Re: Many Portlanders miss their morning buzz

On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:38:49 GMT, Marshall
<mrfuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


You are confusing copyright and trademark (which people often do). Ask
the guys who made the "Cocaine" t-shirts in "Coca-Cola" type. The main
issue is dilution of the mark.

I'm not confusing it. If something is obvious satire or parody it IS
fair use - there is no dilution of the mark because it's *obvious*
that the new work is not the old work. OTOH, if you are fighting a
big company with a lot of lawyers they might win even when the law is
not on their side - they can out last you, with endless (and needless)
motions and appeals. So just because someone lost a lawsuit doesn't
mean the law doesn't apply. Here's the key to how Coke prevailed:

http://www.splc.org/legalresearch.asp?id=32

<quote>
For example, the Coca-Cola Company was successful in preventing a
T-shirt maker from printing shirts with the slogan: "Enjoy Cocaine,"
in the well-known Coke script and typeface. Clearly, no reasonable
person would have thought they were purchasing a shirt made by the
Coca-Cola Company. Rather, the court found that the T-shirt slogan
tarnished the reputation of the famous Coke trademark.
</quote>

So, Coke's lawyers had a 3 pronged attack, they could go after a
copyright claim (illegal use of their font which they certainly didn't
release or license), a trademark violation, and "tarnishing the
reputation" of their trademark by associating it with an illegal
product.

<quote>
Trademark law is generally only a problem when a trademark or service
mark is used in a way that would confuse a potential consumer.
</quote>

I'm having a hard time thinking of how one might use Coke/Coca in the
well known typeface in a parody on a t-shirt where it would be obvious
that the t-shirt wasn't made by Coke. Maybe Mad-Magazine style? At
any rate, if it were A) obvious that it was a parody and not something
made by Coke and B) it wasn't implying that Coke was selling Cocaine
or some other legal product, then the above "tarnished reputation"
claim wouldn't prevail. (Modulo expensive lawyers.)


ObCoffee: Millbrae Market and Gasoline is at Rollins Road and
Millbrae Ave, just across the street from the Millbrae transit center
(BART station, CalTrain station, etc.) down the peninsula from San
Francisco. Their logo is *very* similar to the Starbucks logo. At
first glance, it is the same shape, layout, and color. I'm really
surprised that Starbucks hasn't made them change it.

jc

--

"The nice thing about a mare is you get to ride a lot
of different horses without having to own that many."
~ Eileen Morgan of The Mare's Nest, PA
.