Forum Coordinators: RedPhantom
Poser - OFFICIAL F.A.Q (Last Updated: 2024 Nov 25 12:38 pm)
" To ExistentialDisorder: I'm afraid Cooler's right. You can copyright a word, if you want to spend the money and go through the legal trouble. Marvel Comics, believe it or don't, owns the word 'mutant.' And while they're not very strict about its public use, they make damned certain no other comic company uses it. It's why DC coined the phrase 'metahuman'. Also, the word 'xerox' is copyrighted. Technically, any time you use it it's supposed to be capitalized and though it's common practice to do otherwise, it's not supposed to refer to making copies. It's supposed to be used to refer to the machine that makes copies."
No you cannot either copyright or "own" a word. You can however trademark it (literally a "mark of trade" representing a business & their goods/services). However a trademark does have some restrictions. It is industry specific and outside of that industry can be freely used even trademarked by a different type of business.
Using the example of Marvel Comcs & "mutant". Assuming they have trademarked the term they can only restrict it's use WRT to comic books & the characters involved. Legally there is nothing they can do if I want to open a chain of restaurants named "Mutantburgers". edited to add: *"...and DON'T call me Shirley"*Message edited on: 03/10/2005 17:27
This is not the way to win friends and influence people. Since when have Curious Labs ever, EVER known how to build confidence from their userbase, though? Bascially, it's the same old same old. They haven't learned anything from their previous escapades and missteps. bonni
"When a man gives his opinion, he's a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she's a bitch." - Bette Davis
OK, hows this; all the sites with (unmentionable word) in their name move shop up here to Canada & substitute (unmentionable word) with "Hoser"? (For those who don't know, Hoser is a Canadian "term of endearment" ;-) Personally, if I saw sites like FreeBassPros, FreeBass++, FreeBass City, FreeBass Style, etc etc...I'd be sayin' "WOOHOO!! Free advertisin'!!!
WARNING!
This user has been known to swear. A LOT!
cooler says: "Using the example of Marvel Comcs & "mutant". Assuming they have trademarked the term they can only restrict it's use WRT to comic books & the characters involved. Legally there is nothing they can do if I want to open a chain of restaurants named "Mutantburgers"."
Well, I'm going to assume you know a lot more about this than I ever will. Tho I probably used the wrong terms my facts were valid/true. Marvel has copyrighted (or 'trademarked') the word 'mutant'. And if 'Mutantburgers' came anywhere near what they thought was an infringement on their property, don't think they wouldn't try to stop you. Trust me on this. I have a letter from their lawyers in my basement threatening to sue me for a minor infraction of one of their characters. kmw
"The forum formally known as Poser" and then we use a wierd symbol that no-one can pronounce, like this . Didn't work for an artist formarly known as symbol, now known as Prince, who was formerly known as Prince. Um... something like that.
Your specialist military, sci-fi, historical and real world site.
My friend TESS tells me there are two registered trademarks for the single word mutant... #78472727 Rednex Inc in S. Carolina for motorcycle frames #78264724 AI BEAU CO., LTD. in Osaka, Japan for eye/sunglasses, goggles, etc now Marvel does have or (had) Mutant X, New Mutants, Mutant Gear, X-Men Mutant Gear, etc registered but there is no record that they ever had or even applied for a trademark on just plain "mutant"
wouldn't ya know there'd be a 'Poseur' out there..nah..I liked some of the big hair bands back in the day (when I had little hair, well, maybe more hair than I do now..;)..but then I originally was gonna be 'gadfly'..but someone beat me to it..;) I guess we could always be the 'not Daz | Studio forum'..;)
btw..if there is a legal action in motion, Curious Labs would be 'advised by council' not to say anything about it, so you're not likely to find out anything...
I wish I'd said that.. The Staircase Wit
anahl nathrak uth vas betude doth yel dyenvey..;)
Why does cooler always have to throw a cool blanket on things by injecting facts and truth? thats what I want to kno.
Aren't my opinions and hot hatreds enough? Who made cooler the prince of truth just because they know what their talking about? That should not be enough.
I'm afraid Cooler's right. pakled
So what?!!?? If i think that 'trademark' 'copyright' and 'patent' are interchangeable terms, then I AM RIGHT.
Aren't I? Or maybe i am just a poser, in the dictionary sense of the 'word'.
There's a large IBM plant in my town. The employees are not allowed to use the word "Xerox." They "IBM" things. Seriously! As in, "Karen, IBM a copy of this for the file." Meanwhile, Xerox tries to keep people from using their name as verb, for fear of losing their trademark. They always say "photocopy."
Attached Link: http://www.posermax.com
This topic of using the word "Poser" in the site name. CL does have a problem and that is time. With Poser World up 6 or 7 years, Poser Pros for three years, plus many others up almost as long. They may have lose any trademark on using the name for a site as long as its only part of the name. So the problem with "poser-free-store.com" maybe something else. Now, I've called and talked to CL and also email them becuase of my site posermax.com. So far they have not reply back to the email. But the person, I talked to on the phone say he saw no problem with the site having the word "Poser" in it but he will check with legal and again no reply back. So only time will tell this story!The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
But are the P***r Free folks absolutely certain this is not some kind of prank being played on them? Lot of cyberhoaxes & such going on lately -- look at the latest e-bay/paypal scam.
Were it me, I'd take every step possible to verify the origins of anything like that before going into panic mode & shutting my site down. After all, this could be the work of a jokester ... or someone with a grudge.
Message edited on: 03/11/2005 10:00
what did I say about cooler? I'm lost here, folks..;) Actually, Trademark, patent, and copyright are similar concepts, but any lawyer will tell you they're very different animals, with different levels of protections and obligations.
I'm not too worried about whatever name they give the web sites, as long as the URL's don't change..just more updatin' to do..
I wish I'd said that.. The Staircase Wit
anahl nathrak uth vas betude doth yel dyenvey..;)
Has anyone thought it was perhaps Poser was seperated from the other word (I'm just tossing Ideas here. I haven't been to the other forementioned sites in a while and don't know how they have it listed) So what I'm saying is that they may not of wanted Poser-Free-Store but would of been ok with poserfreestore. Donna know, any of you law-ers out there wanna edumatacte me?
Some of the differences between Trademark & Copyright (or Intellectual Property 101) Copyright is automatic and immediate, as soon as the expression of an idea is "fixed in a medium discernable by eye or machine" it is protected. Copyright can be applied to any creative work of "sufficient originality" Trademark can only be applied to a commercial entity, goods or service. Trademark must be applied for and protects a symbol or wordmark that represents either a business or the good/services they provide. Words, names, titles, short phrases, and common objects cannot be copyrighted. Virtually anything representing a business/goods/services can be trademarked. Copyright only protects a specific work. Trademark protects a word, symbol, logo, etc, within a specific industry. Copyright does not need to be defended, nor officially registered to be effective. It cannot be lost only sold or given away (Public Domain) Trademarks MUST be defended or they can be lost through "dilution". (the words nylon & cellophane, as well as "smiley faces" are examples of trademarks lost through neglect) Copyright has a term of life+ 70 years for individuals and 95 years past 1st publication for corporations (work for hire) and cannot be renewed Trademark has a life or either 10 or 20 years & can be renewed indefinetly. A copyrighted work that has fallen into the Public Domain remains there. It cannot be "re copyrighted" A trademark that hasbeen abandoned can be reregistered even by a different person/business that the one who originally owned it. Similarities Permission to use a trademark or copyright can only be given by the legitimate holder (or an authorized agent) The "fair use" exception can apply to either copyrighted works or trademarks. Permission to use a copyrighted or trademarked work can be withdrawn by the legal holder (or agent) at anytime, for any reason, unless proscribed by a signed contract.
Attached Link: http://www.posermax.com
"Trademarks MUST be defended or they can be lost through "dilution". (the words nylon & cellophane, as well as "smiley faces" are examples of trademarks lost through neglect)" This is my point, with PoserWorld use the word "Poser" for manys years (I do think it the oldest with Poser in the name), CL may have lost the trademark of the word but not for the name of a software package. Now, if CL does come after me to change my site name. I most likely will. Only for freindship and peace in "Poser-ville".The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
Ohhh Im sorry !!! I didnt know about this thread before now in this very moment. The case with Free Store was that I asked CL if we could use the name poser-free-store.com as name of our site. They just said no. No actual reason was given. We was just told to changes the name because it was their trademark. Thats why we closed down...and now to read the thread from the beginning :-)
Do not think you made it up, Skygirl. What I meant was, maybe someone pretending to be a CL rep sent you a phony C&D by way of a prank. It's been known to happen, but not I see in this case. Sorry about your site woes, this really sucks rotten eggses. Hmm, maybe I oughta lob a few of those at whoever dreamt up the whole notion of monopolizing bits & pieces of the English (or any other)language that way. Stinkers, the lot of 'em!
Attached Link: http://www.xfx-3d.com/postnuke/html/index.php?name=PNphpBB2_12a&file=viewtopic&t=40&start=4000
"Awww...uhhh...how sad...some of you good people think we made this story about CL up....please you can see the mails postet in RFI http://www.xfx-3d.com/postnuke/html/index.php?name=PNphpBB2_12a&file=viewtopic&t=40&start=4000 You can't read the message unless you're a member.Cracking down on web sites that contain some variant of the word "Poser" in the name will only garner ill will, a LOT of ill will. Insurance companies have the legal right to perform credit checks on every one of us on a regular basis. But just because something is legal, does not make it right.
So, CL may have a perfect legal right to clamp down on the use of Poser in many fan-related web sites, but is it the right thing to do?
A better solution would be to ask any site which contains the word "Poser" in its name to establish a Curious Labs logo and link to where the software may be found and purchased, as a pre-requisite to using the word. That way nobody gets mad and both parties win. CL gets more revenue from ad-driven sales and end-users can just Google the word "Poser" to find other end-users and content.
So... how bout' it?
Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things! ; )
Skygirl indicated that the situation arose because she and her partner asked permission to use "poser" in the site-name - CL said no - it wasn't a "crack down" - so we can assume the best way to get "Poser" included in your site-name is to NOT ASK permission from CL then hope they don't notce or bother about it til a few years have passed and the trademark protection lapses - However, if people DO ask, the proviso(spelling?) of including the a nice big badged link to CL and Poser homepage would be a good idea. But, in the end, I guess saying "no" outright to any requests saves them alot of hassle - because if a site gets "official" CL support, then CL would have to keep checking back all the time to make sure the site doesn't go all poser-p*rn or anything...or write up contracts setting out ToS and whatnot...
You are absolutely right bigjobbie, the situation arose because we asked permission. They gave us a no and we closed down the site. That is all there is in this story. And that is nothing big. We have in no way been hunted down by CL or anything like that...for Kleopetra and I it is only a question about buying a new domaine name and re-upload the site with a new name.
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First, I'd want to see the letter telling them to stop. I drove through Missouri once, and it was enough to make me a "show me" kinda guy. If it is true, it's one of the stupidist things CL could do. How many sites support Poser and use the name? Most everyone has hit PoserPro's, but what about PoserWorld? PoserStyle? MalePoser? These sites, by their existance and name, actually help Poser sales. Who wants a 3D modeling program without support? Likewise, it's the Poser community that keeps the product alive. This is not the way to win friends and influence people.