Via The Patry Copyright Blog comes this order from the District of Arizona, dismissing a copyright infringement case brought by "Jehovah J. God," "Jesus J. Christ" (I might have expected "Jesus H. Christ") et. al against Arizona State University. J.J. God alleged that ASU was unlawfully using his autobiography (the Bible) without paying royalties. The suit sought $9.3 million in damages.
This leads me to wonder what other lawsuits Mr. God might bring in the future. It seems like there are plenty of other prospective copyright defendants out there. King James and Johannes Gutenberg immediately spring to mind. Not to mention the Gideons.
Following the intellectual property vein, I'm sure that the unfettered sectarian fragmentation over the past few centuries has diluted any trademark rights that God might have. And God could certainly sue Christopher Roller seeking a declaratory judgment of patent invalidity based on anticipation.
Moving on to tort law, God could sue Richard Dawkins for slander, I suppose. And I could think of a number of political and religious leaders who are cruising for a misappropriation of identity suit.
Finally, assuming that J.J. Christ holds a future interest in the earth, he could sue all of us for waste. Or perhaps just smite us.
