OT: Copyright Infringement goes Back to The Future

Payback from the War guys, maybe?

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

The thought had crossed my mind!

Dave.

The reply from Zazzle: Quote: "Your product was removed because it contained an image and/or design that infringes on the intellectual property rights of NBC Universal and Universal Pictures. More specifically, Back to the Future.

We have been contacted by Legal representatives of NBC Universal and Universal Pictures and at their request your product has been removed from Zazzle Marketplace.

While there may still be products of similar designs currently live on Zazzle Marketplace, we are currently in the process of removing these products."

Oh FFS!

Dave.

I did see a button on the Zazzle site where one can report a "violation", and it is likely that someone did that in spite or for retaliation. I read the User Agreement and it is very broad in its definition of copyright so they probably figured "better safe than sorry" and just pulled the ad to avoid possible legal hassles. The BTTF guys probably had nothing to do with it.

Your design is definitely different but it has some key features that make it instantly recognizable as a derivation from the original. Perhaps if it were turned upside down? The equations appear to be different, and yours does not actually have "Flux Capacitor" written. It's a really fine and fuzzy line that someone claims you have crossed, and I think your claim would stand up in court, although in a jury trial who knows what your "peers" may think after being brainwashed by a skillful attorney.

Good luck,

Paul

Podcast:

Draw an equivalent delta network with flux inductors.

Podcast:

Perhaps.

But his problem isn't really that his T-shirt violates someone's intellectual property rights, it's that Zazzle are intimidated by the studio's legal department. Any design that the studio doesn't like is going to be taken off Zazzle on the same basis, whether or not it actually infringes anyone's rights.

Sylvia.

I dunno why you muck around with that analogue flux crap, where's your digital solution?. Anyway isn't there a fair use clause?, not to mention if it's used for parody they can't do a thing.

What about a FluxPIC? With the time travel synchronized with the clock, you could get infinite speed!

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

True, or even...dare I say it, an Arduino, as they seem to used for everything.

ue

They're paying royalties, and you weren't, right?

ng

Yes. It's obviously derivative.

Design a new, unique circuit. Start making a profit from it. Have somebody else design an obvious derivative circuit and start selling it, taking sales you might have made.

Get back to us.

I may seem unsympathetic but the phrase "intellectual property" does have meaning.

Mark L. Fergerson

Copyright laws are just plain ludicrous. When the author of (say) Happy Birthday gets 75 years protection and the inventor of (say) an artificial heart only gets 7 years, one has to wonder if the laws require serious overhaul.

Have you never heard of the Golden Rule?? "He who has the gold, RULES".

e due

rch

awing

ehow

.eevblog.com

That sounds more like the truth of the matter.

It is a matter of who has the deepest pockets, and how much profit is at stake. In the scheme of things, and with all due respect to David, I doubt Zazzle or David would make enough $$ from the shirts to even consider justifying a defence even if in the right.

Justice is a commodity, and the one with the most $$ usually gets the "justice" they want.

You'll know that there's REALLY a problem with copyright law when the estate of James Maxwell starts sending you takedown notices over the equations...:)

The DELAY in removing the other ""infringers"" makes me think the fix is in somehow.

Yet search Zazzle with the term "Flux Capacitor" and you get a zillion hits for other t-shirts with the design on them. Not as fun as yours by a mile. I like the geekiness of yours. Too bad NBC Universal are being such d******ds.

But I thought derivations were considered kosher under copyright law?

I'd imagine the group The Joans might catch some crap since all their music is based on the movie Mommie Dearest.

Well, patent law has its ridiculous points too.