[thelist] Logo Design (infringement) help requested

Russ russ at unrealisticexpectations.com
Fri Jun 27 22:43:50 CDT 2003


> I as contacted this afternoon by the CEO of a company who 
> believes that a
> site that is hosted on one of my servers has stolen their 
> logo design and
> Business name, and is letting me know I'll be hearing from 
> his lawyers.

Congratulations!  You've found yourself at the hands of someone
threatening you because they're unhappy about a situation!

Look, you can't control that type of issue.  I'm not an attorney and I
can't/won't tell you what to do, but I know that I'd personally file
that email somewhere and then ignore it.

> His email to me: "Your client has not only appropriated our 
> name, they have
> copied our logo.  You and they will be hearing from our 
> lawyers, but, in the
> meantime, we would ask that you immediately take the site 
> down before any
> further damage is done to our copyrights."

If the above paragraph is true, I would wait for the cease and decist
letter from the attorney.  I wouldn't consider it my battle to fight,
and I doubt I'd allow myself to be bullied into taking down someone's
site over a logo that, while perhaps similar, really isn't in the same
quality class...not that it should be an issue.

It is my opinion, and mine alone, that the CEO who wrote you is trying
to get his/her way about something and could have approached you in a
manner that is a lot more polite than how he/she has managed it.  I
would let them spend the money on an attorney and then on a court order,
but that's just me.

Sounds like a lot of smoke is being blown.  If all else fails or you're
still troubled by this email, you should strongly consider seeking an
attorney for assistance.

Russ



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