Trademarks and cars..

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Trademarks and cars..

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Ford: Car owners are pirates if they distribute pictures of their own cars

Posted by Cory Doctorow, January 13, 2008 10:11 PM |


"The folks at BMC (Black Mustang Club) automotive forum wanted to put together a calendar featuring members' cars, and print it through CafePress. Photos were submitted, the layout was set, and... CafePress notifies the site admin that pictures of Ford cars cannot be printed. Not just Ford logos, not just Mustang logos, the car -as a whole- is a Ford trademark and its image can't be reproduced without permission. So even though Ford has a lineup of enthusiasts who want to show off their Ford cars, the company is bent on alienating them. 'Them' being some of the most loyal owners and future buyers that they have. Or rather, that they had, because many have decided that they will not be doing business with Ford again if this matter isn't resolved."

I got some more info from the folks at cafepress and according to them, a law firm representing Ford contacted them saying that our calendar pics (and our club's event logos - anything with one of our cars in it) infringes on Ford's trademarks which include the use of images of THEIR vehicles. Also, Ford claims that all the images, logos and designs OUR graphics team made for the BMC events using Danni are theirs as well. Funny, I thought Danni's title had my name on it ... and I thought you guys owned your cars ... and, well ... I'm not even going to get into how wrong and unfair I feel this whole thing is as I'd be typing for hours, but I wholeheartedly echo everything you guys have been saying all afternoon. I'm not letting this go un-addressed and I'll keep you guys posted as I get to work on this.

I'm sorry, but at this point we will not be producing the 2008 BMC Calendar, featuring our 2007 Members of the Month, solely due to Ford Motor Company's claim that THEY own all rights to the photos YOU take of YOUR car. I hope to resolve this soon, and be able to provide the calendar and other BMC merchandise that you guys want and deserve! This thread will remain open for you to comment however you wish, and I'll update it as needed.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/13/ford-car-owners-are.html

:rolleyes:
 
or, BMC could just print and supply the calendar themselves rather than using a company such as cafepress. or they could use a different company to make it and then only sell it themselves. (guess they dont have a sammiboo so they had to take the cafepress option)

ford told cafepress they were not allowed to sell images of ford cars. that is all. ford didnt say BMC cant make a calendar using photos of member's cars.

i dont know why BMC are fighting it, maybe they misunderstand what has happened, maybe they're trying to prove a point. imo they should get over it and make the calendar elsewhere.
 
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Simple put a unique dint in the car and therefore it no longer resembles a ford mustang easy :) or change a wheel nut therefore how can it be a ford mustang if it isn't all ford mustang :)
 
if the vehicle was "significantly altered" i think you could probably argue in court that it no longer represented the copyright enough to be covered by it.
 
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oh mate of mine says copyright only is effected if more than 4 things are changed
thats why he did not copyright one of his inventions cause anything as simple as diffrent sized parts would be a change


so 4 wheel nuts do it?
 
images
 
so ford claim that their vehicles have trademarked form,....

yet the new concept fiesta looked SOOO much like a grande punto it was unreal :mad:

you mean the ford verve?
ford-verve-24-08-07.jpg


its built on the mazda2 platform, not the GP. the whole B sector looks the same so i wouldnt say its a GP copy, just designed in line with the current market.

the production car will be very different, it will have B pillars for a start, and less sexyness. it wont be called fiesta either, the fiesta name is getting dropped, but we cant be sure the verve name is the production name yet.
 
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you mean the ford verve?
ford-verve-24-08-07.jpg


its built on the mazda2 platform, not the GP. the whole B sector looks the same so i wouldnt say its a GP copy, just designed in line with the current market.

the production car will be very different, it will have B pillars for a start, and less sexyness. it wont be called fiesta either, the fiesta name is getting dropped, but we cant be sure the verve name is the production name yet.

yeh, thats the one, i thought it was the fiestas replacement.

but the GP's done it all before, thats one in the eye for anyone who buys one :p
 
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