Infringement

Tom Earp · #1 12-03-2006, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Albert109

http://www.myspace.com/aloftinthesundry

I didn't know if anyone had posted about this "band" and didn't want to start a redundant thread. If you look at their logo, it's a copy of our Coat of Arms except for the latin open mottos. One of our members had a brief email convs with the band and they completely denied it (no surprise).

In ZAX,
Adam Bohn
Pi Lambda 39

Received from Brother Bohn via PM.

Thought it might be of interest. In another PM, he informed me that the GHZ has been notified.

Flattery is a form of honor?

GammaZeta · #2 12-03-2006, 11:44 AM

Well, I listened to their music. If a band going to rip off our coat of arms, I would hope that they would at least be good!

These guys SUCK.

Now, if B.B. King, Led Zep, Aerosmith, etc. ever wanted to use our coat of arms, I'd be all for it.

But this whiny emo, poor teenage angst I don't have any friends except for myspace and I like to cut myself to pretend I am hardcore, I will shop at Hot Topic like everyone else and look like everyone else just to be different sh!t, well that's NOT cool to use our coat of arms.

Just my 2 pennies.

GammaZeta · #3 12-03-2006, 11:49 AM

I also wanted to add...

Seems like their "fan" base would be generalized as a group of people who...probably wouldn't be accepting of fraternity brothers or sorority sisters. You know the type that cries frats suck, be individual, don't buy your friends, etc.

Imagine how funny it would be if you saw them wearing the bands shirt with the ripped off CoA walking down the street and you alerted them to the fact that what they are wearing is a piece of LXA fraternity?

ZetaPhi708 · #4 12-03-2006, 12:53 PM

I am sure that after a "nice" letter from the attorneys that represent LCA, this stolen logo of theirs will be taken down quickly.....

CPickering · #5 12-03-2006, 04:29 PM

yes, i had a short conversation with the band yesterday. i would post the conversation but i received too many four letter words to bleep, calling our fraternity a handful of lovely phrases. *pm me if you really want to see it* in short, they deny it is our coat of arms and by marketing our copyrighted material attempt to make a profit by using it for advertising and on their merchandise. they are self serving opportunists and i simply have no use for them. it is my understanding that a member from Sigma-Epsilon Zeta, has already opened discussion with the Grand High Alpha regarding this perversion.

i suggest forgetting this small time band for now and stop visiting their page for, as pointed out by their spokesperson, they "love the additional page views" from us 'frat dweebs.'

ZAX

Chase

Trey_P-I_47 · #6 12-03-2006, 04:52 PM

I was wondering about the laws on using/changing copyrighted material. Talked to a brother here and he said that more than 25% of the material had to be changed. Is there any merit to what he said, or anything similar on how you would have to change a symbol?

GammaZeta · #7 12-03-2006, 06:08 PM

Let's see, they took out the cross and cres on the top, changed the wording, and that's it.

They are not protected under any copyright laws from the classes I have already had. It's definately not a parody.

Hell, they even forgot to edit out our badge on the bottom.

Personally, I think maybe a few of our Colorado chapters should pay the band a "visit" at their next show based on what they said in their response. Of course I know that's not the right way to do things, but I can wish can't I?

God, I hate these types of people. The same people that all shop at Hot Topic so they can all be "different" and "express their individuality", but all seem to end up looking exactly the same as each other...kinda funny huh?

From Monty Python's Life of Brian:

Brian: You are all individuals!
Crowd: YES, YES, WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS!
Brian: You are all different!
Crowd: YES, WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT!
Lone Voice: I'm not.
Person next to him: SHH!

GammaZeta · #8 12-03-2006, 06:10 PM

Trey, based on my own limited copyright knowledge, I don't believe that they fall under any of the protected uses.

HONKY660 · #9 12-03-2006, 06:25 PM

I think it would be infringement because they still have our badge on the design which is a trademark or copyright, whichever, still on it. These guys are a bunch of posers with no sense of creativity. We should encourage people to buy their cd, because the more money they make using our CofA the more we get in court off these pieces of sh*t.

GammaZeta · #10 12-03-2006, 06:36 PM

I would really like for the end result to be 1) stop the use of the CoA and 2) all proceeds they collected be donated to charity or the LXA Educational Foundation.

The funny thing is that they think a fraternity is just a bunch of drunk losers with no national organization or anything. They don't realize that we are a multimillion dollar corporation that takes their legal standing VERY seriously.

I'm guessing that they will ignore or have a wise ass answer to the first few letters/emails from our legal team. Then when they are served with an action, they may rethink their position.

GammaZeta · #11 12-03-2006, 06:39 PM

Also, how about we email them and let them know about the existence of our message board and politely and kindly ask them to become a part of it to explain how their symbol is different from our CoA?

I know, I know, I won't do it but I would love a mod to!

Trey_P-I_47 · #12 12-03-2006, 06:48 PM

Apparentley down at the bottom of the page are some similar type issues on infringement, here is a link where the D-9's were suing converse for using just their colors along with a date in a line of tennis shoes.

http://www.blackprwire.com/display-news.asp?id=2436

nlauren · #13 12-03-2006, 07:19 PM

<crash>
sorry but if they at all deny this they must be idiots.
hmm lets see, lets just erase some of this and this and hope that the greek community wont notice.
dumbbb
<3 nicole

</crash>

john1082 · #14 12-03-2006, 07:32 PM

Actually, it constiututes theft of our intellectual property. The Coat of Arms is considered to be intellectual property and the use by unathorized individuals constitutes theft.

One possible fix is for the authorized individual, perhaps the Grand High Pi to contact Myspace and explain the circumstances of the theft and ask that Myspace take the site down. That hits the band in the wallet and it will get their attention. Then smack them with a suit alleging theft and infringement and ask for disgorgement of profits. This outfit is undoubtedly uninsured. Do some research - if there are minors in the group name their parents in the suit because mom and dad have insurance.

They will whine and complain and attempt to trash us but so what? We survived the sixties!

GammaZeta · #15 12-03-2006, 09:08 PM

Tried sending this to the band:

Hi,

I was just wondering exactly how you chose your symbol for your band? Would it be possible to explain the meaning of it? What sentimental value does it have to you? Can you tell me the significance of the latin phrases, or the 5 stars, or the scale, or the swords, or the lamp, or the light, or the book? How did you come up with the design?

See, what you are using as your band symbol may not have a lot of meaning to you, but for thousands of other people, it has a very deep, significant meaning. Each element represents something we believe in and have worked hard to obtain.

Obviously you are not part of a fraternity, but hopefully this can help you understand where we are coming from. Imagine if you were riding in your car and you heard on the car radio your songs "The Peacemaker" or perhaps "Two Windows". Now imagine while listening to the songs you realized someone had changed the words to the lyrics a little bit. Then once the songs were over, the DJ said "That was THREE Windows and The PeacemakerS from the hot new band Lambda Chi Alpha!"

All the meaning, hard work, dedication to your craft and hours upon hours spent writing and practicing the song and someone comes along, changes it, and then takes credit for it.

How would you feel?

Or maybe I could just order your CD, burn a few hundred copies, slap my own label on it and start selling your music as my own?

Would that be ok?

See, symbols, just like your music, mean something to people. They stand for something and they represent a certain ideal, just like your music.

I'm not going to get into the legal arguments with you, our national headquarters has been contacted by several of our chapters already as well as numerous other brothers. The major greek organizations like Lambda Chi Alpha, Pi Kappa Alpha, SAE, Delta Zeta, etc., take their intellectual property very seriously, and if you do some research you will find that there have been many lawsuits involving violations of that property; from illegal vendors selling t-shirts with the name or symbols, to underground organizations alleging to be a part of the fraternity/sorority.

But I can tell you that when someone steals and misrepresents an item, a symbol or a song that has meaning to another person, that is wrong.

Your songs have meaning to you and your fans, just as our Coat of Arms has meaning to me and my brothers.

As artists, I would hope that you have learned to respect other people's creations and to not claim them as your own.