bill 1014, which would make it a first-class misdemeanor to use the name, portrait or picture of a dead soldier for commercial purposes.
Voila- a potential solution presents itself. If Frazier wants to stay legal, all he has to do is donate the T-shirts. Then it would not be commercial speech.
And it is commercial speech, though Frazier insists that it's not.
Frazier says it's a free speech right to use the names of the war dead on his T-shirt.
/snip
"It's political speech and there's no bones about it."
Yes there are. Politically charged though it may be, he is selling these shirts. That constitutes commercial speech. Frazier says he is not really making a profit off the shirts, which seems to imply that if you don't gain money from the transaction, it's not commercial. This implication is untrue, in case you were wondering.
And here's another interesting tidbit:
To Sen. Robert Blendu, R-Litchfield Park, it's distasteful that there are protections against using a celebrity's image without permission but apparently no protections for servicepeople.
However, citizens have civil protections against their names or images being used without their permission. Waring's bill would make it a criminal offense.
First Amendment attorney Dan Barr said the "right of publicity" protects people from unauthorized use of their name or likeness.
If the families of the people named on the shirt have to call in the state legislatures to get Frazier to stop using the names, I think it's safe to assume that the use is unauthorized.
I can understand that people want to purchase anti-war T-shirts, and Frazier's desire to call attention to the war, but do we really need such a disingenuous and misleading ad, from a guy who pissed off military families enough for them to take it to the legislature in five states, on this site?