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WoT "pilot" aired

#21 User is offline   Terez 

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Posted 13 February 2015 - 09:34 AM

These companies have been around for a long time. Is it customary for authors to trademark every proper noun they create?

The President (2012) said:

Please proceed, Governor.

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There it is.

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And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.
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#22 User is offline   End of Disc One 

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Posted 13 February 2015 - 01:33 PM

Oh snap
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#23 User is offline   Maark Abbott 

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Posted 13 February 2015 - 03:04 PM

I don't see how Red Eagle can sue someone for making the observation that article x is made of AIDS.
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#24 User is offline   Werthead 

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Posted 13 February 2015 - 07:27 PM

Passing over the dickery of the move, it's worth noting that:

1) Red Eagle made a ton of money on the deal. They bought the rights for $600K and sold them for at least $1 million to Universal (potentially as high as $9.9 million, but that's improbable).
2) The initial purchase was for The Eye of the World by itself. Presumably the later one was for the full series. If so, Robert Jordan got some bad advice as that was peanuts to pay for a series that had sold 40 million copies by that point. If not, Red Eagle can't adapt the whole series (and won't have made that any more likely due to their behaviour this week). This would go some way to explaining why no adaptation of the biggest non-adapted fantasy series on the planet has gotten off the ground whilst far less successful works are getting picked up all over the place.
3) The same studio that made Breaking Bad was interested in a deal, and may still be. That's pretty big news.

This post has been edited by Werthead: 13 February 2015 - 07:30 PM

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#25 User is offline   Tsundoku 

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Posted 13 February 2015 - 10:08 PM

View PostTerez, on 13 February 2015 - 09:34 AM, said:

These companies have been around for a long time. Is it customary for authors to trademark every proper noun they create?


I don't know - is it? It just seems like every other day I'm reading about lawyers representing some sort of IP are suing someone else for infringement based on a very tenuous link.

For example:

http://www.news.com....4-1227214505828

‘An ox is a castrated bull’: Red Bull files trademark dispute with Old Ox Brewery
4 DAYS AGO FEBRUARY 10, 2015 12:45PM

RED Bull is being accused of using its power to bully a small family-run business over a trademark — and the word “bull” isn’t even involved.
The global drinks maker has filed a dispute with the US Patent and Trademark Office attempting to block Virginia’s Old Ox Brewery from trademarking its name.
Red Bull alleges the name “Old Ox” is likely to cause confusion as both “fall within the same class of ‘bovine’ animals and are virtually indistinguishable to most consumers”.
“In addition, an ox is a castrated bull,” the filing adds.
In a letter sent to Red Bull by Old Ox Brewery president Chris Burns, he accuses the Austrian drinks maker of “holding us hostage” with a list of demands that, if agreed to, “would severely limit our ability to use our brand”.
They include never using the colour red, silver or blue, never use red with any “bovine term or image”, and never produce soft drinks.
“Do you own the colour red?” he writes. “What about fuchsia, scarlet, crimson, or mauve? Are you planting your flag in the colour wheel and claiming those shades for Red Bull? Do you claim exclusive rights to all things bovine? Do you plan to herd all heifers, cows, yaks, buffalo, bison, and steer into your intellectual property corral, too?”
News.com.au has contacted Red Bull Australia for comment.
Here is the full letter:
Hey Red Bull —
You seem pretty cool. You sponsor snowboarders, adventure racers, rock climbers and motocross bikers. You launch people into space so that they can skydive back down to earth. That’s all really darn cool. For all I know, you’re reading this while strapping yourself into a Formula One racecar that is about to be lit on fire and jumped over a large chasm of some sort. How cool would that be? Feel free to give it a try.
Here’s the thing, though. You are being extremely uncool to us at Old Ox Brewery. We are a small start-up brewery in Ashburn, Virginia. We’re family-run, we love beer, and we love our community. For reasons that we cannot understand, you have attempted to strong arm us into changing our identity for the last 10 months because you believe folks might mistake Old Ox beer for Red Bull energy drinks. We respectfully disagree. The only similarity between our two products is that they are both liquids. You make non-alcoholic (but very extreme) energy drinks. We make delicious (but laid-back) beer. Our consumers are looking for two distinctly different experiences from our respective products.
Basically you are holding us hostage with a list of demands that, if agreed to, would severely limit our ability to use our brand. Demands like, never use the colour red, silver or blue; never use red with any bovine term or image; and never produce soft drinks. Do you own the colour red? What about fuchsia, scarlet, crimson, or mauve? Are you planting your flag in the colour wheel and claiming those shades for Red Bull? Do you claim exclusive rights to all things bovine? Do you plan to herd all heifers, cows, yaks, buffalo, bison, and steer into your intellectual property corral, too?
When we refused to succumb to your demands, you responded by filing a formal opposition to not just our trademark but to the very name Old Ox Brewery. Way to step on our American dream. You say you are protecting your intellectual property rights, but your claim, in our opinion, is Red Bulls**t.
We can only interpret your actions as one thing — bullying. You are a big Red Bully. Just like that mean kid from grade school pushing everyone down on the playground and giving us post-gym class wedgies. You are giving us one hell of a corporate wedgie. We don’t appreciate it and we sure as hell don’t deserve it.
Is this really what you’re about? Are you a bully? Your extensive marketing campaigns (your glitzy advertising, your sponsored sports events, your death defying stunt shows, etc.) certainly don’t project that image. Take a hard look at your “case.” Can you honestly look at our brand and say, “this is a threat to my image?” We don’t think you can. Given that, we repeat our offer: We agree NEVER to produce energy drinks. In exchange, we are asking for one simple thing: Leave us alone. Drop this trademark dispute. The only people benefiting are the lawyers.
Sincerely and Uninfringingly Yours,
Chris Burns
President — Old Ox Brewery

