VIRGINIA — Matt Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell, the hosts of the “Know Your Enemy” podcast, and Dissent magazine have filed a motion to dismiss a federal lawsuit brought by the Young America’s Foundation (YAF). YAF's lawsuit claims that the podcast’s tongue-in-cheek use of “Young Americans for Freedom” as the name of its lowest membership tier on Patreon violates their intellectual property rights. This comes almost exactly a year after YAF voluntarily withdrew the same lawsuit.
"Conservatives love to scold woke leftists for not being able to take a joke, but it's the Young Americans for Freedom who don't have a sense of humor," said Matt Sitman, co-host of the Know Your Enemy podcast. "These self-styled champions of liberty are trying to bankrupt us in a fit of pique over an obviously satirical reference to their organization on our podcast’s webpage."
The Know Your Enemy podcast, billed as “a leftist’s guide to the conservative movement,” is an intellectual history podcast hosted by Adler-Bell and Sitman. Dissent Magazine, an independent leftist publication, promotes the podcast. Know Your Enemy’s motion to dismiss argues that the ironic reference to Young Americans for Freedom on the podcast’s Patreon page is protected by the trademark fair use doctrine and the First Amendment; and that potential listeners are not likely to be confused about whether conservative groups like Young Americans for Freedom sponsor or support the Know Your Enemy podcast.
“Nobody is seriously confused about whether Young Americans for Freedom sponsors the Know Your Enemy podcast,” said Brian Hauss, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. “This baseless trademark lawsuit is just an attempt to bully those who comment critically on the conservative movement.”
The podcast offers Patreon memberships that include different listener privileges. The lowest membership tier, akin to a student discount membership, is labeled “Young Americans for Freedom.” Its listed benefits include “access to Patreon-only bonus episodes” and the hosts’ “eternal adoration and gratitude.” The two more premium membership tiers, the “West Coast Straussians” and the “John Birchers,” also refer to prominent conservative movement groups. These ironic references are consistent with the podcast’s overarching theme of examining conservative movement groups, i.e., the “enemy,” from a leftist perspective.
“There is no satire exception to the First Amendment,” said Eden Heilman, legal director with the ACLU of Virginia. “The right to free speech sits at the foundation of our democracy and is enshrined in Virginia law. We’ll keep working to protect political discourse in the Commonwealth from speech-chilling litigation like this suit.”
The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Virginia, together with firm co-counsel, are representing the podcast hosts and the magazine against these trademark claims. Originally published at https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/know-your-enemy-podcast-hosts-and-dissent-magazine-ask-court-to-dismiss-baseless-trademark-infringement-lawsuit
