HELP! I got a Cease & Desist...what should I do now?!? (EDITED w/ "Resolution")

[craft-matic]

Yeah, that sounds great!  Maybe I will look into that...

[gypsysoul3]

i tried to add this to my first/original post, but then i exceeded the maximum # of characters allowed:

EDITED 19 APRIL 2007:
quick update: as someone PMed me about it, well, as i said before they sent another letter to me (via email) and to my lawyer, they demanded that I put into writing that I will not make/sell any jewelry using the "offending" caps. Well, my lawyer just replied and told them that legally since they know i have representation they cannot contact me directly (& can only go through my lawyer) so, unless they want a big legal thing, they should just back off. my lawyer also reiterated that i already told them that i wouldn't use those caps anymore and all of it had been removed from my site the very first time they contacted me. so, i guess (for now?!) thats all.

once again, THANKS EVERYONE!

[Sewsew-a-Gogo]

Those people are crazy nuts!  What do they have to gain by harassing you?

[itscribe]

I'm not sure from your posts...but, does the firm scumbags who keep contacting you actually represent the companies involved? Do they actually have any legal standing in this issue? You mentioned the brand did not know about the letters - did they even know about this other firm?

I'm beginning to wonder if they are misrepresenting themselves as something they are not. Even if the first company didn't do anything about these creeps, maybe the second company wouldn't take to lightly to this kind of crap.

I know you have a lawyer representing you, but this just really sounds like someone trolling for folks afraid of lawyers and lawsuits and hoping to get you to fall for their scam.

Is your lawyer actually telling you that crafters can't use post-consumbables (ie. garbage) for their crafts if it has a recognizable logo on it? I find this whole issue so interesting/scary and it's really shameful that the laws are not more clear.

[ScotSkipper402]

If you were to accidentally mention the names, another person or persons might consider a boycot.

So, are the earrings red and white, or red/white/blue?

[gypsysoul3]

itscribe, this quote from another post I made here may answer some of your questions....basica lly, this company will search out/research and even go so far as to purchase items they figure are "infringing" so that they can get a better look at the item (to see if it's an orginal logo just re-worked, or if the logo was copy/made). Then, they send the "offending" artist (or whoever) a cease and desist letter via certified mail, asking for heaps of money. Then, they can compile a list of 'offenders' and go to the Big Corporations and say, "hey, we found all these people using your logo and got X-amount of $ from them and if you pay us X-amount of money, we'll give you the list and a cut of the $ we got from the offenders." or something to that affect.

it's super shady! And, all this is what i've gathered from my lawyer and research i did for this case.

Also, my lawyer did say to avoid anything with logos or trademarked images (including game pieces), though I see this kind of stuff all the time. this piece of advice may be mainly just for me personally, since i've already had a run in with them they probably are "watching" me. Plus, since my lawyer is doing all this pro-bono, i want to follow the advice, b/c if something else does happen i'm not sure that she would/could represent me anymore.

People need to be aware that there is something that seems very shady going on, I'll explain: while doing research on the Third Party Company that sent me the letter, i have discovered that this company, and other's I'm sure, are pretty much trolling around looking for things that could be trademark/copyright issues, they then send these demand letters basically to scare you into paying them. They may even go so far as to approach trademark holders to sign up for their investigative service & charge the trademark owner for these investigative reports. So, these big Corporations may not even know what's going on, which i actually believe may be the case in my situation.
Again, it's basically just frivolous and silly legal work (for example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Stoller) but if you don't have much money you'll simply pay to make it go away rather than go to court which can cost alot.

does any of that make sense? hope it answers some questions..

oh, and the caps from "adult beverages" weren't red/white or red/white/blue. 

[craft-matic]

Hrrm, it seems as though the big company doesn't play much role in this, so it wouldn't necessarily do much good to boycott them.  What these situations require is someone to bait them with a somewhat borderline non-infringing use, and then take it to court.  Something like what MoveOn.org is doing with Viacom....

[staciart]

I wonder what would happen if an artist were to write the original company and ask permission to use their DISCARDED bottlecaps, bottles, whatever in crafts or art.  I think I'll check out that avenue, just for info since I don't do bottlecap art (would if I could!), but I AM so curious!!!

[gypsysoul3]

staciart, this kind of relates to what you said, but I have found (and have had other's tell me the same) the smaller companies, like micro-brews can be all about artists using their caps.

also, when my lawyer finally responded to this Company, she forwarded the reply (and copies of the letters/C&D from the company) to the Big Corporation--who, by the way, has their own in-house legal team and trademark lawyer--and we NEVER got a reply from them. Nothing. Nada.
weird. I do wonder if they ever contacted this third-party firm. b/c i really wonder if these big Corporations have any idea this company (and probably others) are doing this.

[itscribe]

I would think this 3rd party is doing more harm to the brand name than any crafter ever could.

It is interesting that the trademark holder hasn't responded. One would hope they would take legal action against this 3rd party for misrepresentation and their extorting a "fine" from you without the blessing of the trademark holder would surely seem a crime of some kind.