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Fair enough! I'd probably still do it, mostly as a CYA matter. There's little downside and it takes too much time / attention to discern between the cases. I

by jfarmer 13y ago

Fair enough! I'd probably still do it, mostly as a CYA matter. There's little downside and it takes too much time / attention to discern between the cases. If my attorney told me it was a waste of time I probably wouldn't. Maybe I'm just a jerk. :P This makes the OP's response all the more unproductive, though. Find an IP lawyer and pay him for an hour or two of his time to draft this response. It's also unclear what Tumblr's precise complaint was. I'm just assuming it was the domain and only the domain.

DannyBee 13y ago
" There's little downside and it takes too much time / attention to discern between the cases." Thank you for so aptly explaining why making fair use an affirmative defense was/is not enough. Nobody should have to pay an IP attorney 450 an hour (plus whatever retainer they will surely force you to pay to engage) because some large company has decided to be a dick. Trademarks were created to enable consumers to identify the source of goods. Dilution came later, which the supreme court struck down (requiring actual dilution), and then congress readded in a weaker form (likely dilution). Dilution was and always has been just a way for companies to snipe at each other and screw little guys through C&D. It has never helped consumers.
- jfarmer 13y ago
  Eh, that's pretty pricey! Happy to recommend a good IP attorney who will charge less than that if anyone is looking, without requiring a retainer. :P As an entrepreneur, I don't want to spend that $450 either, but I especially don't want to have to spend more later. I'm going to send a C&D and stop thinking about it. There's very little downside to sending one but a potentially big downside for not sending one. I'd do this if I were big, medium, or small. If that makes me a dick, well, I'll cop to it, I guess! Actually, I'll say personally that I'd first ask them politely via email and follow up with a C&D if they refused, but in a world where there were dozens of such things happening at any given moment, I'd no longer think it worth my time to ask each and everyone personally and just ask my attorneys to handle it. My point was that Tumblr's behavior was not outrageous, IMO. Alas, I'm obviously in the minority on this.
  - DannyBee 13y ago
    " My point was that Tumblr's behavior was not outrageous, IMO." So, I guess we'll agree to disagree. The fact that it may be more commonplace today does not make it less outrageous. Outrageousness does not depend on how common something is, but society's view of it. To paraphrase an example from another ongoing thread as an example: If every airline starting throwing passengers out of the plane randomly, that doesn't make it less outrageous simply because it happens a lot.

by jfarmer 13y ago

DannyBee 13y ago

" There's little downside and it takes too much time / attention to discern between the cases." Thank you for so aptly explaining why making fair use an affirmative defense was/is not enough. Nobody should have to pay an IP attorney 450 an hour (plus whatever retainer they will surely force you to pay to engage) because some large company has decided to be a dick. Trademarks were created to enable consumers to identify the source of goods. Dilution came later, which the supreme court struck down (requiring actual dilution), and then congress readded in a weaker form (likely dilution). Dilution was and always has been just a way for companies to snipe at each other and screw little guys through C&D. It has never helped consumers.

jfarmer 13y ago
Eh, that's pretty pricey! Happy to recommend a good IP attorney who will charge less than that if anyone is looking, without requiring a retainer. :P As an entrepreneur, I don't want to spend that $450 either, but I especially don't want to have to spend more later. I'm going to send a C&D and stop thinking about it. There's very little downside to sending one but a potentially big downside for not sending one. I'd do this if I were big, medium, or small. If that makes me a dick, well, I'll cop to it, I guess! Actually, I'll say personally that I'd first ask them politely via email and follow up with a C&D if they refused, but in a world where there were dozens of such things happening at any given moment, I'd no longer think it worth my time to ask each and everyone personally and just ask my attorneys to handle it. My point was that Tumblr's behavior was not outrageous, IMO. Alas, I'm obviously in the minority on this.
- DannyBee 13y ago
  " My point was that Tumblr's behavior was not outrageous, IMO." So, I guess we'll agree to disagree. The fact that it may be more commonplace today does not make it less outrageous. Outrageousness does not depend on how common something is, but society's view of it. To paraphrase an example from another ongoing thread as an example: If every airline starting throwing passengers out of the plane randomly, that doesn't make it less outrageous simply because it happens a lot.