Ford sues Black Mustang Club over calender

[MERCMAN]

I was at my dealer today and he told me to check this out.

http://www.bmcforums.com/showthread.php?t=42402&page=3

post 42

and

http://www.bmcforums.com/showthread.php?t=42681




You guys keep your eyes open for the suits at FOMOCO

[KillJoy]

I got some more info from the folks at cafepress and according to them, a law firm representing Ford contacted them saying that our calendar pics (and our club's event logos - anything with one of our cars in it) infringes on Ford's trademarks which include the use of images of THEIR vehicles. Also, Ford claims that all the images, logos and designs OUR graphics team made for the BMC events using Danni are theirs as well. Funny, I thought Danni's title had my name on it ... and I thought you guys owned your cars ... and, well ... I'm not even going to get into how wrong and unfair I feel this whole thing is as I'd be typing for hours, but I wholeheartedly echo everything you guys have been saying all afternoon. I'm not letting this go un-addressed and I'll keep you guys posted as I get to work on this.

I'm sorry, but at this point we will not be producing the 2008 BMC Calendar, featuring our 2007 Members of the Month, solely due to Ford Motor Company's claim that THEY own all rights to the photos YOU take of YOUR car. I hope to resolve this soon, and be able to provide the calendar and other BMC merchandise that you guys want and deserve! This thread will remain open for you to comment however you wish, and I'll update it as needed.

Thanks for all your support of the BMC!!

WOW.

So..... all magazines that display pictures of Ford Products have to pay Ford to do so? Or are they all in 'violation" too.

What a crock.....

KillJoy

[Bluerauder]

You guys keep your eyes open for the suits at FOMOCO
Apparently more proof that FoMoCo executives have lost their friggin' minds. What a crock of :bs:

[Marauder386]

If you actually read the FOMOCO side of this fence they feel that they still own all rights to the car even after you have bought it. financed it, paid it off...spent hours of elbow grease and love on it...IT STILL ISNT YOURS.

I feel that they could save alot of money if they called off all the lawyers of theirs ... FOMOCO sure could use some spare change...



:cool:

[Joe Walsh]

Apparently more proof that FoMoCo executives have lost their friggin' minds. What a crock of :bs:

With the shape that Ford is in right now...they should be BEGGING people to put Ford products on calendars....

Just another good reason why I sold ALL my Ford stock this past summer at $9.50/share....

BTW: Now it is sucking wind at @ $6.00/share...

GOOD GOING FORD!!!...Now you're driving away dyed-in-the-wool Ford fans!

[Breadfan]

I was waiting for something like this to happen. After they sued a Mustang parts company that used "Mustang" in their name I knew anything was possible...

[Crown Vicman]

LOL This is like saying when you buy a vehicle from ford in a way they still own it.

[Joe Walsh]

If only Ford was so 'protective' of it's products when they are lemons!

[arejayesss]

Hey this got me thinking, we should have a 'Black Marauder' website!!

Oh wait, I just checked and BM.com is taken. Oh well

[OO91]

As long as it does'nt show or say anything negitive about the car, you'd think that Ford would like the free advertising of their product.

[shodude]

i wondered what the collaboration of ford and microsoft would produce.. now ford is acting like MS.. ugh.. without the billions in "monopoly" money..

[Windsor58]

1) If one were to take this insanity through to it's full implementation, Ford should sue to stop law enforcement agencies for using the trademarked names of their vehicles on traffic tickets...

2) I wonder if a class action suit representing every Ford product owner would put a stop to this stupidity.

3) Their case against BMC would probably collapse if the calendar was non-profit.

[Starman]

Hey this got me thinking, we should have a 'Black Marauder' website!!

Oh wait, I just checked and BM.com is taken. Oh well

Would you really want a website with the initials BM? Eewwww, what a stinker.

[wesman]

Perhaps Martyo could shed some light for us....:D:)
its beyond me.:confused:

[Breadfan]

The biggest problem is using the trademarked name, emblems, or image of the car for profit. (Yes even a sillouhette of a car can be trademarked if the "shape" of the car is trademarked...not sure if any or all are, but it's possible)

If the calendars are sold at cost, and no profit is made, it's probably better in the terms of not risking getting in trouble.

