Well, turns out all the German car companies must like to be jerks...

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike) 10/14/2020 at 17:54 • Filed to: Frustrated, RedBubble

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First BMW made me take down my classic Mini gauge design from RedBubble awhile back...

...and now VW has put a complaint in about my classic VW Beetle ‘SuperBeetle’ gauge cluster design, so that was taken down too... :/

@Arch Duke and other Oppo RedBubble artists... how do you manage to keep anything up without companies putting in copyright claims? :(

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:04

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That really sucks. Of all the things out there that don't try to hide that they're using the real life Type 1's design, this is the last thing should concern them. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:06

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Wow. That’s astonishingly petty.

Past a certain age, isn’t it public domain?

The Snowman > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:08

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Do you in anyway profit from this? If that's a yes I would fully side with the manufacturer telling you to stop.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:13

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They just do what they want, yesterday VW took down the Mk3. 

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 10/14/2020 at 18:14

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100 years for public domain, thanks, Disney 

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:20

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Do you think it’s a result of using their full product  name? 

facw > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 10/14/2020 at 18:21

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In the US l ife of the author plus 70 years, or 95 years for corporate works. The only good news is it seems there is no appetite for further extension in Congress so stuff is starting to enter the public domain again. It looks like if there’s going to be any more extensions, they’ll need to do something sneakier like wrapping it into a trade deal (to “harmonize” copyright rules) or something.

facw > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:24

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Not shocked. I’d guess if you just had the dial they wouldn’t have noticed, but the Type 1 - ‘Beetle’ drew their attention. Which is too bad because while the art doesn’t need that, you probably also won’t find people without the trademarked model names.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/14/2020 at 18:26

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Ugh, Damn.

I love the E28 BTW— one for me, one for my E28-lovin’ son, for holidays.

If we survive until the holidays.

Roadkilled > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:28

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I’m not an expert at copyright and trademark law. However, as I understand it, a trademark can be invalidated if the owner doesn’t vigorously protect it. In Germany, the classic example is Bayer. “Aspirin ” used to be Bayer’s brand name for acetylsalicylic acid. However, it became commonly used as a short hand for any similar product. Bayer didn’t defend their trademark strongly enough and they lost the trademark rights.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_trademark

The German car companies may be trying very hard to find and prevent any unauthorized use of their trademarks for this reason. I’m sure that there are PR people in the company that would like to see your products. I would think that your designs would help with brand loyalty. It’s the lawyers who are concerned and keep their eyes open for anything that they think may be an infringement.

For Sweden > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:34

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This wouldn’t happen if Ol’ Blackjack Pershing was  still alive.

dogisbadob > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 18:40

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Mimi Cooper S and WV Beatle :p

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > dogisbadob 10/14/2020 at 18:50

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Yeah, but then nobody would find them in a search :(

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Roadkilled 10/14/2020 at 18:52

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I guess so...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > facw 10/14/2020 at 18:52

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That’s the thing...without labe ling it as such, nobody’s going to find it to buy it if they would like it anyway :(

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) 10/14/2020 at 18:54

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That’s the thing, I didn’t even use the full product name...the classic Beetle was only called the ‘Beetle’ later in life as Beetle was just a colloquial nickname for the car.

As for the Mini design, it’s from a car that was produced before BMW even had anything to do with the company. I guess in their case it’s the ‘Mini Cooper S’ that gave that away, but that is the cluster that came out of the first-gen Cooper S way back when :(

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/14/2020 at 18:55

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Well, at least it’s not just me...sucks because now I have designs (as do you) sitting around we worked on hard on and I have no idea what to do with them...

Mercedes Streeter > The Snowman 10/14/2020 at 18:55

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He’s likely made no more than a dollar or two from these things . I’m curious though, why side with the manufacturer?

In a just world, the VW Type 1 design would already be public domain and the original Mini would arguably be so as well. But because corporations have the financial and lobbying power to bend laws to their will (looking at you, Disney), we have to wait about a century before even hilariously outdated IPs become public domain.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > The Snowman 10/14/2020 at 19:00

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I made a whopping $1.43 USD in profit from that VW design for selling one COVID face mask....and had made $0 on the Mini design.

It’s not like I am getting rich...it’s a hobby for creating the art as a homage to well-known and legendary cars. I enjoy the act of doing it and sharing it with others who are a fan of the cars.

I get that it’s their mark to protect, but, for example, that Mini cluster is from a car that was produced LLLOOONNNNGGGG before BMW even had anything to do with the company. I get they have the rights to the name (Mini Cooper S), and I guess the inherited design of the classic Mini (they took over in 1994), but the first-gen Cooper S was a car they never had a hand in building whatsoever back in the ‘60s, so it just seems a little cruel to go after somebody creating art for a car they were never actually related to, if you get what I mean.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 10/14/2020 at 19:01

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Yup....on both designs, I’d made a grand total of $1.43 USD in profit from sales...

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 19:01

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I just post them and see what happens. The Mk3 was there for many, many months before the Nazis came.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 10/14/2020 at 19:01

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He did do a damn good job on that one....hopefully BMW doesn’t go after him as it did me :/

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 10/14/2020 at 19:01

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He did do a damn good job on that one....hopefully BMW doesn’t go after him as it did me :/

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/14/2020 at 19:04

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Yeah, you have that Chinese EV company making a vaguely different EV version of the classic VW ‘B us’...but they shut down my homage design to one specific gauge cluster from one specific variant of a model of car that German VW hasn’t produced since like...the early 80s.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/14/2020 at 19:06

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Well, the NON-text version of that VW Beetle design seems to still be up, they only took down the version that had text on it so far...

dieseldub > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 19:10

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I know people who’ve had to change their business name(s) due to ze Germans taking offense to use of their trademarks.

