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"A leader we can believe in"

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

IPBiz notes a story from Matthew Balan of NewsBusters concerning a report by Veronica De La Cruz of CNN which apparently was based on posts from the the Huffington Post and the Daily Kos relating to an allegation that John McCain's new slogan ?a leader we can believe in,' and accompanying motifs are copied from Barack Obama.

Part of the punchline:

A blogger from Daily Kos takes a closer look at these things, ?the sunrise, the white stripes, I don't know if this is purposely plagiarized, but if I were the McCain campaign, I'd get some good copyright lawyers. Even his forward-looking stare matches that of Obama.?"

IPBiz suggests that the proper IP domain for this is trademark law, not copyright law. IPBiz notes that substituting "a leader" for "change" would likely be deemed a substantive change, and there would not be a likelihood of confusion. It might also be considered a form of parody.

IPBiz also notes the use of the words "purposely plagiarized." Thank you again, Glenn Poshard, for "inadvertent plagiarism."

The NewsBusters post also had the quote: "American Morning" co-host John Roberts gave a snarky reply: "Well, plagiarism is the most sincere form of flattery."

IPBiz reminds readers of text from the Harvard Business Review: "Plagiarize with Pride!"

Full post as published by IPBiz on June 06, 2008 (boomark / email).