Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 23:09:30 +0100
Reply-To: Max Fenner <max.fenner@BERLIN.DE>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Max Fenner <max.fenner@BERLIN.DE>
Subject: Re: speaking of POLO
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>> >Basically, whoever can afford the better lawyers wins.
>> >
>> >Mike Harrnacker
>>
>> Mike,
>>
>> a copyright and/or trademark expires and the laws are very clear and
>if you
>> want to protect yourself and your business you need to know what
>these laws..
>... definetely not an issue of "who can afford the better legal
>> representation".
>> Your "basically" is incorrect.
>
>I am "basically" incorrect...and yet O.J. Simpson walks free. Hmmmm....
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Haven't met a grown up in the past years who wanted to talk about O.J., but
since he was not indicted for copyright infringments lets just skip that
topic (if this is indeed your basic understanding of the legal system stop
reading right here...)
I make my point again, because I read a many postings in this matter and
almost everybody had ideas from sueing VWoA, moving the side offshore and
the ususal "poor me" large corporation crushing the little guy or want to
take away "registered domain names" and most offensively immediate remarks
to Naziwagen etc.
Lets be real and whether there is a legal twist to it or not Volkswagen is a
corporation, they produce cars and pay dividends to their shareholders.They
naturally own certain rights (including their own typesetting=V.A.G. Fonts
and the VW Logo and name) which they exercise in the US, Canada and I am
sure elsewhere in the world and in a day and age of the internet maturing
also in that area.Does it really matter whether somebody runs a hobby page
with their name, probably in the long run.
Back to POLO,FOX,GOLF and SCIROCCO etc. : This has nothing to do with the
issue at large and if Polo magazine did not aquire the legal rights or did
not secure their rights properly, then you are right, they should have
retained better counsel to bargain a better settlement with Ralphie.
As to the VW issue, just ask yourself:"Is it really my right to run a
webpage called Volkswagen.com
only because you were there first"
I don't think so.
And this issue is what is being answered these days with all kind of
lawsuits and new laws.
Onkel Max
Buy shares !