Universal's legal action against 11th Hour
POSTED BY: CABridges
UPDATED: Monday, November 13, 2006 09:47
VIEWED: 59280
PAGE 8 of 17
**rutting double posts**
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Quote:
Originally posted by Zeek:
You can't blame the legal system on Universal.
Nope, but we can blame them for using it in such a fashion...again, *assuming* this is all true.
I not wholly convinced it is true, but like I said, I can't risk that it isn't.
As a side note, it is a good thing there is no great omnipotent creator of the Universe (from where I sit) because he/she/it could sue us for existing and thinking everything they knew first...
Plaintiff: God
Defendant: You
Accusation: Copyright infringement with the intent to promote that You are an original piece of work.
TCM
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This is rediculous. Already the trolls are out and feeding. That chum website has me all riled.
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Quote:
And she owes whatever their licensing fee is for selling items related to THEIR Intellectual Property.
Some of our hot properties cost 500,000 to license. . .
I guess that depends. I would assume that a company hired to do advertising would include some portion of the rights in their contract so they can show exactly what it is they're promoting. That all breaks down into timing. If it were a not very well known franchise (like Firefly supposedly was) Universal would seek out companies and hire them to advertise their product. The other option would be for advertising agencies to bid for a contract for the rights to advertise it. Granted I'm not in the industry, but from some of the things I've witnessed my husband deal with (some fairly large companies you would know) that seems reasonably correct.
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Bah. I'm almost ready to go and stuff my Browncoat and Serenity tees in an envelope with a scratched up DVD of the movie. I can mail that neat little love note off to Universal. I don't have to BUY stuff to be a Browncoat. Serenity and any Firefly will be played on regular television channels eventually.
There's always old school fandom: write some fanfics, print them and set up a free Fanzine exchange. Home made costumes, hand knitted Jayne hats. No exchange of money means no copyright infringement, right? LOL
We're a moneyed fandom, but that doesn't mean we NEED to give it to anyone at all.
I'll just take all the money I didn't spend and send it off to a good cause. Like 11th's legal fund.
~Kaele
PA Browncoats, Delaware Valley Brigade
http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/PA_browncoats/
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Quote:
Posted by Wyyrdo on the OB
That was me -- I'm cabridges everywhere but the OB, since I lost my pword and signed up under another name. Also posted that at serenitystuff.com, where it's getting some attention from the people I hoped it would.
The key thing right off is not to yell at Universal. Not the studio, not the licensing people, not the lawyers, not at all. For one thing, most of the studio has no control over the legal arm (if anything it's the other way around). And for another, the more people loudly assert their right to sell material that Universal contends is infringing, the more the lawyers will believe they're right to get tough and scary.
We need to find an equilibrium, somewhere where we can promote a universe we love without agggravating the copyright holders (and where talented artists such as 11th Hour won't get nasty letters). Suggestions towards that are welcome. Suggestions on how to strike back at Universal are only making their argument for them.
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CABridges/Wyyrdo - I seem to have quoted you twice in one day - great minds and all that...
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My licensing department will be contacting you shortly... :)
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Quote:Seems to me the easiest solution is in Universal's hands: they want to promote their franchise (we presume, 'cause they've sure as hell shown no evidence of it), we want to promote it, and have been doing so for less than a pittance.
Originally posted by CABridges:
We need to find an equilibrium, somewhere where we can promote a universe we love without agggravating the copyright holders (and where talented artists such as 11th Hour won't get nasty letters). Suggestions towards that are welcome. Suggestions on how to strike back at Universal are only making their argument for them.
Is there any legal reason why Universal can't hire these fan-artists as a sort of freelance publicity corps? I'm sure it'd be cheaper for 'Versal than shelling out for a "real" publicity campaign. It'd also net them the benefit of workers who have demonstrated their effectiveness and awareness of the brand (this might be the reasoning behind the demand for sales figures).
Hasbro (and assorted license-holders) have done similar things in the Transformers fandom; fanfic writers and fan-artists occasionally get tapped to work on official products as paid freelancers.
At this point, not boosting publicity in an organized fashion would be a self-inflicted foot injury for 'Versal; they had advertisement and didn't need to spend a dime. Now they either have no publicity, or they'll have to do the work themselves (which, given their past publicity efforts, I'll believe when I see).
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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Arbas:
Nonsense they could issue C&Ds and NOT demand retroactive fees, stock and sales info
Possibly. Or possibly the people who bought licenses are claiming damages and are estimating huge sales and Universal needs proof to the contrary. They can't do that without the sales records and showing what a small stock is actually on hand.
The world is not full of fuzzy bunnies and sunshine 24/7. Universal is a corporation. Sometimes they need to do mean things to survive so they can bring us shiny movies. It's the world we live in and I'd rather focus on the positive.
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You want to do something about this? E-mail them.
Below is a link to the Universal Studios contact page go to the General and Miscellaneous link in the Corporate section and both the Character and Internet links in the Licensing section.
http://www.universalstudios.com/homepage/html/contact_us/contact_links
.html
If you are not much of a writer then go to this thread: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=24840
There are some pre-written messages and another Browncoat said they would compose one today as well. I recommend the letter that PhoenixRose wrote. It's a good one. If you have a letter you want to post so that others can borrow it please do so.
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." http://whimsicalnbrainpan.blogspot.com/
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Quote:
Is there any legal reason why Universal can't hire these fan-artists as a sort of freelance publicity corps?
Several.
1) The t-shirt license has been sold exclusively to a company. Only one company can make shirts, which are distributed to shops like Hot Topic and other resellers.
2) SERENITY is not in release any more. There is no budget capital for it. Nobody is trying to advertise it at the studio.
I think the important part to remember is that Universal Licensing LLC is a seperate company, which has the sole aim of making money from licensed (paid for) merchandise for their properties - eg SERENITY. That's how their staff are judged - amount of official merchandise sold.
I'm not saying their tactics with 11th Hour are justified - they aren't, at all. However, the legal representation of Universal are a law unto themselves -- excuse the pun -- and they come from a perspective of protecting Universal's financial asset - SERENITY. They will have no idea what a Browncoat is, and they don't care. They have to ensure official t-shirts get sold, and fan wares stop that.
Of course, there's a wider picture where fan wares lead to free advertising. The industry hasn't caught up with that.
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