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Apple Forces Aqua Themes Off themes.org
Teferi writes "I was browsing t.o and just noticed this - Apple has apparently sent a Cease and Desist letter to themes.org stating that several of the OSX-look themes up othere are copyright violations, because they use the Apple logo in one or two small places (like this theme). " I've actually exchanged mail with OctobrX on this one, and read the C&D letter. Apple's stating violation based on using of copyrighted materials - the Mac OS and Apple logos in this case. Hopefully, now that Apple is talking with the creator of the themes, things can be resolved amicably, and the themes restored - but for the meantime, the themes have been pulled.
As someone on themes.org said, this is purely a trademark issue, since they left other themes that do not use the Apple symbol, but do use a MacOS look alone, e.g., Aqua.
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bgphints - internet routing news, hints and ti
A.) If you remember a few weeks ago, Linus Torvalds had to do a similiar thing with people that were using the Linux logo and violating the Linux copyright. Most people were able to understand how Linus could be so worried about the Linux name, but when Apple does the same thing, many people on Slashdot are getting upset. Apple has to defend their copyrights or they risk having a more major copyright infringement go unpunished because they wouldn't punish the smaller ones.
B.) Honestly, if you designed an operating system and someone else designed an OS (over even a theme) that LOOKED like yours, down to the logos - wouldn't you be a little upset too?
I hope that Apple will be understanding and allow Themes.org to repost the themes with the Apple logo's removed. But I have to agree with what they are doing.
kwsNI
The idea is to prevent consumer confusion. A movie logo on a software product is not likely to cause the software to be mistaken for the movie. A computer manufacturer's logo on a software product is likely to cause at least some people to assume that the product was made by the company whose logo appears in the product.
-- Two men say they're Jesus. One of them must be wrong. - Dire Straits
I wasn't real sure on this one...so I called my uncle who is a copyright lawyer. He says that if a company begins letting people use their trademark without giving them credit, they may very well lose any trademark battle they have. So, although those themes may have been made out of respect...if Apple takes someone to court for using their trademark because it was done negatively, there is a good chance that by throwing the fact that others use their trademark without displaying that it is Apple's tm, that they will not win the court battle. Otherwise, once you let one person use it without them showing that it is trademarked...it would be difficult to stop another person from using it.