However, this is tough to get - most companies that will produce the calendar will make a profit on them no matter what - regardless of what's printed on them. So in the end, someone is making profit off of Ford's trademark.

I suppose if you bought the supplies, printed them at home, bound them at home, and sold them for the exact cost of materials, then you could claim you're not making profit off it, just simply making copies of pictures of your friends cars.

(That of course assumes you use images you or your friends took only, NO copyrighted images.)

Now, the fact that Ford is bothered by this is what's wierd, usually something so minor would be overlooked, ignored, or as others have stated it would be liked as it's free advertising and an enhancement of Ford car culture.

You'd also think in their rather poor financial state that resources would be devoted not to chasing after calendar makers but to making good cars and good profit.

But then again logic defies some people it would seem. Perhaps the marketing team is also the legal team?

[Bluerauder]

You'd also think in their rather poor financial state that resources would be devoted not to chasing after calendar makers but to making good cars and good profit.
Let's work some numbers. The Black Mustang Club has some 9,000 members (according to those threads). The calendar is for sale for $9.95 (OK- say $10 even).

If every member of BMC buys a calendar (unlikely), that's a total of $90,000. Assuming a "profit" of 10% in the production chain, we are only talking about $9,000. Chump change in FORD's annual statement.

The positive exposure is worth more than any $9K. FORD couldn't buy 9,000 satisfied customer for $1.00 apiece. That kind of advertising is priceless. And, it is the kind of advertising that brings folks into the showroom -- not the lame TV commercials.

That $9K will buy less than 30 hours of any decent legal experience to fight the case. Sure seems like someone is spending a dollar to make sure that the penny count is right.

If those BMC calendars result in just 1 new vehicle sale every 3 years, then FORD is a winner. What the H3LL is the problem? I expect the club "exposure" of 9,000 FORD testimonials has a much greater impact on sales.

Seems FORD is content to "Eat their Young". Not good. And, they are turning Happy Customers into Dissatisfied Owners by this :bs: maneuver.

Sure hope someone near the top of the FORD food chain is a car enthusiast who frequents some of these sites and can relate the impact that these legalistic Witch Hunts cause.

:soap:

[Breadfan]

I agree!!! ^^^

Honestly I think a good move for Ford or any other carmaker for that matter, would be to use the Internet and the widespread ability of people to publish things at low cost as a marketing/advertising advantage.

Rather than hide behind my trademarks, I would open them up for limited personal use, and encourage clubs, groups, and individuals to produce tshirts, calendars, clocks, mugs, etc.

Maybe even partner with a company like CafePress and setup a special Ford area where people can submit their designs using images of Ford products. Have a nice set of rules to keep it clean and nice, perhaps.

It just seems in this day and age that letting individuals do these things is more help than harm.

I can agree that letting a company mass produce Ford tshirts and sell them without paying trademark fees (say WalMart for instance) is not good, but letting Joe Sixpack sell a few mousepads with a picture of his modified Mustang on it doesn't seem like such a bad thing.

[freakstatus]

Should I lawyer up now??

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc114/freakstatus/Teaser.jpg

[RCSignals]

In the other thread I said it was all over reaction by Cafe Press, a blind response to a letter they received on a whole other product

look here (http://www.bmcforums.com/showthread.php?t=42820)


My name is Whitney Drake and I work in Ford Communications.
We've been watching this discussion with interest and I'd like to
clarify what is essentially a misunderstanding.

Yesterday we spoke to both Cafe Press and the Black Mustang Club
and explained the situation (about the Black Mustang Club’s calendar) to everyone's satisfaction. Ford has no problem with Mustang or other car owners taking pictures of their vehicles for use in club materials like calendars. What we do have an issue with are individuals using Ford’s logo and other trademarks for products they intend to sell. Understandably, we have to take the protection of our brands and licensing very seriously.

Ford did not send the Black Mustang Club a “cease and desist” letter telling them that they could not use images of their own cars in their calendar. The decision not to allow the calendars to be printed was made by Cafe Press, because we had gotten in touch with them in the past about trademark infringements on products they sold.

