• [ network ]
  • goatmatrix.net
  • gvid.tv
  • img.gvid.tv
  • games.gvid.tv
  • apps.gvid.tv
HomeUploadUpload DirectHotlinkRandomAbouttheme toggle
Expand

"The Slants:" A Band Name Too Racist to Trademark!

Views:1087
@ReasonVids

An Asian-American band takes the fight over its name all the way to the Supreme Court.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel: http://youtube.com/reasontv

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Reason.Magazine

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/reason

Subscribe to our podcast at iTunes: https://goo.gl/az3a7a

Reason is the planet's leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won't get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.

-------------

Can the U.S. Patent Office deny trademark requests it deems disparaging or offensive, or is that a violation of the First Amendment? The Supreme Court will decide in the case of Lee v. Tam, which began oral arguments today.

The case that centers around an Asian-American rock group called "The Slants," which attempted to trademark its name in 2011 but was denied on the grounds that it was offensive.

"When I first heard about this," the band's founder and bassist Simon Tam told Reason's Meredith Bragg, "I though it was a practical joke."

Ironically, Tam says, the name was intended "to flip the slur around" and convey a "positive, self-empowering" message to fans.

Interview by Meredith Bragg. Cameras by Joshua Swain and Mark McDaniel. Music by the Slants.

libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
the slants
,
music
,
supreme court
,
first amendment
,
simon tam
,
lee v. tam
    Thumbnail for The Dark Trump Rises0:46
    The Dark Trump Rises
    ReasonVids
    929 views
    Thumbnail for Steven Pinker Wants Enlightenment Now!59:22
    Steven Pinker Wants Enlightenment Now!
    ReasonVids
    915 views
    Thumbnail for Denver Just Decriminalized Magic Mushrooms. Activists Say This is Just the Beginning.7:29
    Denver Just Decriminalized Magic Mushrooms. Activists Say This is Just the Beginning.
    ReasonVids
    1013 views
    Thumbnail for Campbell Brown on Her Fight To Get Lousy Teachers Fired5:55
    Campbell Brown on Her Fight To Get Lousy Teachers Fired
    ReasonVids
    1007 views
    Thumbnail for Joe Biden Wants To Reform the Criminal Justice System He Helped Create7:50
    Joe Biden Wants To Reform the Criminal Justice System He Helped Create
    ReasonVids
    886 views
    Thumbnail for Does Fractional Reserve Banking Endanger the Economy? A Debate1:24:53
    Does Fractional Reserve Banking Endanger the Economy? A Debate
    ReasonVids
    821 views
    Thumbnail for 'Medicare Is a Bank Without Security Guards:' Media Exec David Goldhill vs. Princeton's Paul Starr1:21:45
    'Medicare Is a Bank Without Security Guards:' Media Exec David Goldhill vs. Princeton's Paul Starr
    ReasonVids
    855 views
    Thumbnail for Please Don't Use GitHub Copilot | Engineer Man6:35
    Please Don't Use GitHub Copilot | Engineer Man
    invidious
    416 views
    Thumbnail for Gay Activist Jimmy LaSalvia: "Why I Left the GOP (And You Should Too)"8:35
    Gay Activist Jimmy LaSalvia: "Why I Left the GOP (And You Should Too)"
    ReasonVids
    955 views
    Thumbnail for Venezuelans Fleeing Socialism Find Community at a Miami Storage Facility6:02
    Venezuelans Fleeing Socialism Find Community at a Miami Storage Facility
    ReasonVids
    943 views
    Thumbnail for The Juggalos March on Washington5:13
    The Juggalos March on Washington
    ReasonVids
    1061 views
    Thumbnail for Matt Ridley: The Coronavirus Pandemic Shows 'That There's No Monopoly on Wisdom'54:19
    Matt Ridley: The Coronavirus Pandemic Shows 'That There's No Monopoly on Wisdom'
    ReasonVids
    1838 views
    Thumbnail for Don't Fear Independents Like Howard Schultz! Politics Should Be More Like a Starbucks Menu3:39
    Don't Fear Independents Like Howard Schultz! Politics Should Be More Like a Starbucks Menu
    ReasonVids
    1106 views
    Thumbnail for Just start your own bank0:20
    Just start your own bank
    AOUisgay
    574 views
    Thumbnail for Is the GOP Pushing Minority Voters to the Left?36:33
    Is the GOP Pushing Minority Voters to the Left?
    ReasonVids
    911 views
    Thumbnail for Why The Stimulus Isn't Working: Q & A with economist Richard McKenzie7:35
    Why The Stimulus Isn't Working: Q & A with economist Richard McKenzie
    ReasonVids
    953 views
    Thumbnail for Donald Trump, Joel Osteen, and the Evangelical "Money Cult"21:24
    Donald Trump, Joel Osteen, and the Evangelical "Money Cult"
    ReasonVids
    1040 views
    Thumbnail for Is There a Silver Lining to the Supreme Court's Obamacare Decision?7:55
    Is There a Silver Lining to the Supreme Court's Obamacare Decision?
    ReasonVids
    949 views
    Thumbnail for Stossel: John Stossel Interviews Tulsi Gabbard6:44
    Stossel: John Stossel Interviews Tulsi Gabbard
    ReasonVids
    942 views
    Thumbnail for Special Reason Edition DVD: Atlas Shrugged Part I, On Sale Now!0:36
    Special Reason Edition DVD: Atlas Shrugged Part I, On Sale Now!
    ReasonVids
    980 views
    Thumbnail for A Tattooed Libertarian on the Arizona Supreme Court: Clint Bolick's Long Fight for Freedom19:58
    A Tattooed Libertarian on the Arizona Supreme Court: Clint Bolick's Long Fight for Freedom
    ReasonVids
    790 views
    Thumbnail for What’s the Point of Voting?7:27
    What’s the Point of Voting?
    ReasonVids
    905 views
    Thumbnail for DappyTKeys Piano Worship: Non-Stop Christian Piano Instrumental | Prayer & Meditation Music | DappyTKeys Piano Worship1:00
    DappyTKeys Piano Worship: Non-Stop Christian Piano Instrumental | Prayer & Meditation Music | DappyTKeys Piano Worship
    invidious
    271 views
    Thumbnail for 256 niggerbytes of ram1:19
    256 niggerbytes of ram
    bestofupgoat
    153 views
    Thumbnail for 【逆転裁判3】点ばかり増えて線にならない男#2【ネタバレ注意】 | ひろちんくん3:39:27
    【逆転裁判3】点ばかり増えて線にならない男#2【ネタバレ注意】 | ひろちんくん
    invidious
    82 views

points

Permalink
Reply
libertarian
,
reason magazine
,
reason.com
,
reason.tv
,
reasontv
,
the slants
,
music
,
supreme court
,
first amendment
,
simon tam
,
lee v. tam
TOS  •  Add Keywords  •  Donate  •   Analytics  •   DMCA  •   Puzzle