I know this isn't code-related, but it is related to something that most computer geeks deal with on a regular basis:  Copyright and Trademark Infringement.

Apparently, Ford Motor Company is trying to say that selling pictures of your car is some sort of trademark infringement. 

A site that caters to fans of Ford Mustangs has been told that producing a calender of enthusiasts' cars (oh, and all the logos that include pictures of cars produced by Ford Motor Company on their site) is a violation of Ford's trademark.

I'm not sure I see the logic in this, from any standpoint.  What does Ford have to gain by alienating a large group of their supporters?  I can almost understand a viewpoint that they might be upset that the site is making money from selling the calendars, but doesn't that money just pay for the cost of producing the calendars, and the labor involved in layout and design?  Does Ford Motor Company think that they are going to lose money from the sale of these calendars?  They made their money when they sold the cars, and that should be the end of it.

Is Ford trying to say that when you take a picture of a vehicle that you bought with the intentions of profiting from the picture, you are breaking laws?  If so, why aren't they going after people who are selling their cars, and including pictures of them in the ad?

For that matter, will Ford someday decide that anyone that sells or purchases a used Ford product from a private party needs to pay them some sort of residual, in order to be allowed to drive around in their "Trademarked Property"?

I'm guessing that the issue lies not with taking pictures, but with publishing them.  So, does that mean that Google should be sued because Google Maps has images of Ford vehicles?  Take a look any any road, driveway, or parking lot in the satellite view.  You'll see a bunch of vehicles, and if you know what you are looking at, you might be able to tell what some of them are.  And, Google is surely making a profit from the images.

From my point of view, the owners paid for the vehicle, they didn't sign an agreement that says the vehicle (or any derivative work)  is the property of Ford Motor Company.  So, where does this become Trademark Infringement?  Where, exactly, does Trademark Infringement, and this senseless lawyering, end?  I am fully aware that Trademark laws are deep and convoluted.  I am also aware that Ford may think that they have to do things like this to enforce their Trademark.  This doesn't mean that it isn't Ford's fault, as they are pursuing the matter.  However, maybe it is time that we scrapped our current Trademark and Copyright laws, and came up with something that made sense. 

Tags: copyright

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Trademark & Copyright. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.