Kozinski Watch

Someone in the comments section sent this golden nugget of a judicial opinion from Judge Kozinski! For the non-legals out there, he is the Chief Justice of the 9th Court of Appeals, which includes California. He is known for some of the most quotable and memorable opinions, like his dissenting opinion in the case of Vanna White v. Samsung [Scroll to the bottom to see Samsung's robotic version of White]. There used to be a picture of Judge Kozinski on Above the Law with his shirt off all Putin-style holding an assault rifle, but they have since taken it down, so I can't reprint it here.

Gilbrook v. City of Westminster, 177 F.3d 839, 863 (9th Cir. 1999):

Kozinski: "MCA filed a counterclaim for defamation based on the Mattel representative’s use of the words “bank robber,” “heist,” “crime” and “theft.” But all of these are variants of the invective most often hurled at accused infringers, namely “piracy.” No one hearing this accusation understands intellectual property owners to be saying that infringers are nautical cutthroats with eyepatches and peg legs who board galleons to plunder cargo. In context, all these terms are nonactionable “rhetorical hyperbole,” .

The parties are advised to chill. AFFIRMED."

[Editor's Note: In California, an order advising all parties to 'chill' is actually binding under the state constitution.... ok, it isn't, but it should be!!!]