Check out "Jarry Garcia's Guitar" closely on this listing!

[lbpesq]

Check out this eBay listing for drink coasters with a picture of Jerry Garcia's Guitar
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/Grateful-Dead-Drink-Coaster-Garcia-Guitar-Phil-Ticket_W0QQitemZ7556635088QQcategoryZ105073QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
Look really closely, then check out this page:
 
http://www.alembic.com/info/fc_gratefulegg.html
 
See it?
 
Bill, tgo

[David Houck]

A couple more here and here.  My guess, but it's only a guess, is that there may be some trademark infringements among some of the items this seller has listed; which leads me to guess that perhaps the seller did not get Gregg's permission to use a likeness of his guitar or Mica's permission to use her photo.
 
So Bill; do any copyright law?

[lbpesq]

Dave:
 
I haven't even thought about copyright law since law school about #$$%^&*! years ago.  I took both copyright and entertainment law from a guy who as a young lawyer worked for a big firm in NY in the early 60's.  One day his boss came up and told him they were assigning him to a new client, some rock 'n roll band from England called the Buttles, or the Bootles, or something like that.  My law professor retired in his mid-forties, moved to SF, played golf for a while, and then represented almost every band in SF except the Dead.  Some great stories, but the stories are about all I remember about the class.  Of course if you ever get busted for medical cannabis, I'm your guy.
 
Bill, tgo

[David Houck]

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind!!

[bob]

Uh, Dave... he's probably licensed in California. Not yet in (medical) need myself, just thinking ahead.
 
We're off topic here, of course, but you started it :-) There is currently an interesting discussion going on here locally, where the city of Mountain View (10 minutes south of me) is debating the concept of allowing pharmacists to dispense medicinal marijuana, as opposed to opening establishments specifically for this one purpose.  
 
Quoting from the San Jose Mercury News (I think this is legal),
 
All pharmacists are in a field to help people who are sick,'' said Yabumoto, who has owned the Economed Pharmacy next to El Camino Hospital in Mountain View for 27 years. I wish they would let the professionals take care of it.''
 
(Message edited by bob on October 24, 2005)

[Bradley Young]

I'm no lawyer, but I know a little bit about copyright.  The photos are clearly marked with copyright on the web page that they appear on (they look to me to be from the Featured Custom page), and that should make it pretty much open-and-shut.
 
Alembic have a case, IM-NL-O, if they want to prevent the re-distribution of these photos.
 
That may not be the case if the photos were ones from the FTC thread (I can't remember having seen a copyright notice on any of the pages).  They'd probably still have some chance, but not anywhere near as if they have a clear and prominent copyright statement.
 
Brad

[adriaan]

Looking out of my office window, I have a clear  view of the gothic church that dominates the Breda skyline, at a distance of less than a quarter of a mile. At even closer range, I can see a 'salon de th?' and a 'coffee shop' (or two) where all kinds of non-illegal substances can be acquired.
 
Shops can sell the stuff legally, but they cannot legally procure it. The church was built by catholics but it was appropriated by the protestants. There must be a lesson from history lurking outside my office window, but I don't seem to get it.
 
(Message edited by adriaan on October 25, 2005)

[adriaan]

Perhaps I should add that the shops are across what used to be the former harbour (location of the true legend of the peat ship/Trojan horse incident). The city council is digging the harbour out again, thirty years after it was laid dry.
 
History isn't really obvious in its lessons, is it?

[David Houck]

Adriaan; maybe it's the case that when the shop owners open up in the morning the stuff has just magically appeared on the counter overnight.  It might be made by Elves.
 
Brad, my guess is that the items featuring baseball teams are supposed to have those Licensed by MLB logos on them.  Same with NFL, Nascar, etc.  But again, I'm just guessing.
 
Bob, this medical marijuana thing is really interesting; the idea that a city would be discussing allowing local businesses to do what the federal government considers a felony.
 
(Message edited by davehouck on October 25, 2005)

[adriaan]

Dave, you must be right. I think they're French elves, though: before the restoration work on the harbour started, in the morning you would see all kinds of small cars with French number plates parked in front of those shops. That, or I must be spending too much time behind my computer screen with a gothic church in the corner of my eye.

[lbpesq]

copyright:
 
The above posts did remind me about one aspect of copyright law.  Even if the pictures were lifted from the FTC thread, it would not prevent a copyright infringement action from being succcessfully pursued.  The creatror of a piece has a copyright to it upon its creation.  Even if you don't copyright it with the gov't, you can still sue for copyright infringement.  There are two big differences when you proceed this way (without having registered the copyright):
 
1. It is more diffucult to prove you did it first. Here the concept of the poor man's copyright comes in.  A PMC is when you write down your creation (or a copy of the picture, I suppose), seal it in an envelope and mail it to yourself - then don't open it.  The postmark establishes a date you can argue as being before the infringement;
 
2.  When you register your copyright you are entitled to statutory damages for an infringememt.  If you don't register your copyright, then you are entitled only to actual damages.  In such a case the modest profit the eBay guy is likely to make from the Gregg's Egg photos is probably not enough to make a lawsuit worthwhile.
 
(Disclaimer:  The above is pulled out of the recessed cobwebs of my addled brain and should not be accepted and relied upon as the Holy Word of Copyright without checking with a copyright specialist first).
 
Mountain View/Medical Cannabis
 
As I've already discussd with some activists in Mountain View, the city council there is tilting at windmills.  No pharmicist would dispense medical cannabis in the current legal climate unless they wanted to lose their federal licensing quicker than you can say olympic.  The whole state/federal dichotomy regarding cannabis is indeed extremely interesting.
 
Bill, tgo

[Bradley Young]

Bill,
 
RE: PMC:  The copyright happens at creation, but the difficulty is in proving it.  That is why the copyright statement on the web page is important.
 
It just makes proof simpler.
 
RE: medical marijuana: I'm sure the federal government has the authority to set these laws because it concerns interstate commerce.  Or wait, national security.
 
But hey, I'm not a politician, I can't possibly understand an extremely complex statement like:
 
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
 
Yeah, I'm off to have my tongue surgically removed from my cheek.
 
Brad

[hydrargyrum]

Re: Medical Marijuana
 
Here in good ole' Columbia Mo. the voters passed a statute allowing medical marijuana.  Of course, it is still a federal and state crime, so no one would dare dispense it.  Another interesting note, possesion of less than 35 grams is a city misdemeanor here, as long as you are arrested by a city policeman (state cops and sheriffs prosecute how they like).  
The sort of mentality that keeps terminally ill patients from using any drug just baffles me.  I mean what is it going to do, kill them?  What can be so wrong about allowing a little comfort or excitement to someone in this state?

[adriaan]

IMH-NL-O ...
 
There are trademarks and registered trademarks. Also, people can claim copyrights, but I don't think such a claim could be based on a trademark.
 
For registered trademarks, we have classes of goods in which the trademark is claimed. Don't ask about those classes: they basically follow the floorplan of the first World Exhibition in London in 1851.
 
The copyright related to photographs is in the photographs themselves, not in any object pictured in any photograph. The right to photograph items that exhibit trademarked properties should be cleared with the owner of said trademark in case the photograph in itself is commercially exploited (or simply sold).

[richbass939]

RE: Medical Marijuana
Bill, you may be interested in this case.  There is a local guy (last name is Nord, I forgot his first name) who can legally use marijuana medicinally.  He doesn't sell it or buy it.  He grows (for his own use) and smokes it.  The sheriff busted him and took his plants.  The charges were dropped but they refused to give him his plants back.
Rich