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Canadian Government Controls Online Flag Displays

Posted by timothy on from the but-that's-unamerican dept.

SiliconEntity writes: "According to this article from Matt Gaylor's Freematt's Alerts mailing list, the Canadian Government has trademarked the Canadian Flag and has the power to force Canadian citizens to remove the image from their web sites. The claim is made by one Jan Ovens, ovens.jan@tbs-sct.gc.ca, of the Federal Identity Program, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. The site in question, a Canadian smokers' rights group, was forced to remove their image of the flag after Mr. Ovens contacted them. Ovens claims that the flag is a registered trademark of the Government of Canada and writes: 'The flag symbol is a global identifier of the Government of Canada. It is used to identify federal institutions and is protected under the Trademarks Act (Section 9 (1)(n)(iii) of the Act). The flag symbol was approved and entered as an official mark of the Government of Canada on the Trademarks Register held by the Canadian Trademarks Office, which is part of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office at Industry Canada, on 30 September 1987.' Are any other countries claiming the power to stop their citizens from showing the flag?"

4 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. The Trade-marks Act Section In Question by Sentry21 · · Score: 4, Informative
    Just to quote that particular section of law...

    Prohibited marks
    9. (1) No person shall adopt in connection with a business, as a trade-mark or otherwise, any mark consisting of, or so nearly resembling as to be likely to be mistaken for,

    (n) any badge, crest, emblem or mark
    (i) adopted or used by any of Her Majesty's Forces as defined in the National Defence Act,
    (ii) of any university, or
    (iii) adopted and used by any public authority, in Canada as an official mark for wares or services,

    in respect of which the Registrar has, at the request of Her Majesty or of the university or public authority, as the case may be, given public notice of its adoption and use;


    I can't find the bit about enforcement, but I would assume that lack of enforcement equals acceptance until it is enforced.

    --Dan
  2. Were they using the flag, or the Canada symbol? by Trebuchet · · Score: 2, Informative

    There is a symbol that the canadian government uses to signify a government building/web page/document etc. (http://www.gc.ca/images/canada.gif). Were they using this, or just the flag? If they were using the symbol, then I think this was reasonable.

    --

    Malcolm solves his problems with a chainsaw,
    And he never has the same problem twice.
  3. Trademark record by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Here is the trademark database record the article is refering to. The trademark consists of the flag plus some text beside it, not just the flag.

  4. Re:I'm gonna get modded to hell for saying this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    The flag desecration law only applies in the District of Columbia because the constitution gives congress the power "To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District". (Article 1, Section 8)

    US Code Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 3:

    Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of flag

    Any person who, within the District of Columbia, in any manner, for exhibition or display, shall place or cause to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, or any advertisement of any nature upon any flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America; or shall expose or cause to be exposed to public view any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign upon which shall have been printed, painted, or otherwise placed, or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or annexed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or any advertisement of any nature; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall manufacture, sell, expose for sale, or to public view, or give away or have in possession for sale, or to be given away or for use for any purpose, any article or substance being an article of merchandise, or a receptacle for merchandise or article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise, upon which shall have been printed, painted, attached, or otherwise placed a representation of any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign, to advertise, call attention to, decorate, mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so placed shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court. The words 'flag, standard, colors, or ensign', as used herein, shall include any flag, standard, colors, ensign, or any picture or representation of either, or of any part or parts of either, made of any substance or represented on any substance, of any size evidently purporting to be either of said flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America or a picture or a representation of either, upon which shall be shown the colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number of either thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag, colors, standard, or ensign of the United States of America.