Adam Steinbaugh's

A brief update on the ongoing Satirical Chas and Charles Carreon case, wherein a satirical blogger sought declaratory relief that his use of charles-carreon.com was protected by the First Amendment against trademark infringement claims by Charles Carreon.

Satirical Chas has accepted an offer of judgment by Charles Carreon which appears to accomplish what the lawsuit intended: to protect the blogger from being subject to continued legal threats by Charles Carreon over his use of the domain name. The terms are below. There is no indication whether Satirical Chas’ attorneys, Paul Alan Levy of Public Citizen and Cathy Gellis, will continue to seek costs for Charles Carreon’s evasion of service in the case, assuming this settlement doesn’t foreclose on that possibility.

The notice that Satirical Chas has accepted Charles Carreon’s offer is here (PDF).  The pertinent portions of the agreement:

The Court shall enter a declaration declaring that:

1.  Plaintiff’s domain name “charles-carreon.com,” plaintiff’s use of the domain name, and plaintiff’s current manner of using his web site, do not violate defendant’s rights;

2.  Plaintiff’s use of the domain name “charles-carreon.com,” in its current manner of use, is fair use and protected under the First Amendment, and does not infringe on defendant’s mark;

3.  Defendant is not entitled to an injunction against plaintiff using the domain name “charles-carreon.com” or operating the Web site located at the URL “www.charles-carreon.com;” and

4.  Plaintiff shall take a total money judgment inclusive of costs in the amount of $725, being the sum of the filing fee and service costs claimed.

With any luck, so ends the long chain of absurdity that was the Charles Carreon, Oatmeal, and FunnyJunk affair.  Please let this be over.