A brief summation of the SAB vs. Laugh It Off judgement:

The judge found that, even though no direct evidence was submitted to show that SAB was harmed by the t-shirts that "tarnishment" (i.e. people looking unfavourably on SAB because of the t-shirts) was likely to occur.

"I have come to the conclusion that such use exceeds the limits of freedom of speech and expression" says Justice Cleaver, because:

a) The Black Labour t-shirt exploits SAB unfairly, and for commercial gain.

b) No-one would buy Lions t-shirts if they didn't use SAB's trademark.

c) The Black Labour t-shirt is merely a lampoon of [SAB's] trademarks and not a broader social commentary. It doesn't talk about South African society in general, but rather just about South African Breweries.

d) An acceptable parody must be a harmless, clean pun. 

"Its lampooning or parodying of the applicant's marks is not a harmless, clean pun which merely parodies or pokes fun at the respondent's marks. It goes further than that by introducing the race factor, something which our constitution and our new democracy are at pains to avoid" writes Justice Cleaver.

e) In fact, the Black Labour t-shirt can be said to border on hate speech. 

Laugh It Off feels that, without getting into the legal nitty-gritty, the judgement implies that any parody that has any real meaning (as opposed to just being a joke) is illegal. Also, anything which talks about South Africa's racist past is unacceptable in our new democracy.

We have every intention of appealing against the judgement, which we feel, if allowed to stand, would be a blow to freedom of speech and of artistic expression in South Africa. Laugh It Off will continue to satirise South African culture, and challenge society in general in original, thought-provoking and unconventional ways. 

In 1970, The Clash wrote "I fought the law and the law won. We feel that we've fought the law, we've lost round one, but whether or not one man's judgement will be Laugh It Off's death-knell remains to be seen.

In the mean time we will keep you posted as the events unfold.

How you doing man?

You know that dream, or bad movie scene, when you are trapped in a watertight space, and the water is filling up, and your lips are just above water level as you are gasping for air... I feel like that.

When I read through the reports on this case I can't believe what I read. It either sounds like the judge is drunk on SAB or SAB have used very clever attorneys to twist the law to suit themselves. What do you think?

The judge's middle name is Botha. I think that speaks volumes... almost as much volume as SAB pours down our throats.

I don't understand how such an established brand like SAB can feel so threatened by you spoofing their logo. What do you feel is the real reason why they took you to court?

Bureaucracy mainly. Also, big business with no sense of humour or perspective. 

Is this first time you've been taken to court over something like this?

Yes.

Have there ever been companies that have looked at your work and found nothing wrong with it?

Companies like MTN must know about our HIV t-shirt... they've just got smarter marketing guys.

I don't want to get too personal but this must have cost you a fortune to hire your attorneys, but if you win at the end will SAB pay your legal fees?

Yes they will.

So what can you tell us about yourself, about your past and what made you want to get into this kind of life?

I want to run a business with a strong sense of social responsibility, in South Africa, and I like to stir the pot, rock the boat, and crash the party. You can mix up those metaphors anyway you like.

Did you ever expect to find yourself on the cover of SL magazine and have all this kind of rebel with a cause fame?

I jsut did what I knew was right - nothing less - and didn't compromise on my beliefs. The fame shit is tired; it's about what I am saying - not who I am.

What does your family think of all this?

It took my folks a while to understand, but they dig. They have arguments with their conservative friends about it.

Your rebranding messages (i don't know what else to call it) are flipping clever. How do you come up with these things, like where do you get your inspiration from?

Homegrown...

If people want to get your t-shirts where can we go?

Come to our offices (72 Canterbury Street). It's cheaper from us, and we have a cool spot that we just moved into...

If you loose the appeal then do you think other companies will follow suit, like MTN or Lotto?

Maybe, but they will have to go through the whole process again, and also weigh up whether or not it is worth the bad publicity for them. We're ready.

What food does Justin Nurse like to eat?

Good Italian food, sushi, Thai.

How can people like us support your company?

We need the man on the street... particularly with our War on SAB campaign that we arre starting. For that shit, we need the masses to get rowdy.

Hey man I just want to thank you for taking the time to talk to us, keep on doing what you doing coz we need people like you.

Believe the hype... it has a sequel.

www.laughitoff.co.za

---