[Groop]Copyright law....?
Gary Grossmann
grossfam@olywa.net
Mon, 7 May 2001 23:43:28 -0700
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
------=_NextPart_000_0015_01C0D74F.84160E00
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Well, I am not any kind of expert, but basically, Sergio owns Groo and =
no one can reproduce a Groo likeness for sale without Sergio's or Mark's =
permission. It doesn't have too look exactly like Groo or be called =
Groo, or even be intentional, it just has to look enough like Groo that =
a reasonable person would say "Oh, yeah, that's Groo". And yes, that =
can obviously be subjective and that's why these things often end up in =
court. (I think I got that right.) =20
Mark has said that sometimes it's just not worth the trouble to stop =
someone. For example, some guy who slapped together some magnets and =
sold them at a Con. On the other hand, it's real easy for Mark to tell =
someone on ebay that they can't sell an unauthorized Groo. He doesn't =
have the time to monitor all that stuff and has said a number of times =
that he appreciates that we do and let him know about them when we spot =
them. Incidentally, the Groo vs. Aliens auction was prematurely closed. =
take care all -Gary G. =20
----- Original Message -----=20
From: Vaughn Seward=20
To: groop@groo.com=20
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 8:55 AM
Subject: [Groop]Copyright law....?
Gary, you've raised an interesting point...is the "other guy" =
violating a copyright law because of which of the following possible =
reasons:
1. He is selling a fake Groo drawing (that would be fraud). However, =
he never claimed it to be an original Sergio drawing (in fact he says he =
drew it himself). He is just selling a drawing of Groo (many of us in =
the groop also drew similar kinds of drawings last year in that =
contest).
2. Selling merchandise and associating it with the "Groo" name, =
without permission? Would it then be okay if he got Sergio's =
permission? Would it also be okay if he didn't mention the word "Groo"?
3. Selling something that looks like a copyrighted item (an original =
Sergio drawing of Groo in this case). Some might debate how good a =
similarity it is but that is likely besides the point (or is it?).
I can't think of any other possible reasons right now. I'm sure ME =
will clarify things for us nicely.
~Vaughn Seward
At 2001/05/07 08:17 AM, you wrote:
The chronicles guy probably meant for the price to be $12.99, not =
$1299.00. That's why he closed the auction already. The other guy =
apparently knows less about copyright law than even the average person =
(which ain't much). If Mark (who knows more about copy right law than =
most lawyers) will probably zip a quick e-mail to the guy and THAT =
auction will be closed as well. Yay!! Way to Go Groop!!! -Gary G. =20
=20
=20
=20
_______________________________________________ Groop maillist - =
Groop@groo.com http://mailman.newdream.net/mailman/listinfo/groop=20
------=_NextPart_000_0015_01C0D74F.84160E00
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Diso-8859-1">
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.50.4611.1300" name=3DGENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
<DIV>Well, I am not any kind of expert, but basically, Sergio owns Groo =
and no=20
one can reproduce a Groo likeness for sale without Sergio's or Mark's=20
permission. It doesn't have too look exactly like Groo or be =
called Groo,=20
or even be intentional, it just has to look enough like Groo that a =
reasonable=20
person would say "Oh, yeah, that's Groo". And yes, that can =
obviously be=20
subjective and that's why these things often end up in court. (I =
think I=20
got that right.) </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mark has said that sometimes it's just not worth the trouble to =
stop=20
someone. For example, some guy who slapped together some magnets =
and sold=20
them at a Con. On the other hand, it's real easy for Mark to tell =
someone=20
on ebay that they can't sell an unauthorized Groo. He doesn't have =
the=20
time to monitor all that stuff and has said a number of times that he=20
appreciates that we do and let him know about them when we spot =
them. =20
Incidentally, the Groo vs. Aliens auction was prematurely =
closed. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>take care all -Gary G. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; =
BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV=20
style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>=20
<A title=3Dvaughn@sewardconsulting.com=20
href=3D"mailto:vaughn@sewardconsulting.com">Vaughn Seward</A> </DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=3Dgroop@groo.com=20
href=3D"mailto:groop@groo.com">groop@groo.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, May 07, 2001 8:55 =
AM</DIV>
<DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Groop]Copyright =
law....?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT size=3D3>Gary, you've raised an interesting =
point...is the=20
"other guy" violating a copyright law because of which of the =
following=20
possible reasons:<BR><BR>1. He is selling a fake Groo drawing (that =
would be=20
fraud). However, he never claimed it to be an original Sergio drawing =
(in fact=20
he says he drew it himself). He is just selling a drawing of Groo =
(many of us=20
in the groop also drew similar kinds of drawings last year in that=20
contest).<BR><BR>2. Selling merchandise and associating it with the =
"Groo"=20
name, without permission? Would it then be okay if he got =
Sergio's=20
permission? Would it also be okay if he didn't mention the word=20
"Groo"?<BR><BR>3. Selling something that looks like a copyrighted item =
(an=20
original Sergio drawing of Groo in this case). Some might debate how =
good a=20
similarity it is but that is likely besides the point (or is =
it?).<BR><BR>I=20
can't think of any other possible reasons right now. I'm sure ME will =
clarify=20
things for us nicely.<BR><BR>~Vaughn Seward<BR><BR>At 2001/05/07 08:17 =
AM, you=20
wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=3Dcite cite type=3D"cite">The chronicles guy =
probably meant=20
for the price to be $12.99, not $1299.00. That's why he closed =
the=20
auction already. The other guy apparently knows less about =
copyright=20
law than even the average person (which ain't much). If Mark =
(who=20
knows more about copy right law than most lawyers) will probably zip =
a quick=20
e-mail to the guy and THAT auction will be closed as well. =
Yay!! =20
Way to Go Groop!!! -Gary G. =20
=
<BR> <BR> <BR> </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>_______________________=
________________________=20
Groop maillist - Groop@groo.com=20
http://mailman.newdream.net/mailman/listinfo/groop =
</BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
------=_NextPart_000_0015_01C0D74F.84160E00--