Exodus Int'l v. Watt [1]

Mr. Watt altered a photograph of a billboard that he found on the website of "ex-gay" ministry, Exodus International, and posted it on his blog. The billboard originally read "Gay? Unhappy? www.exodus.to", and Watt altered it to read "Straight? Unhappy? www.gay.com".

Through counsel, Exodus sent Watt a cease-and-desist letter, claiming that his alteration and use of the billboard image infringed Exodus's trademark and copyright rights. The letter demanded that he immediately remove the image from his website.

Watt contacted the ACLU, which put him in touch with attorneys at Fenwick & West, who wrote a response to Exodus on Watt's behalf. Watt's response letter argued, with respect to the copyright claim, that his use of the photograph constituted fair use. With respect to the trademark claim, Watt's letter argued that he did not make a commercial use of Exodus's mark, and furthermore that there was no likelihood of confusion as to the source or sponsorship of the image posted on Watt's blog because his message was so fundamentally antithetical to Exodus's message.

Exodus's lawyers subsequently announced that they would not be suing Watt.