The Black Mustang Club, and any other Ford enthusiast club, are free to take pictures of their own vehicles for use in calendars or other materials as long as they don't use Ford trademarks in products that will be sold.

I think it is great that the Black Mustang Club, and any other enthusiast club, would take pictures of their own vehicles for use in calendars or other materials.

I'm looking forward to purchasing a copy to hang in the garage next
to my Mustang (even if mine isn't black).

Thanks for giving us the chance to have our say.

[Breadfan]

Neat response. Is there any official letter from Ford on this? I would be nice to get an official thumbs up from them to proceed with such things.

So, so long as you associate your calendar or other items with a car club or group than you are OK.

[RCSignals]

Neat response. Is there any official letter from Ford on this? I would be nice to get an official thumbs up from them to proceed with such things.

So, so long as you associate your calendar or other items with a car club or group than you are OK.

Just keep a copy of that post.
As long as it's a club not an individual or company selling a 'Ford' or 'Mercury' calendar it should be OK.

[Bluerauder]

Whitney is a girl's name, right ??? :)

[RCSignals]

Whitney is a girl's name, right ??? :)

Mostly but it can be either.

I'm guessing the one who wrote the post is a girl.

[Taemian]

The matter has been settled. Ford is fine with what we do, so long as we don't put the Ford logo as the entire page, and such. The godshead Canadian logo could be a problem, even if it is within our own design. But as long as it's NOT the major feature in the picture/setting, Ford is ok with it.

The whole thing was an overreaction from Cafe Press...and since we use Staples for all their wonderful products and services (shameless plug here), we don't have any issues.

[Black_Noise]

this whole thing is retarted.

1) they say its ok to use the cars, but not the logos? They are one and the same, are they not? if we are not supposed to use the logos what about taking pictures of OUR cars in areas such as the grille, or the center of the rim, the backrest of the seat? is that legal?

2) that is just plain ignorant, to say that they must protect thier brands and licsencing, what are they really protecting by keeping happy customers from enjoying thier own cars in ways such as calenders or whatever they and create to promote the sharring and pride of THEIR cars.

3) has ford (in all its wisdom of protecting it brand, and concentrating on building ugly cars in 06 and on (minus the trucks) and losing out on the 2nd biggest producer of automobiles to a overseas maker) ever thought they might have better things to do with thier time and money?

4) this really pissed me off the ford would be so bullyish about the creating of items realated to items they have sold, its almost like we dont really own the car we bought. "we own the pictures of but not the logos on OUR car"

that is pig*****

[Digital Man]

Breadfan had the most sensible response to all of this.

You have to respect Ford for enforcing their Copyright laws. Whether you are making $10,000,000 or $10 off their product they deserve recognition. I'm sure the outcome would be the same for a Tempo calender.

Hmmm....I'd actually like to see that.

[Aren Jay]

If you took the picture it is yours to do what you want with it. Same way Paparazzi work. Now if you include Ford pictures that are copyright then you can be sued. Just ask Ford for proof they own the pictures and or say see you in court.

And then sue them back.

[sailsmen]

If I take pics of my family and sell them while they are wearing or in the background;
Levis
Keds
Old Navy
Sears washer
Timex
Marauder.

We own these items, we took the photos which we own and we own the right to use them how we see fit.

Otherwise all commercials, movies, tv programs would only be of naked people in the woods.:D

[Aren Jay]

Ford Emailed me:

http://media.ford.com:80/article_display.cfm?article_id =27542

[sailsmen]

Praise the Lord I thought the world had gone to hell in a hand basket!

[Mike Poore]

And here I was gonna start howling about DISCRIMINATION, until realizing it's a bunch of guys with Black Mustangs, and not a bunch of black guys with Mustangs. :o

Isn't it funny how we can get all bent out of shape when there's little or no understanding of what's actually going on ........sort of like the "dongle" episode in this week's Dilbert calendar.

OOPS ..I guess Scott Adams is gonna come after MM.net for my using his property. :rolleyes: