Zazzle Censors Anti-GOP Criticism in Big Wet Kiss to the Republican Party

Until today, we had a lapel sticker design up for sale on our Zazzle webshop featuring a roughly drawn version of the Republican Party logo, crossed out by a black circle and slash to denote rejection of the GOP and Republicanism in general.

I say “until today” because today we received a smirky little e-mail from the corporate headquarters of Zazzle:

Dear Zazzler,

It has come to our attention that the elephant logo of the Republican National Committee is a registered trademark, registration number 1908397. The Republican National Committee has been actively policing their mark and therefore we will be unable to create any products bearing the logo of the Republican National Committee.

Thanks for using Zazzle!

We will be removing this product from the Zazzle galleries shortly.

The Republican Party asks Zazzle to censor our lapel sticker criticizing the Republican Party, and Zazzle swoons obediently.

Meanwhile, the legal team at CafePress has gotten the Republican Party to acknowledge that as soon as any additional design element is added to the Republican elephant, the resulting design becomes a piece of protected political commentary that cannot be squelched. As CafePress points out, this acknowledgement is in line with case law. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution trumps trademark law when it comes to critical expression.

Thanks for standing up to the Republican censors, CafePress. And Zazzle, how very very asskissy you look in comparison. Say it with me: “Zazzle, asskissy. Zazzle, asskissy.” It kind of rolls off the tongue, I think.