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Did you get yours in time?

eBay has pulled the listing for sales of this bumpersticker — clearly a parody of a widely available bumpersticker famous for its inane bromide, and therefore protected against charges of [trademark] infringement — for, well, [trademark] infringement.  Or so they claim.

 photo null_zpsba584bdf.jpg

Personally, I think the forces of “coexist” leftism mounted an organized attack against the seller and had his speech removed.  Because while we expect the Israelis and Americans to coexist peacefully with those following a charter to eliminate them, what we can’t be expected to do is coexist with the likes of this gun-loving hater.  Who is no doubt racist.

But that’s just speculation on my part.  I have no proof that the left tries to mount mob-like campaigns to take down businesses when they disagree with the message being expressed by some subhuman or another.

So, like, grain of salt and all that.

update: It’s back up for the time being. I don’t know if the sellers challenged the removal, or they’re just sticking these up until they’re found and removed. Get ’em while you can!

(h/t Pablo)

32 Replies to “Did you get yours in time?”

  1. Shermlaw says:

    I think/hope the seller will make use of the Streisand Effect and laugh all the way to the bank.

  2. Shermlaw says:

    Oh, and congrats on the recalls, BTW. One hopes the pols are taking notice of such things and that such efforts will become more prevalent.

  3. The Monster says:

    Whose copyright does this allegedly violate?

    A single word can’t be copyrighted.

    Copyright law does not protect names, titles, or short phrases or expressions. Even if a name, title, or short phrase is novel or distinctive or lends itself to a play on words, it cannot be protected by copyright. The Copyright Office cannot register
    claims to exclusive rights in brief combinations of words such as:

    • Names of products or services
    • Names of businesses, organizations, or groups (including the names of performing groups)
    • Pseudonyms of individuals (including pen or stage names)
    • Titles of works
    • Catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans, or short advertising expressions
    • Listings of ingredients, as in recipes, labels, or formulas.When a recipe or formula is accompanied by an explanation or directions, the text directions may be copyrightable, but the recipe or formula itself remains uncopyrightable.

    Subject Matter of Copyright

    Under section 102 of the Copyright Act (title 17 of the U.S.Code), copyright protection extends only to “original works of authorship.” The statute states clearly that ideas and concepts cannot be protected by copyright. To be protected by copyright, a work must contain a certain minimum amount of authorship in the form of original literary, musical, pictorial, or graphic expression. Names, titles, and other short phrases do not meet these requirements.

    A distinctive presentation of that word may therefore be copyrightable (combination of fonts, colors, etc.) but this bumper sticker does not infringe upon that, as it has absolutely none of the original’s “letters” for spelling out “Coexist”.

  4. Pablo says:

    No, but I did just get another stack of Magpul’s finest on sale from Brownell’s.

    As for the biker thing, I’m getting irritated with that. They asked for a “no stop” ride permit, which is to say that all intersection would get blocked off for them for the 3 or so hours they expected it to run. They asked for this on short notice, and on a weekday…in DC, where driving is already a nightmare.

    I would have denied that permit, and I’m 100% down with the cause. Crying victim because your outrageous request wasn’t granted is something the proggs would do. We should be better than that.

  5. Pablo says:

    Whose copyright does this allegedly violate?

    Trademark, more likely. 7 of them, assuming they weren’t given license.

  6. dicentra says:

    Yeah, trademark is different from copyright, because you CAN trademark names of businesses.

    But not dictionary words. So it’s Microsoft® Word, Microsoft® Office, Microsoft® Windows, but Microsoft PowerPoint®.

    Which is why you get those funky spellings like Quik-E Mart: they can be trademarked.

  7. leigh says:

    I’m with you on the bikers being whiny.

    As for the bumpersticker kerfuffle, I don’t do bumperstickers and I don’t want to “coexist” with people who I find objectionable. I want them to leave me alone.

  8. bgbear says:

    what Pablo said.

    Most likely it would not take a direct action by any of the manufacturers involved, just an “attorney” to claim they represent one of them. Ebay would rather remove the item than take the chance.

    I do IP law but, not trademark. My understanding is that many companies protect there marks by allowing almost any attorney to make a complaint if they spot an infringement. The complaining attorney is hoping to make a little cash if the company agrees there is an infringement.

  9. Blake says:

    leigh, you just described “coexist” to a T. Nothing says “coexist” quite like, “if you leave me alone, I’ll leave you alone.”

