So reports the San Francisco Chronicle:
Under the new agreement, Ohio Discount Merchandise Inc. can produce Schwarzenegger-the-politician dolls — without the gun. . . .
The doll in question featured Schwarzenegger in a gray suit, white shirt and red tie. But he was also carrying what looks like an assault rifle and had a bullet-clip belt draped over his shoulder . . . .
Ohio Discount also agreed to donate a portion of its sales of the upcoming bobblehead doll to Schwarzenegger’s nonprofit Arnold All-Stars after-school program in Los Angeles. . . .
The original Schwarzenegger bobblehead was part of a five-doll deal that included several Democratic presidential candidates, organized by Washington, D.C., lobbyist John Edgell, to raise money for two cancer and children’s charities.
Edgell, who was also named in Schwarzenegger’s suit, said Monday he opposes the settlement and plans to seek an injunction. . . . Edgell has now created a prototype for a “Governor Girlie Man Arnold” bobblehead, featuring the governor in a pink suit and heels — a reference to Schwarzenegger’s comments that Democratic state lawmakers who did not agree to his budget proposal were “girlie men.” . . .
Edgell said he would continue to seek to produce the assault weapon-toting Schwarzenegger.
“It was a political statement to tweak Arnold because he pledged to support an assault weapon ban and hasn’t done anything,” Edgell said. “Also because he stars in all these violent movies and has a pro-kid image … Schwarzenegger should not be the only public figure immune from the public’s right to poke fun at him.”
But Bosley said they are satisfied with the settlement, even though he maintains his company would have won the lawsuit.
“It made more sense to settle,” he said.
As I argued here and here, I think the defendants should have been able to win on First Amendment grounds. But the law in this area (the “transformativeness” test) is unfortunately pretty vague, and it makes sense that a small company would settle rather than litigate, even if that means changing the humorous but partly political statement that the bobble-heads make. I hope, though, that someone else does challenge Schwarzenegger on this; I like the governor, but I don’t think politicians or celebrities should be able to suppress humorous commentary about them — and I hope some robustly defended lawsuits involving politician-plaintiffs, where courts are especially likely to see the free speech issue, will push the law in the right direction.
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