Today I Learned (TIL)

In reply to JStrobel80 :

Change it to "PORCHES / AUDIE" and put it right back up.

In reply to JStrobel80 :

Once at a chemical trade show two DuPont lawyers show up at our booth and start hassling me about us using "Teflon" on our literature as it is a protected name. (I understand the issue - we crossed a line)

I just started working at the company at the time and told them to come back later when the boss is around.  I really wasn't interested in your/our problem.  

While I understand the general feeling of persecution, and it is irritating to see it unevenly applied, the truth is that trademark law means that owners must aggressively defend their trademarks and copyrights, or they risk losing them to the public domain.

Metallica may or may not be douchebags, but they were legally obligated to go after Napster in order to retain legal ownership of their own music, let alone any perceived economic issues.

In reply to Duke :

Yeah, I don't pretend to be smart enough to unravel the nuances of TM law...it seems to be a bit of a rabbit hole. I completely understand not allowing someone to make a kit car that is dimensionally, visually exactly like a 911, or replicated Porsche badge on a t-shirt etc. There doesn't seem to be any latitude for "art" which is where the frustration comes from. Art is an expression of creativity and different lenses that we all view the world through. Pursuing things like this to say you can't make something so clearly abstract, seems ridiculous to me and leaves us with a sterile, unimaginative existence in which we are "allowed" to be passionate. 

Sure, perhaps a VW Bus with iconic Can-Am era paint is dumb, and maybe only I think its fun, but it's art and that bus genuinely makes me smile to look at it...expressing the weirdness that swirls around in my head by putting it on paper. 

In reply to JStrobel80 :

As just an art piece, it wouldn't lose anything with the changes Duke suggested... or even shapes for letters.  That's how Blipshift and others get away with their artwork. Yesterdays Pug as an example:

I understand the companies trying to protect their trademarks. I have a mutual friend who sells cups that are pretty much all blatant trademark violations (sports teams, companies, logos, etc.) and I'm not sure how they haven't been hit with several cease and desist letters and/ or lawsuits yet. 

Duke said:

While I understand the general feeling of persecution, and it is irritating to see it unevenly applied, the truth is that trademark law means that owners must aggressively defend their trademarks and copyrights, or they risk losing them to the public domain.

Metallica may or may not be douchebags, but they were legally obligated to go after Napster in order to retain legal ownership of their own music, let alone any perceived economic issues.

 

This. As I understand it, you have to go after everyone otherwise you risk losing the big cases that actually matter. Which sucks, (it sucks a lot because sometimes you just want to show your appreciation and admiration for a certain car/brand/thing and you can't because it's trademarked and the trademark owners don't agree/haven't approved your specific artful expression) but I guess I can work through that in my brain.

In reply to Saron81 :

This was super helpful...changes have been made

In reply to JStrobel80 :

 I'd actually submit that design to Blipshift if I were you. 
 

Submit Artwork

Better yet, make it an NFT and make $$$.

Duke said:

While I understand the general feeling of persecution, and it is irritating to see it unevenly applied, the truth is that trademark law means that owners must aggressively defend their trademarks and copyrights, or they risk losing them to the public domain.

Metallica may or may not be douchebags, but they were legally obligated to go after Napster in order to retain legal ownership of their own music, let alone any perceived economic issues.

 

That's true for trademarks but not for copyright.

Metallica is just a bunch of douches.

Honsch said:

Duke said:

Metallica may or may not be douchebags, but they were legally obligated to go after Napster in order to retain legal ownership of their own music, let alone any perceived economic issues.

That's true for trademarks but not for copyright.

Metallica is just a bunch of douches.

I'll take your word for it about trademark vs copyright, but wanting to protect ownership of your own intellectual property and artistic creations does not automatically make you a douchebag.

[edit]  And also, you're more right than I am in this case, but we're both kind of right.

Enforcement of copyright is entirely at the discretion of the owner, BUT:

1) Failure to enforce copyright against a known infraction can indicate that the owner is willing to abandon their copyright, and provide a defense against future infringement cases; and

2)  In the US, the copyright owner only has 3 years after becoming aware of the infringement to initiate action against the infringer.

Online English to Klingon translator has that sports car company mentioned as  Ngojwi'

TIL about a lesbian couple that does a podcast about creepy and macabre things. The name of the podcast: Ghoul Friends

TIL that I was the one that was supposed to bring the hoist. 

TIL the 2022 Camaro has adopted Rapid Blue from the C8 as a color. Oh man I love it

TIL there's a ram 6500 in South America and that is like one 

RevRico said:

Duke said:

Antihero (Forum Supporter) said:

TIL that Snowpiercer is a decent TV show.

I loved the movie but I didn't think it'd work , pleasantly surprised

I was profoundly meh about the movie.

 

This is a very old quote, but I wanted to follow this up with a little something.

There are some theory videos around YouTube's that Snowpiercer is a Willy Wonka sequel. I won't get into all the minutia, but they're worth a watch, and don't require the suspension of belief you would think. 

That is interesting

TIL that the 81 RX-7 that used to have four gallons after E now is empty two needle widths above.

Was able to slosh and dead stick and slosh for two miles to a gas station. 

The next exist was like 15 miles away.

Good car, good car! Thanks for getting me there and sorry I let you run down so far.

Or maybe not.  Dead on the turnpike now.

Edit: shut car off, made sure there was no vacuum in tank, restarted and all was well?  Thinking junk in fuel filter...

TIL that huskies develop juvenile cataracts, and they come on really fast and cause a lot of additional damage. The eye specialist is seeing lots of them as they're currently a popular dog.

TIL that my newly acquired Allis Chalmers 720 tractor uses the steering box from a Chevy Vega.

TIL that Honda 26 spline axles will happily fit a Mini R50/R53 front hub.

Hee hee hee

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/15/world/australia/jumping-castle-tasmania.html

That after MANY examples of why it's not just a good idea, people are still setting these things up without staking them down properly.  Take care of your kids people, this should never happen.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

TIL that Honda 26 spline axles will happily fit a Mini R50/R53 front hub.

Soooo, K20-swapped Mini?

TIL how to search for a text string on my phone's browser:

then I used my newfound superpower for something totally childish: