Infringement

[Ottor 246]

As I understand the situation, IHQ has been made aware. The best thing to do now is to cool off and let them handle it. And they will handle it, because they have to handle it.

One of the few things I actually remember from the communications law class I took back at Ship, is that copyright protection must be "agressively defended" or some such wording. Otherwise, it falls into the "public domain," meaning it can be used by anyone for anything.

One way to think about it is to compare Mickey Mouse (copyrighted) and Santa Claus (public domain.) Santa Claus can be used in any kind of advertising, etc., without getting special permission from anyone. On the other hand, Mickey Mouse is the intellectual property of Disney. There was an unfortunate case ten years or so ago when Disney was forced to threaten legal action against three daycare centers for painting Disney characters on their walls. (Click here for the story.)

Our COA is plainly copyrighted, (even on my faded and time-yellowed membership certificate, there's a little "c" inside a circle right under the COA. My guess is that these jokers will cave as soon as they get a letter from a real attorny. If they decide to go to court, they'll lose.

We have nothing to worry about.