This post has been edited by Sombra: 13 February 2015 - 10:10 PM

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#26 User is offline   Terez 

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Posted 14 February 2015 - 04:48 AM

View PostSombra, on 13 February 2015 - 10:08 PM, said:

View PostTerez, on 13 February 2015 - 09:34 AM, said:

These companies have been around for a long time. Is it customary for authors to trademark every proper noun they create?

I don't know - is it? It just seems like every other day I'm reading about lawyers representing some sort of IP are suing someone else for infringement based on a very tenuous link.

I don't know either, though I suspect Harriet would have a hard time litigating that complaint when she and RJ have been dealing with these companies for years.

Here is an article on Hollywood Reporter:

http://www.hollywood...g-at-130-773110

They have a full copy of the legal complaint, which has some good detail on the contractual nuances. It would seem that Harriet in fact blundered a bit, but she is hardly responsible for Red Eagle's damaged reputation. There are hours' worth of timestamped comments from the fandom to prove that our opinion was formed before she issued her statement.

The President (2012) said:

Please proceed, Governor.

Chris Christie (2016) said:

There it is.

Elizabeth Warren (2020) said:

And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.
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#27 User is offline   Werthead 

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Posted 14 February 2015 - 11:10 AM

And it keeps getting weirder.

Red Eagle's ability to operate as a legal company was suspended in August 2014, allegedly for tax issues in California. No-one's found any evidence that this status has changed recently, meaning they cannot legally sue anyone because they effectively do not exist. I guess that also means they can't have made this production and that the film rights have reverted automatically to the Jordan Estate.

I'm assuming that this actually isn't the case, otherwise the people behind Red Eagle are very daft indeed.

In addition, the actress who played Ilyena in the episode is Billy Zane's girlfriend, model Candice Neill. Either he's a huge fan of the books or he saw the potential in this going to series and decided to get on the action for the chance of an ongoing role or producer's pay-off later on.
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#28 User is offline   Abyss 

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Posted 14 February 2015 - 05:04 PM

BILLY ZANE.
...the mind, it boggles.
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#29 User is offline   HoosierDaddy 

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Posted 14 February 2015 - 05:11 PM

View PostAbyss, on 14 February 2015 - 05:04 PM, said:

BILLY ZANE.
...the mind, it boggles.


"The Eye of the World". "The Heart of the Ocean."

Coincidence?

I THINK NOT!
Trouble arrives when the opponents to such a system institute its extreme opposite, where individualism becomes godlike and sacrosanct, and no greater service to any other ideal (including community) is possible. In such a system rapacious greed thrives behind the guise of freedom, and the worst aspects of human nature come to the fore....
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#30 User is offline   Coco with marshmallows 

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Posted 14 February 2015 - 07:51 PM

View PostCajun King, on 14 February 2015 - 07:03 PM, said:

Merge the threads.

Cross the streams!
meh. Link was dead :(
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#31 User is offline   HoosierDaddy 

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Posted 14 February 2015 - 08:40 PM

View PostCoco with marshmallows, on 14 February 2015 - 07:51 PM, said:

View PostCajun King, on 14 February 2015 - 07:03 PM, said:

Merge the threads.

Cross the streams!


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Trouble arrives when the opponents to such a system institute its extreme opposite, where individualism becomes godlike and sacrosanct, and no greater service to any other ideal (including community) is possible. In such a system rapacious greed thrives behind the guise of freedom, and the worst aspects of human nature come to the fore....
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