copyright infringement?

[charon]

14 minutes ago, nstarleather said:

Second guy has also gone after people doing the same design, it gets kinda nuts:

Now thats really ironical. The whole discussion is kind of retarded. As I said in my opinion thats a great achievement looking at it from a marketing perspective. They both made 25k$ with their products and should be happy with it. Threatening other people by claiming such a basic shape as "unique design" is ridiculous. I like your input in the reddit :-) It just made me think what I would do if I receive messages like that from people like them just because you sell a dozen wallets that look like that. I don't want to be arrogant, but mine are made from better material, crafted better and completely done by hand...

[fredk]

A; when someone goes to lawyer and says 'I have copyright on this' the lawyer takes his/her word for it and does not investigate if they have. They act on the word of their client

B. Its very, very expensive to take a court case. In N.I. a copyright case is a civil action and the complainant has to lodge a  minimum of £10, 000 ~ in cash, with the court before proceeding

C. I've had threats by lawyer letter over copyright ownership (I never infringe anyone's proper copyrights). I have just written a letter back to the lawyer; telling them 'no they don't have copyright' give an example or two, and tell them to prove it in court. Thats the last I've heard from them.

An eg; when I had a wooden toy company it was called 'Tyrone Toys'. Shortly after I started it I got a lawyers letter saying I infringed his clients copyright, his company name was 'County Tyrone Toys'. The letter told me the date from when the client had used the name, which predated the first of my toys going on sale. I sent back to the lawyer a newspaper advert and the company registration papers for my 'Tyrone Toys' which both predated his clients claim and told him' see you in court'. btw the other toy company changed to 'Wooden Toys of Co.Tyrone'

[BDAZ]

Remember that a copyright is not a patent.

In addition they would have to prove damages so I would just ignore anything that came from those Jokers. Let them take you to court and then you can cease and desist if and when that happens. Generally it's a lot of smoke and Bluster.

 

Good luck

 

Bob

 

[Lavinia]

Very interesting topic

[Morse]

On 6/3/2008 at 6:38 PM, russinchico said:

I know there are laws against it, but I have seen alot of stuff out there that I know is copy righted....and /or a trademark. I'm sure I could spend days reading stuff on the internet and get totally confused, I was more interrested in what was "acccepted" with the "leather Pros".

I am a new member so I am never sure where to post something, but I saw this concern about idea infringement.  I was looking for a place to show (anybody who might be interested) an idea I came up with that when made became a wonderfully useful item. I wanted any or all to make it themselves, even sell it themselves.  IF MY IDEA CAN BE MADE BETTER BY YOU then my idea has taken shape and grown to new heights.  I learned this years ago at the college of architecture where we all were influenced by each others ideas and the guy who originated the idea did not always get a better grade than the guy who did a better job with the same idea.  My project was and is a " Walkers water bottle and phone carrying case from leather both sturdy or soft leather. My wife loves it and REI probably has a dozen alternatives but we like leather stuff.  Tell me where do I share it so that if you like it you can make it or sell it?

[BDAZ]

Post it in the show off with a link to somewhere with a downloadable pattern and instructions. You could also establish a Paypal link for donations.

 

Bob

Tucson

[2Hill]

Ever since I first read this a few days ago I have been wondering what would happen if you had this on your work.

In text too small to see from a distance but blatantly obvious up close.

"THIS IS NOT A (insert badge/trademark of your choice) PRODUCT"

Not looking for an answer it's just something that keeps running through the back of my head. (man the sound of those footfalls gets distracting at times.)

[BDAZ]

Legally I doubt it would have any standing. If you copy a trade marked or patented  or copyright  design doesn't matter if it says "Made on Mars" you are liable to a law suit.

[2Hill]

I wasn't clear in what I meant. Not copy. But insert their patch,badge, leather coaster or"whatever", that had been bought from them with their logo on it.

[fredk]

Even that will be seen as copyright infringement and false representation of the item being endorsed by the company*. 

If you make less than a dozen the big company may not notice you, but start making a hundred  and you'll soon feel their weight.

* a number of years ago a T-shirt company in Belfast fell foul of the singer Rihanna. They obtained photos of her and printed them on their T-shirts. There is no law here, unlike the US, to protect a person's image. The company was sued for false representation that the T-shirts were 'endorsed' by Rihanna. Some of the photos used were Rihanna's own publicity shots sent out to publicise her events

Harley Davidson has come down hard on people making items and including bought HD merchandise. One that comes to mind was someone making a plain leather 'biker's wallet' and attaching a HD key ring to it on its chain. HD told him to cease, they had not 'endorsed' the wallet and buyers might be mis-led into thinking they had