In a case involving poop jokes on dog chew toys shaped like liquor bottles—yes, really—the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the First Amendment does not broadly protect parody products from violating U.S. copyright laws.
In a unanimous ruling for Tennessee-based Jack Daniel's, the justices determined that lower courts had erred by rejecting the whiskey maker's claim that a brand of parody chew toys violated the brand's copyright protections. Those chew toys, manufactured by VIP Products, roughly copied the iconic shape of a Jack Daniel's bottle and parodied the brand's label—replacing the famous "Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey" signage with a joke about "The Old No. 2 on your Tennessee Carpet."
