Buning Man and copright protected material

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 8:14 am

'Pooning Man.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:11 am

http://rocwiki.org/House_of_Poon

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:24 am

phil · Post by **phil** » Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:41 am

teardropper wrote:They've decided that the problem is that I want to use the words, "Burning Man". They have printed this before but now they have decided that's the problem. OK, the images are alright, it's the text I can't use?

They don't know what they're talking about, but I am happy they're trying to do the right thing respecting copyrights and other intellectual property. If it's not bothering you, just let it go. Next time you come in, they'll have forgotten all about it, and they'll print it for you.

If it is bothering you, ask if they have a lawyer that represents the place and ask to have permission to call him up and talk to him about it. Ask him what advice he's given, if any, and ask him to talk to them about the differences between copyright and trademarks and to talk to them about printing words. As you note, words are not the trademark.

It may be that they don't have a lawyer or they're not willing to discuss it with her because she charges by the hour. C'est la vie. Let it go. Try later.

Post by **actiongrl** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 11:59 am

The words "Burning Man" are indeed a trademark, as is "Black Rock City". But it's ok to print it __ on a gift you will give away __ so long as this item is not marketed/sold by you, nor made available to buy from said printer/vendor.

You can also pool camp money to buy, say, a t-shirt for your camp with the words on it - again, so long as the item isn't for sale as a commercial object.

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 1:22 pm

Well, I'l be darned:

http://tmportal.uspto.gov/external/port ... XdBY3Rpb24!/#

It's a service mark, not a trademark, but that makes little difference. No distinctive font, logo, nor nothing. Just the plain words.

teardropper · Post by **teardropper** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:49 pm

This is either interesting or...

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your e-mail. Because we are a third-party company, printing your Burning Man products are not considered personal-use as we make a profit from the Burning Man trademarks. We are sorry for any inconveniences this may have caused.

Best Regards,
Content Management Team

Wow.

OK. I'm done. Gonna' do new and different schwag.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Nov 12, 2010 6:33 pm

Dang, looking at the title again I notice the word "C-o-p-r-i-g-h-t." Turns out this thread is about cops at burning man. or buning man. I thought we had that covered ad nauseum, but this is the thread that never ends...

teardropper · Post by **teardropper** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:13 pm

I don't know if anyone else has had this problem, but from BM itself, thank you Lee Anna, we can use Burning Man, Black Rock City, Decompression and the symbol for any gifted material. Including those produced for us by a third party.

I know, we all know that. But some who produce this material do not.

Sorry Fishy.

tamarakay · Post by **tamarakay** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:37 pm

I don't know how hard you want to pursue this, but i was in the same situation with another event and the printer accepted a letter from the "trademark" holder giving me permission to use the name.

Post by **Sham** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:35 pm

This little thingy dingy costs about $30 and makes perfect 2.5 inch pins. You can buy the blanks on eBay for about 6 cents each in quantities of 1000. You can design your own amazing art and print out sheets of 6 and cut out the circles with the cutter. The good thing is that you can make really short runs of various art pieces. It takes about 15 seconds each to make these pins once you get the hang of things. Look for "Badge a minit" and "Badge a minute". This company actually sells their same products on eBay much cheaper than they do from the company direct.

Rilopie · Post by **Rilopie** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:11 pm

We use buttonstar.com for all of our button needs. Good prices imo and they print and ship super quick!

teardropper · Post by **teardropper** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:17 am

I guess what I meant to say is that if you have a problem with it, Lee Anna with Burning Man press office will fix it for you. She wrote a letter to a hesitant producer I had been using and they are fine now.

Rilopie · Post by **Rilopie** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:39 pm

Shambala wrote:This little thingy dingy costs about $30 and makes perfect 2.5 inch pins. You can buy the blanks on eBay for about 6 cents each in quantities of 1000. You can design your own amazing art and print out sheets of 6 and cut out the circles with the cutter. The good thing is that you can make really short runs of various art pieces. It takes about 15 seconds each to make these pins once you get the hang of things. Look for "Badge a minit" and "Badge a minute". This company actually sells their same products on eBay much cheaper than they do from the company direct.

holy cow! I looked into getting a button press in the past and those suckers are like $300+. This little guy looks rad!

Buning Man and copright protected material

i'll have the buffet.