http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014 ... f-comments

(Click the comments link just below the headline, I don't think the Guardian got many they could legally use lol)

I wonder what the owners of Sesame Street would make of their characters being used like that

The whole thing of refusing to serve someone - it's always been suggested that bar staff can refuse anyone they want. If that's true, any business should be allowed to. Not that I agree with it.

I think the issue is the reason. That cake shop could have refused to accept the order, turn it down etc but they gave the real reason. They have their beliefs and now they're being taken to court for it. This is like that B&B issue.

Did the bakery even have a licence the use the characters in the first place?

Probably not, but the fact they declined on the basis of the slogan - and they admitted this, will leave them with few options.

Mark

Here, your business can't discriminate like that. I'm not sure what the laws are in America.

That'll be something decided on a state by state basis, so there won't be one universal policy for the whole of America.

They can only refuse to serve someone WITHIN THE LAW ( <---put on a Judge Dredd voice here)- so you cant refuse to serve all women say but you can refuse to serve all ugly people (as there is currently no beauty statute)

I'm guessing in that case they could technically refuse to bake an "atheism cake" as I'm guessing it wouldn't be protected under religious "freedom" legislation.

or they should ahve said that they don't support any overtly political campaignes and the "Support Gay Marrage" is a political statement

Not in the UK. There are laws banning discrimination on religious grounds as well as gender, ethnicity etc. You couldn't turn down customers because they're Atheist any more than you could because they're Muslin or Catholic.

Now that I think about it, it's blindingly obvious of course. Consider that speculation a massive brain fart moment!

They could have just refused on the grounds it's obvious copyright infringement. And if the people who asked for the cake can't actually get married, can the bakery claim there was no actual intent to buy? The whole thing has rather a smell of someone finding out the bakery was run by evangelical christians and then picking a fight with them tbh. I don't actually think people should be able to discriminate but I don't think they should be picked on for having unpopular moral standings either if they're not actually harming anyone.

Jon

That would have been their get out of jail free card. Especially in the USA where copyright is almost a religion in itself as far as the courts are concerned

Except this is in Northern Ireland...

I know, but you see a lot of these sort of stories from the states, which is why I commented on that.