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Author Threatens To Sue Book Reviewers Over Trademark Infringement
Nate the greatest writes "Do you know what is crazier than sending DMCA notices to a site like Lendink which doesn't host any content? It's when an author threatens to sue book reviewers over trademarks. Jazan Wild, a comics creator, is sending out threatening emails to any and all book blogs who review a recently published book called Carnival of Souls. The book was written by Melissa Marr, and it happens to use a title which Jazan Wild owns the registered trademark. He's also suing the publisher for trademark infringement, but HarperCollins is laughing it off. The book blog Bookalicious posted the email they got from Jazan. Needless to say they did not take down the review."
If DMCA can be applied to kitchen, maybe a chef who trademarked "salt" would sue anyone who dare to use salt in their cooking
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
I feel bad for the guy. He's been using the mark since 2004 for his business with his wife. That's their brand. Sending the C&D's to review sites was a mistake, but these obviously aren't going out from a lawyers office... he's trying to get it solved himself while Harper Collins gives him the finger.
I generally don't like C&D's, but I don't like a huge publisher just screwing this guy and his wife because they can, either.
His comic was put out in 2006, but the title/phrase has been in use since at least 1962.
He will have to show that people would somehow confuse this book, with his comic, which would be fairly hard.
The problem is in granting him trademark ownership of the phrase "Carnival of Souls" in the first place. He's just acting to defend it against any infringement as any other trademark owner would. Of course threatening reviewers is ridiculous but the publisher is going to have to pay him off. No way can they put out a book out with the same title as an existing trademark using for comics/graphic novels etc. Someone in Harper Collins legal department should get fired.
But I would agree to a patent on TYPING ALL CAPITALS.
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Jazan holds the trademark over "Carnival of Souls", and he has a legal obligation to legally defend it or lose it.
It may seem silly to sue review sites, but the legal duty of a trademark holder is to actively defend illegitimate use of the trademark or risk dilution.
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If you think that by using caps lock you can get me to do what you want... Well, that's where you're right. But - and I am only saying that because I care - there's a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.
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He has not (and I think cannot) trademarked a comic title. He has trademarked a trademark for sources of downloadable media content. From a read of the grant, this does not cover books or reviews. He cannot landgrab his trademark to cover areas outside its applicability. Much as I personally dislike HarperCollins, I suspect that the response of their lawyers will be (correctly) the same as in the famous Arkell v Pressdram.
The USPTO search should be compulsory reading before commenting on these issues. It quickly shows whether someone has a case, may have a case, or doesn't understand how trademarks work. IANAL, this does not constitute legal advice or opinion etc., but in this case I suspect he falls into my last class.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
The author's take on this is further down in the comment section of Bookalicious. Quoting the key parts:
I want you to understand something. We contacted Ms. Marr and Harper Collins, way back in June and asked them to please respect our trademark. (...). My wife and I have built our company Carnival Comics over the last 10 years. In that time, we invested endless hours and tons of money building our brands. We have been very blessed. Carnival Of Souls, our series was the number 1 ebook on Blackberry for over a year. It was featured in the LA Times. (...)
So we protected our time and money and brand by registering a trademark for CARNIVAL OF SOULS. I started using the mark in commerce, way back in 2004. I applied for registration in 2009. and the USPTO granted me a mark.
The person you should be mad at is Harper Collins, who themselves own trademarks for book series. This is a big company, looking at someones lifetime of work and just taking it. We begged them to do the right thing. I had hoped Mrs. Marr would stand up for the rights of trademark owners, but she did not. Would you be angry at J.K. Rowling for stopping someone from putting out a HARRY POTTER series? She has a trademark as well.
See my point? I am not doing anything but trying to save my series from an out and out attack by a billion dollar corporation that feels they are above the law. I knew that if they released the Marr book, I would be the bad guy, for trying to defend my trademark. But what else can I do? Would J.K. sit back while someone else released another HARRY POTTER series. I think if you look at the facts in the case, you will see, that Harper Collins, should have not released a book and series, with a mark that they knew, was already out there.
The headline implies that an author is suing the reviewers of his own book.
Capitalization nazi, not punctuation nazi. And apparently also a semantics nazi.
Nazi should be capitalized.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
And apparently also a semantics nazi.
Wouldn't being a semantics nazi make you an anti-semantic?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Surely I can't be the first to notice this? HarperCollins couldn't have paid for publicity like this ...
Reading comprehension. It's a skill you should learn.
He's not stopping reviews of HIS work. He's stopping reviews of someone else's work, because the Book's name infringes on his TradeMark.
Prior art is for patents, not Trademarks.
Doesn't matter how many people might have drawn a Glowing Arch to look like an M, only MacDonalds can use it as a Trademark once registered, at least in the Fast Food Industry.
These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.
It would just make you demand that everybody recognise your right to impose semantics on everybody. Or perhaps Symantec. This is our last territorial demand on your computer! Install Norton or the Tigers roll at dawn!
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
probably related to the tone of his reply. had he said "the person suing is not the author of the book, they simply own a trademark of which they believe the book and anything related - e.g. reviews of the book infringe upon." he probably would have been upmodded.
in the world of argument facts are informative & insults detract from your point.
i spent five minutes thinking and all i got was this crappy sig
you don't even have a UID.
although, i have seen comments from you since i first started reading this site. are you like the original user? before other users i guess they didn't need to number you.
i spent five minutes thinking and all i got was this crappy sig
As for online reviews, they certainly aren't included in the scope because (a) they aren't made of paper and (b) they are not multimedia.
Oddly the class also includes paper knives. And duplicators. But that does help to show what the framers of the section were thinking about.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
He seems to be trying to extend the scope of Section 16 to titles, rather than trademarks in the way of businesses that produce paper. Scope creep - it's the enemy of progress.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
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