Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Treize69 on January 10, 2008, 11:04:03 AM
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Basically, they are suing over any and all rights to any of their products names and likenesses, including photos taken of privately owned vehicles and used for non-profit uses. For example, they are suing to keep car clubs from producing any calenders or other items with the Mustang or its logo on them- that even includes club insignias designed in-house that use the word "Mustang" or any likeness even remotely resembling the car or its logo.
http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2006/06/EditorsCorner/index.php
I've seen car companies make some stupid moves (Pontaic Aztek, anyone?), but this is a whole new level of "foot in mouth" marketing. Some of us have even gone to the extreme of covering up any and all Ford badging on our cars with black electrical tape.
:furious :mad: :furious
Our car club has even gone so far as to change the header on our webpage.
(http://www.troststudios.com/data//516/censored_1.png)
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Other companies have done this. Didn't hurt them one bit in the long run, but I don't think any of them were quite as large as Ford.
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thats from June 2006, anything recent...
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Simple solution. Tell them that you have just decided to buy another brand car since they no longer feel the need to allow clubs to identify with their product. I'm sure that Chevy or Toyota won't have the same problem.
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Originally posted by Airscrew
thats from June 2006, anything recent...
The "recent" is they are now actively moving to shut down any clubs/organisations/companies/websites/magazines/etc. with the name Ford or any of its products included in their name, and they are also claiming sole rights to any and all images of their products, including photos of cars that appear on shirts, websites, blogs, etc.
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Well the article you linked is from June 2006. I just googled "Mustang Car Club" and got 290,000 hits... I looked at a couple and saw no indication they felt threatened by Ford or were in the process of making name changes. Just wondered if you had some information that was more recent, like maybe the last 3 months or so
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The actions they are taking have just started, if you can get in and look at the forums without being a member, check this thread out for where it started with our club.
http://www.bmcforums.com/showthread.php?t=42402
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As much of a Mustang basher as I've been all of my life this is completely insane. What is the thinking behind this? I can understand a company wanting to protect trademarked and copyrighted logos and designs but why bit the hand that feeds you? Crazy, crazy ****.
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Go out and buy Supras
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If they go through with this, I'm trading in the M****** and getting a Camaro.
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Originally posted by Treize69
If they go through with this, I'm trading in the M****** and getting a Camaro.
You're gonna have to wait for a year or so. But yeah, you should have done that to begin with!
:D :aok
The M****** is hilarious!
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Ford has to do it due to silly US legislation. If they don't actively protect their trade marks they will lose them. Same thing happened to flight simulators, car video games, model kits etc. several years ago. This is also why there won't be any more US planes added to the IL2 plane set, after C1 was sued by Boeing.
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And just think, some companies pay to have their products advertised.
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Originally posted by DiabloTX
You're gonna have to wait for a year or so. But yeah, you should have done that to begin with!
I got my... "car"... brand new in the winter of '05-'06, I hadn't even heard of the new Cammies yet I don't think.
Either the Camaro or the Challenger, if that ever sees the showroom floor.
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Originally posted by Xargos
And just think, some companies pay to have their products advertised.
Yes I know, it's silly. However Ford may lose their brand names, even their own Ford logo, if they don't actively protect them. And if Ford allows someone to use Ford's property, even for free, Ford can be held legally responsible for it under US law.
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Viking, I have no problem with Ford wanting to protect their trademarks. It's how they are going about it that's BS.
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I can see them protecting their copyright, but they are going way beyond that. By trying to shut down clubs and shops just because they use the name of one of their cars? How do you think they get 90% of their advertizing for those cars? Its not from TV ads, its from word of mouth and people seeing them on the street. Heck, a large portion (if not the majority) of owners are return buyers, or 2nd and 3rd generation owners who grew up with them.
Now to try and shut down or take over these groups (many of which are either non-profit or operate at a loss) does nothing but anger their supporters (many of which stayed with them through long years of uninspired designs and lackluster performance) and cause a serious backlash with the public. Especially considering the bad shape Ford is in (and the "great relationship" with enthusiasts that they have been touting lately), all I can see is a bunch of idiots cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
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maybe someone should tell the F car company that the M name is the name of a horse.
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I'm wondering why NAA (or the company that had their assets by then) didn't sue them in 1965. Its been stated repeatedly for decades that they named the car after the plane, not the horse.
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Probably NAA didn't renew the copyrights back then. Who knows.
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Originally posted by Viking
Ford has to do it due to silly US legislation. If they don't actively protect their trade marks they will lose them. Same thing happened to flight simulators, car video games, model kits etc. several years ago. This is also why there won't be any more US planes added to the IL2 plane set, after C1 was sued by Boeing.
I wasn't aware that C1 had actually sued Boeing. But... if the indicators are right, I believe Boeing is backing off the stance anyways. So is Northrop Grumman.
As for IL2, it is pretty in the graphics department, but definitely second rate in the FM department.
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The state of Kentucky did the same thing a while back... hence the changes to royalty-free names like KFC and Run for the Roses.
Radio stations also refuse to play "Kentucky Woman" anymore, so it's not all bad.
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I still want to get a time machine, and go back and eviscerate the idiot who thought of a lawsuit.
Its a long way back, and I'd have to make a lot of stops on the way back to the now, but it would be SO worth it.
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Sounds like somebody over at the RIAA got hired at Ford.
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Originally posted by Treize69
I can see them protecting their copyright, but they are going way beyond that. By trying to shut down clubs and shops just because they use the name of one of their cars? How do you think they get 90% of their advertizing for those cars? Its not from TV ads, its from word of mouth and people seeing them on the street. Heck, a large portion (if not the majority) of owners are return buyers, or 2nd and 3rd generation owners who grew up with them.
Now to try and shut down or take over these groups (many of which are either non-profit or operate at a loss) does nothing but anger their supporters (many of which stayed with them through long years of uninspired designs and lackluster performance) and cause a serious backlash with the public. Especially considering the bad shape Ford is in (and the "great relationship" with enthusiasts that they have been touting lately), all I can see is a bunch of idiots cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
You know, Treize, only in the U.S., has frivolous litigation reached the point of driving people/organizations' to the point of ridiculous action that we have arrived at today. It's not only cars; Think of the now-famous decision to allow victims' of gun crime, to sue firearms' manufacturers, and basically to make them held accountable for the actions' of others.
I can see your point in this. It's another example of how this country's going down the tubes.
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Sigh,
It will bounce, Union Pacific RR tried the same thing wit all the names and markings of their RR and all the ones the have bought up. The wanted licencing fees from modelers who put the names on models. The legal action spun in place for a few years until the courts horse laughed the "Borg" RR out of court.
Regards,
Kevin