I've heard of tech companies turning to lawsuits as a business strategy (presumably after they recognize that all possibility of profitable innovation is in their past). And when I saw Korn Greatest Hits cds, I knew that other bands of that era were on the way out. But I wouldn't have thought that Slipknot was so far gone they were reduced to lawsuits to preserve their so-last-year image. Burger King developed a joke band called "Coq Roq" to market their new chicken fries to the Slipknot generation, using chicken-beaked masks that look a little like the masks of Slipknot, and earning BK a lawsuit by Slipknot's humorless legal team.

Is this a case of infringement, or another example of Al Franken's observation that "Satire is protected speech, even if the object of the satire doesn't get it"?

The lawsuit doesn't have a ghost of a chance. I just wish they'd start giving out COQ ROQ merch in Big Kids meals. The music isn't exactly Slipknot, but it's not bad. Go download some mp3s. I like "Bob Your Head" but you have to love "NICE BOX."

Another thing I'd like to know: if the designs of all those clown and wrestler masks with nails punched through them are copyrighted or patented or TMed or whatever you call it, did they mention in the official legal registration with the patent office that the inside of the masks should be crusted with puke like the band always jokes about?