Joustin' Beaver is an iOS game in which you play as a very familiar looking rodent who must dodge phot-hogs, sign otter-graphs and avoid being pulled into the "whirlpool of success" as you swim down what sounds like a very populated river. As a parody surrounding Biebermania, it sounds pretty spot on. Bieber's lawyers are so worried that his fanbase might mistake this for an official game that they sent a cease and desist order to shut down the game.
This is where things get interesting. The developers of Joustin' Beaver believe that Bieber's lawyers are trying to deny them of their first amendment rights and so are suing for the right to continue selling their game. RC3, the developers, hope that they can convince a judge that as a parody of the star's life, Joustin' Beaver is protected by the developer's free speech rights.
It'll be interesting to see where this goes, especially since if RC3 gets a pass, the iTunes store is going to become infected with parodies just like this. I also think it's fair to say that, thanks to this lawsuit, Joustin' Beaver is about to sell more copies than it ever would have done if Bieber had just left be.