    However, the dried up old busybodies of the world, which most especially includes Obama, think “coexist” means “you will do what we want, live where we want, and think like we want, and enjoy it, damnit, because the children.”

  10. leigh says:

    Blake, I knew you’d know what I meant. ; )

  11. Slartibartfast says:

    Swiped.

  12. The Monster says:

    Yeah, but they said “copyright”, not “trademark”. If they meant “trademark”, then they should have said so.

    And I really doubt that any of the manufacturers would object to the free advertizing involved, since no sane person thinks this bumper sticker denotes the product of any of the seven companies.

  13. The Monster says:

    Oh, now I see that [trademark] is in the OP.

    Never mind.

  14. Pablo says:

    It’s back up for the time being. I don’t know if the sellers challenged the removal, or they’re just sticking these up until they’re found and removed.

    I think it’s a different seller. There’s a bunch of ’em out there.

  15. DarthLevin says:

    Got a couple of them. Can’t wait to park next to some of the hippies at work who sport the lefty version.

  16. cranky-d says:

    I don’t put bumper stickers on my car, but if I did this is the one I would get.

  17. cranky-d says:

    I just bought one off of ebay, but paypal fought me tooth and nail when I was trying to pay for it. Finally I got through.

    Maybe I’ll tape it in the back window, or just keep it around as a conversation piece.

  18. palaeomerus says:

    They seem to have changed it to take the word Glock off the Glock logo. So maybe Glock frowned upon it but met them halfway.

  19. palaeomerus says:

    Which one is the I ? Ithaca? The horse looks like the Winchester logo.

  20. Ernst Schreiber says:

    The I is Winchester, dotted with the logo so you know it’s Winchester.

  21. Patrick Chester says:

    Franklin Covey apparently has “Seven Habits” protected, though it took his attorney drones about eight years to notice Howard Tayler’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates” (Rule 1: Pillage, Then Burn) parody.

    They got Howard to change it.

  22. tkdkerry says:

    @DarthLevin – Got one on my truck. Have already ended up next to 3 ‘tardmobiles with the lefty original on them. Too bad, though, I haven’t been able to witness any reactions yet. Although my “Next time, THINK before you VOTE” ( with Obama logo in the VOTE ) sticker has got about a dozen positive comments, split evenly between whites and blacks.

  23. serr8d says:

    3 for me, 4th is free.

    OT, another 51st state?

    http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-09-10/news/bs-md-rodricks-0910-20130909_1_new-state-carroll-county-garrett-county

    Screw the Democrats and their urban parasites.

  24. geoffb says:

    “The entire state is controlled basically by three jurisdictions,” Strzelczyk said. “That’s not representative government. … We don’t think this government can be fixed.”

    Perhaps a challenge could be raised under this provision.

    The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,

  25. McGehee says:

    That’s the one I think could be used to expel California.

  26. sdferr says:

    That’s the one I think could be used to expel California.

    Would the United States be required to seek the permission of the United Nations Security Council first? If so, it could get pretty tricksy.

  27. Salcha Tom says:

    I was searching for the gunlogo coexist a while back on Tshirts, did not find any. in the course of my search, I found jpgs at this site, both color and black/white

    http://billllsidlemind.blogspot.com/2010/04/coexist.html

    I saved the color one, then went to vistaprint.com, uploaded the image, and had a couple of tshirts made. currently, they were only $6 per shirt, decent quality fabic also,

  28. John Bradley says:

    OT: Check out this fabulous animation/rant/jazz poetry video on amateur webzine Slate. (Yeah, I know.)

    It’s a humorous (NSFW) mocking of New Age religion and alternative medicine and such, in defense of science and reason. He’s no fan of traditional religion either, but most of the abuse is aimed at airhead hippies. He’s pretty much on the same page as Penn Jillette, so be forewarned if that’s a problem.

    But the art style and the animation is fabulous.

  29. sdferr says:

    What was the key word in Mr. Minchin’s screed? I’d tacitly suggest “unimportant”. But then, was that a scientific derivative? Or, did it come from somewhere else? That is, does science tell us when to use its marvelous product, the hydrogen bomb (that is, is political science science)? Or, what?

  30. bgbear says:

    Mark Levin’s next book can be “The Liberty States”. If enough states split, the added conservative senators could help tilt the balance of power.

Comments are closed.