At the same time, Ford threw lawsuits at Ferrari a number of years ago when they wanted to name their Formula 1 race car F150, because most of their F1 cars have had an F-number naming scheme and they wanted to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy... and even though it’s not a product anyone can buy, big auto companies just seem to be extra protective of trademarks indiscriminately.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_150%C2%BA_Italia

The Snowman > Mercedes Streeter 10/14/2020 at 19:15

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I side with the creator/owner of the design because it’s the obvious legal winner if they were to push the issue. I know it sounds dickish to agree with a huge company over a guy that didn’t make much money off it but they are required to defend trademarks to keep from losing them. If these were posted somewhere you can print the stuff yourself and no money changes hands then I would take a different side.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 19:18

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Don’t tag the OEM

The Snowman > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 19:19

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Yeah, I think you only have the best of intentions but they would be negligent to ignore this. You could try to find somewhere to post the vector art(or however you design it to scale) for free and that would probably get them to leave you alone? Even if you make next to nothing you have to think about what if one of these took off and sells thousands, then you made money the printer made money the website made money but not BMW or VAG.

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 19:19

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Replace all of the characters with little versions of the Buddhist icon that looks a lot like the not so Buddhist icon and repost.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 19:22

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It's not a defended trademark which makes this all the more odd. Perhaps an algorithm picked up on "Beetle" and sent an automatic cease and desist?

The Snowman > The Snowman 10/14/2020 at 19:23

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Also is the text part of the design? I imagine that's the reason they get it so fast...

Mercedes Streeter > The Snowman 10/14/2020 at 19:35

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Well, just because someone can easily win a legal battle that doesn’t necessarily mean they are right. In this case, it just means the laws were written in their  favor.

And indeed, they’re required to fight for the trademark at all costs. Though, remember that they fought (and won) to own trademarks for a century in the first place. So I don’t really have much sympathy for them. Do you side with John Deere and Apple's attempts at bending copyright law to forbid users from repairing their own equipment?

Again, in a just world these designs would be public domain . But we don’t live in that world.

The Snowman > Mercedes Streeter 10/14/2020 at 19:43

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I have no sympathy for the manufacturer and would like for the law to be different, but this is not a just world. I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir hear but vote Democrat or it will just get more unjust .

Also no A pple and JD are not defending copyright which is why they are pure evil(sent from an android device)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 10/14/2020 at 20:27

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Th at’s my guess, or the tags.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/14/2020 at 20:28

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I’d done that because then it was easier for people to find, else nobody would ever find it, but yeah...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > dieseldub 10/14/2020 at 20:29

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Huh, never heard that story...yup...companies can be pretty indiscriminate sometimes!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: 10/14/2020 at 20:30

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:P

Roadkilled > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 20:45

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I never said it was a good reason. If I’m correct, it’s the lawyers, and they are against anything interesting or fun.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 20:47

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Same, but then I connected the dots and went, “shit.”

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 10/14/2020 at 20:58

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Yeah, guess I can edit the tags and see what happens...

bison78 > facw 10/14/2020 at 21:44

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The only good news is it seems there is no appetite for further extension in Congress

Just wait until the time for Mickey Mouse to enter the public domain becomes imminent. I predict that Congress will sudden ly get hungry.

sony1492 > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/14/2020 at 21:47

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Sorr y to hear about the strike, on the other hand I’m very happy with the Night Cruise series.

It arrived today!

facw > bison78 10/14/2020 at 21:51

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2024 is closing quickly and there hasn’t been a hint of effort. Realistically Disney can probably use trademark law to much the same effect, and even beyond that people would initially only be able to use the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey, which would be limiting. See for example the current dust up as to whether Netflix used only earlier versions of Sherlock Holmes (that are out of copyright), or later versions (which are still in copyright): Netflix might be in legal trouble for giving Sherlock Holmes “copyrighted” feelings

Also see this:  The Internet stopped another copyright extension without firing a shot.

bison78 > facw 10/14/2020 at 22:11

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I hope you are right, but I fear that you a re not. Your second link was interesting and gives me hope.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > sony1492 10/15/2020 at 06:16

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Thanks for the kind words! Sorry about the black box I have to put around each design, that’s the only way it would look ‘right’ on different shirt/mask/whatever c olors other than black...I’d limit it to black if I could, but Redbubble has no way to do that...

That looks good though! You were the first one to buy any of my designs on a hoody...how is the quality? Hopefully decent enough to last while!

I have a new Night Cruise design I just finished. ..should be putting it up after work today! :)

sony1492 > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/15/2020 at 09:29

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This is a “lightweight hoodie” it runs a little small but shrinkage was minimal from the first wash. Its a step above F ruit of the Loom in regard to how its cut and finished, the fabric is soft of course. Wont know the actual quality until I wear it around for a while.

The black box is less intimidating in person, mt phone went wonky with the exposure

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > sony1492 10/15/2020 at 10:00

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Cool, thanks for the reply! Has everything is made to order with my design on it, I have no way of knowing how things turn out as an end product, so it's appreciated to know the quality isn't bad! I'll have to order one of my own sometime!