Tab Julius wrote:
> At 01:44 PM 8/17/03, Rocky Frisco wrote:
>
>> "Fair use" includes spoofs and parodies, which the teeshirt would
>> definitely be.
>
>
>
> The "Fair use' you're thinking of primarily relates to copyright law,
> but there is a sort of equivalent for trademark law. It's a little
> murkier, however:
> "A review of trademark parody cases give us no bright line rules.
> Rather, they appear to be a barometer of both the presiding judge's
> sense of humor and sense of fairness. As Tom McCarthy puts it, "a
> non-infringing parody is merely amusing, not confusing. J.T. MCCARTHY,
> MCCARTHY ON TRADEMARKS AND UNFAIR COMPETITION, ' 31.38[1] (1995)."
>
> So, if the judge thinks it's funny, you get away with it.
>
> However, it's more lenient if it's non-commercial (that is, you're not
> making a buck on it) than if it's commercial.
>
> However still, "Based on the same concerns for a company's reputation,
> courts have also stretched to find trademark confusion if the parody
> disparages the plaintiff's trademark. "
>
> This last part applies to us, because if the parody disparages the
> trademark, as ours would, then it could create a problem. Basically
> it's making fun of Lucas quality.
>
> On the other hand, it starts off with "Based on the same concerns for a
> company's reputation"... what if their reputation was for flaky
> electrical systems? :)
>
> There's a full treatment of all this at
> http://www.cll.com/articles/article.cfm?articleid=32#4
>
> But generally I think we're under the radar scope on this one.
My own opinion about Lucas electrics is that they are, in fact,
excellent. Lucas usually gives me the opportunity to fix rather than
replace. Once I have fixed a Lucas component, it stays fixed for a very
long time. I think this capability is the main reason for the bad
reputation, in that many Lucas failures are the result of bad fixes by
DPO's and "Finger-tight Malcolms."
The teeshirt design we are considering is based on our love/hate
relationship with our LBC's and OBC's and the Lucas systems therein.
It could very well be argued that the shirt design shows respect rather
than disrespect, since irony or sarcasm is often two-sided, depending on
how you take it. It could be argued that the experience in
troubleshooting electrical faults gained from the Lucas capability to
repair rather than replace qualifies the "Lucas Emergency Electrical
Team" to help the Power Companies figure out their failures. As long as
nobody can see your tongue so firmly stuck up there in your cheek and
you keep a reasonably straight face, where's the insult? ;)
BTW, I happen to have a few metallic gold vinyl "LUCAS" stickers, made
directly off the company logo, with the difference that the logo,
normally in red, is cut out so the car colour will show through as the
letters, "LUCAS." I had these made for The Luggage, my Cooper S, so the
main car colour (red) would be the colour of the stickers. A friend had
sent me one of the original stickers from Lucas, from many years ago;
when I began to remove the sticker from the backing, it began to break
up, so I scanned it and cleaned up the design in CORELDRAW and had the
vinyl ones made locally. I have about four of them left and can get more
made, including ones with the "LUCAS" in red (by sandwiching a red vinyl
pad between the gold vinyl and the car paint).
-Rock http://www.rocky-frisco.com
--
"JJ Cale Live" CD & Video: http://www.rocky-frisco.com/calelive.htm
The Wednesday Night Science Project: http://www.wednitesciproj.us
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