OT: I found out about a VERY bad company! (SF Bay area)

Tell them not to pay anything. It is a shakedown and I don't think anyone can claim the word monster as it has been in common usage forever. If the cable compnay does get it to court the judge will probably throw it out. They have to prove that your usage does them harm. If they get called to court they can ask for a contuance to get a lawyer. In the meantime they should just give the cable company the middle finger salute. They might want to spend a couple hundred bucks and consult a copyright atty to be sure. Make sure he/she is a specialist just any atty can't answer the question without wasting a lot of time=money. Armand

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Kalera Stratton :

]They're suing our friends Victor and Kathy, who make their entire ]livings selling vintage clothing on monstervintage.com, for *copyright ]infringement*.

i don't think their copyright will stand up - wait 'til they try to take on Disney for Monster, Inc.

It's strictly harassment... and they're a HUGE company; they just paid

24 mil to have Candlestick Park renamed Monster Park. They're currently suing 1600 companies for using the word "monster".

-Kalera

vj wrote:

It's not a copyright issue, it's a trademark issue. You can't copyright one word, but you *can* register a trademark for a word.

But I agree, it sounds like a shakedown to me and the friends need to proceed with care. One of the best ways to annoy such companies is by getting the situation into the news in their markets. Nothing like having the news media show you as pompous, idiotic asses...

Mj

I just found out that a cable company in the San Francisco Bay area is trying to copyright the word "Monster" so that it can only be used by them in business..>

SNORT AND GIGGLE you cannot copyright a word...'

tell them "good luck"

Hi Kalera,

Your friends might find some useful tips for dealing with the wackos at monster cable on this page:

The owners of this site have fought, and won, against some adversaries with very deep pockets. (Major League Baseball and Disney) They have a message board too, so your friends could post questions. Most of the cases deal with eBay auctions and copyrights, but there is some ~very~ useful information here nonetheless.

Good luck to your friends!

Best, Deborah

wait 'til they try to take on Disney for Monster, Inc.

OH YEAH! THAT ONE TOO!!!! LOL

let's see I found Monster Moving Monster Magnet (a band) Monster.com (the jobs people - with over 20 different sites in reality) monsters.net Monster (a band) Monster (name of an album) The Monster Club ( fans of old horror movies) MonsterWorldwide Inc (investment firm) Monster Hardware Monster (the movie 2003)

tell your friends just to laugh in their faces -- the company CANNOT PREVENT them from using the WORD "monster" especially if it is not in a RELATED BUSINESS with the INTENT of infringing on the "good name" or the "trade name" of the other corporation...

and - please - anyone saying that they need a copyright lawyer - no -- they need a "tradename" lawyer.... who will probably sit and laugh his butt off when he hears this one....

in fact - it is so ridiculous - they might even get someone to take it "pro bono" if they are a very small firm --- and countersue the big company for harassment and unfair competition charges..... Cheryl DRAGON BEADS Flameworked beads and glass

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from Kalera Stratton :

]It's strictly harassment... and they're a HUGE company; they just paid ]24 mil to have Candlestick Park renamed Monster Park. They're currently ]suing 1600 companies for using the word "monster".

and Disney will take on just about anyone. they always do.

and there are people like 'monsterslayer.com'.

great idea-call one of those TV shows that does programs to expose stupid bureaucratic rules and such. call in to the talking heads on radio, they love a fight. and call all the newspapers in the area, big and small.

vj found this in rec.crafts.beads, from snipped-for-privacy@aol.combeads (Cheryl) :

]in fact - it is so ridiculous - they might even get someone to take it "pro ]bono" if they are a very small firm --- and countersue the big company for ]harassment and unfair competition charges.....

i wish i'd thought of that when someone stole our site name.

And don't forget one of my favorite silver suppliers.....Monsterslayer (sounds like we need that one to do battle with the other one!)

KarenK

That is freaking crazy! What the hell are they trying to prove? Monster, monster, monster, monster!

I love this, and I will be doing it tomorrow.

Especially since the whole "Monster Park" thing was QUITE the recent stir. (Not a lot of locals are happy about the name change, I hear.)

-Kalera

Armand V> great idea-call one of those TV shows that does programs to expose stupid

OK, thank you Cheryl, I will pass on all that good information to them! If I stated any specific details incorrectly, like the copyright as opposed to the trademark thing, it's because I was posting in a fog of sheer rage just minutes after hearing about this fiasco! These people are really nice, just a mom-and-pop operation and they do whatever they can to help out other folks. It makes me see red to find out that some big-balled corporation is trying to steal their domain and failing that, sue them for it!

-Kalera

Cheryl wrote:

Thank you Deborah!

-Kalera

Deborah wrote:

They can trademark the expression 'monster' in a particular format like Coke does with the logos it has, but they can't stop people from using the word coke, or there'd never be another article in the news about cocaine!

They're just being nasty and stupid. Corporate greed is an astonishing thing. Heck, here in the UK, even Elvis can't sue for people making Elvis tribute stuff.

-Su

Gag! That's so stupid. I hate corporate naming of venues. Next thing it will be the Monster House, with ol' Dubya as a tenant.

Corporate greed. Who told these people that it's attractive to be bastards?

-Su

So, are they going after monster.com as well? I'd guess they would have plenty of money to stand up to them.... and if they *don't* go after them, it kind of weakens all the rest of their cases....

Kar>

There's a link to Monster Cable on the monster.com home page, so there's something going on there.

-Kalera

Kar> So, are they going after monster.com as well? I'd guess they would have