There is no more heartfelt memorial
February 25, 2001 7:36 AM   Subscribe

There is no more heartfelt memorial than a big car decal with conspicuous ® and © symbols on it.
posted by tregoweth (7 comments total)
 
I'm confused as to what is copyrighted. Are the years 1951 - 2001 copyrighted? If so, do I need to (c) all the years in between them, or just '51 and '01? It appears that they own the number three as well. Just the arabic symbol '3', or the entire Form and concept of three? Reminds me of Monty Python. A rewrite may be in order.

"Three, a registered trademark, is the number of thy counting, and the number of thy counting shall be the registered trademark of three. Thou will sayest it with all respect it is due, and whist counting set three (r) apart from its non-registered companions by following it with quick-speaking legal smallprint."
posted by Dane at 8:28 AM on February 25, 2001


I believe the 3 angled to the right and/or Dale Earnhardt's signature are trademarked.

The © is probably meant to cover the whole design, but I think you have to put the owner's name next to it for it to be "official." I guess they thought "In Memory of Dale Earhnardt -- © Dale Earnhardt, Inc." might not look good.
posted by tregoweth at 10:39 AM on February 25, 2001


I wonder if the whole incident has been trademarked and copyrighted, and if we'll have to pay licensing fees to talk about it.

Actually, when you think about it, the people who bought all of the Earnhardt merchandise are kind of obliquely paying a licensing fee.

Can "the bombing of Iraq brought to you by McDonald's" be far behind?
posted by hijinx at 10:47 AM on February 25, 2001


I suppose the point of this item was that commerce and intellectual property are somehow slightly obscene? Leaving aside the fact that these designations were probably necessary for legal reasons, I disagree with the implication.
posted by mw at 12:25 PM on February 25, 2001


Dale's signature and the logo design are the items that are copyrighted. Dale actually copyrighted his signature himself several years ago.
posted by moural at 6:42 PM on February 25, 2001


Since I live smack dab in the heart of NASCAR country, I feel like commenting on this (even though I have no interest in stock car racing). Everyone, but absolutely everyone around here has been cashing in on Earnhardt's death since the moment it was announced. It was quite telling for the president of NASCAR to point out in an interview that "Earnhardt sold more souvenirs than anyone in history (pretty obvious to see where their priorities lie). Local convenience stores immediately filled up with Earnheardt knicknacks the next day. The Charlotte TV media has been absolutely sickening in cashing in on Earnhardt's death, exactly as I would have expected. Trust me, I'm sure there will be a commemorative coin within the month.This is why I don't give a damn about professional sports. It's all about the cash, not about sport and certainly not about people. They're not going to get one cent out of me.
posted by Mr. skullhead at 7:05 PM on February 25, 2001


Research my friends :)His sig is a registered trademark and needs the (r) there regardless. The copywrite is just there so no one else makes the same decal.
posted by samsara at 6:23 AM on February 26, 2001


« Older All Your Base Are Pissing Us Off.   |   If the election left you with an odd feeling Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments