Country Squire's Middle Earth Series to be Renamed.

[jguss]

This is beginning to go in circles but that's unsurprising; such discussions on forums are almost always discursive and repetitive. And in reaching any conclusions in this case we're handicapped (or liberated?) by a profound lack of knowledge. As far as I know no one here is an IP attorney. It's a highly specialized branch of the law, of course, and therefore offers a nice example of what you don't know can most definitely hurt you. Over the decades I've hired numerous law firms in almost all areas of the law. I've retained patent lawyers in particular many times and been involved in IP litigation; but that no more makes me an IP expert than the fact that I've been operated on makes me a surgeon. For that matter my wife is an attorney and we've been married since the 1980s; oddly enough that doesn't make me a lawyer either. I'm pretty sure it takes more than propinquity.

 

[CoffeeAndBourbon]

It’s no different than transferring any other property. It would be fundamentally wrong (and unconstitutional) to seize someone’s wealth and/or property upon their death. It belongs to your heirs and designees.

Tell that to Uncle Sam....

 

[Auxsender]

Well, it looks like Country Squire has run afoul of the licensing Nazgul and will have to reissue their Middle Earth blends under different names.
I can't help but think that the good professor would be disappointed, I certainly am.

But at least the blends will be reissued after a short absence.

It seems the world gets more petty and ridiculous by the day.
I sure hope The Ring goes into the fire soon.

I know it’s not a huge deal that this happened and I know you’re being somewhat cheeky which I love but, let’s please not lose sight of the fact that intellectual property is intentionally created by and belongs to someone. It is protected by law from others using it without permission. This is neither petty or ridiculous. If you created a brand and someone took an element of your brand, without permission, and started exploiting it to make money, I doubt you’d feel as irreverent about it.

Please carry on with a full pipe and in good spirits but also remember, not everyone is entitled to every intangible thing.

 

[fireground_piper]

This is beginning to go in circles but that's unsurprising; such discussions on forums are almost always discursive and repetitive. And in reaching any conclusions in this case we're handicapped (or liberated?) by a profound lack of knowledge. As far as I know no one here is an IP attorney. It's a highly specialized branch of the law, of course, and therefore offers a nice example of what you don't know can most definitely hurt you. Over the decades I've hired numerous law firms in almost all areas of the law. I've retained patent lawyers in particular many times and been involved in IP litigation; but that no more makes me an IP expert than the fact that I've been operated on makes me a surgeon. For that matter my wife is an attorney and we've been married since the 1980s; oddly enough that doesn't make me a lawyer either. I'm pretty sure it takes more than propinquity.

And what makes this one really fun is there are like 4 different, very large and wealthy organizations that own specific pieces and usage rights to the whole thing. At a minimum, WB owns a piece, Amazon owns a piece, Embracer group owns a piece and then the Tolkien estate.

 

[Kobold]

Plot twist: the Tolkien estate is doing this so they can bring out their own blends of pipe tobacco.

 

[The Amish Tyrant]

For those interested, Netflix has a good documentary on the Lion Sleeps Tonight, dating back to tribal beginning, slight change one recording artist added, and how Disney got sued in an African court for using for using the song in Lion King without consent.

As for the Middle Earth blends, they are just being renamed. Nothing to see here (despite my prediction people will say the blends changed too).

 

[AroEnglish]

Plot twist: the Tolkien estate is doing this so they can bring out their own blends of pipe tobacco.

Made by Germain. Forget unicorn turds, I want some Morgoth dookies!

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Nothing to see here (despite my prediction people will say the blends changed too).

Suckers fall for the name all the time, power of suggestion. Take for instance the Vanilla Cherry aromatic called Hobbit's Weed. *I used to watch bearded, aro hating, manly men, smoking that goopy vanilla cherry shit in the lounge all the time. But, change the name of that blend to Tranny in a Tutu, and I will guarantee you that same guy won't smoke it. All of those LOTR blends... someone just put the name on something, and the smoker's imagination makes the connection. Hell, the imaginary story takes place somewhere else besides our reality. What they call tobacco could be lemon grass or freaking basil for all we know.

 

[chilllucky]

The problem with your analogy is you didn't create your house design, you just have a general house. Architectural works actually can be protected if you meet the requirements of protection.

That's the big difference. Apple can't copyright "phones" but they can protect their specific design and technology of their phone as long as it meets the requirements for protection.

A fair point and well explained. Thanks for taking the time to do so.

 

[greysmoke]

I nominate "Uncle Toby" to replace "Old Toby."

He's an especially memorable character from the novel Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne, published in 1759. I presume it's public domain by now.

Uncle Toby: "Tristram's uncle, and brother to Walter Shandy. After sustaining a groin-wound in battle, he retires to a life of obsessive attention to the history and science of military fortifications. His temperament is gentle and sentimental: Tristram tells us he wouldn't harm a fly."

More here:

Where Does Tristram Shandy Get His Heart? From His Clueless Uncle Toby.

This article is part of A Year of Great Books, a Slate Academy. To learn more, read Laura Miller’s introduction to the series, or...

slate.com

 

[woodsroad]

Tell that to Uncle Sam....

Taxes are confiscatory. No argument there.

And what makes this one really fun is there are like 4 different, very large and wealthy organizations that own specific pieces and usage rights to the whole thing. At a minimum, WB owns a piece, Amazon owns a piece, Embracer group owns a piece and then the Tolkien estate.

The relative value of the rights owner is irrelevant. Why should an entity be treated differently if they are impoverished or if they are wealthy?

 

[fireground_piper]

Taxes are confiscatory. No argument there.

The relative value of the rights owner is irrelevant. Why should an entity be treated differently if they are impoverished or if they are wealthy?

They have the means and financial stake to aggressively protect the slice that they own. It's not that they are treated differently but that they certainly have a bigger financial incentive and ability to do so.

A single person will have a hard time crawling the world looking for IP infringement. Large entities have internal and external teams dedicated to the task.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

A single person will have a hard time crawling the world looking for IP infringement. Large entities have internal and external teams dedicated to the task.

This is why more people know about Disney than Jerry Blissfield. Disney has the power to protect itself, Jerry Blissfield can barely pay his rent. However, naming a blend after his book, What I Got in my Bag, is not going to help make someone rich. But, Naming Blends after characters in Disney Movies may have a financial Benefit for whomever steals it.

The bigger companies have more at stake. Jerry can't even buy a car, and no one will make any money off of his stupid books.

 

[mingc]

Suckers fall for the name all the time, power of suggestion. Take for instance the Vanilla Cherry aromatic called Hobbit's Weed. *I used to watch bearded, aro hating, manly men, smoking that goopy vanilla cherry shit in the lounge all the time. But, change the name of that blend to Tranny in a Tutu, and I will guarantee you that same guy won't smoke it. All of those LOTR blends... someone just put the name on something, and the smoker's imagination makes the connection. Hell, the imaginary story takes place somewhere else besides our reality. What they call tobacco could be lemon grass or freaking basil for all we know.

You know, there's no rule that says you can't sell the same cherry bomb using different names. Like Hobbit's Weed and Tranny in a Tutu. You can exploit more than one set of suckers at the same time! Tolkien's estate notwithstanding, of course.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

See, take some shit that ain't selling, slap a LOTR name on it, and you suckers fine forum members will line up to buy the shit that no one wanted before. Power of suggestion just upped the tobacco's game.

None of those LOTR tobaccos are really anything special. I mean, they're ok... decent enough for the power of suggestion to take over.

Admit it... Take Ol Toby and slap the name Todd's Socks on the blend. Are you going to buy it?

 

[woodsroad]

They have the means and financial stake to aggressively protect the slice that they own. It's not that they are treated differently but that they certainly have a bigger financial incentive and ability to do so.

A single person will have a hard time crawling the world looking for IP infringement. Large entities have internal and external teams dedicated to the task.

I beg to differ.

A friend of mine, a photographer of modest means, has been copyrighting all his work since he began freelancing. On slow days, he'll sit down at his workstation and do reverse image searches on his most popular work. He almost always finds an infringing use, so he sends out a form letter to the offending party, explaining the copyright infraction, and attaches an invoice for the improper use. This invoice does not include statutory fines. If the infringing party fails to pay, he sends it to a copyright attorney. That attorney will pursue the claim, at no up front cost to the photographer, with additional fees for statutory violationsadded on, as allowed by law. The offending party always pays up, eventually, and the attorney collects his portion from the (now substantially larger) settlement.

Does he find all infringing uses? No. But he does collect a good-sized portion of his income from selfish boobs who think that they can steal from him.

 

[brian64]

Admit it... Take Ol Toby and slap the name Todd's Socks on the blend. Are you going to buy it?

Well, I'm obviously immune to such marketing. My favorite blend is Old Joe Krantz, and that sounds worse than Todd's Socks.

EDIT: but I will admit...if they rename OJK Tranny in a Tutu, I'm not buying any more of it...it will go the way of Bud Light (but I wouldn't have bought that piss water even before the "woke" bullshit).

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Well, I'm obviously immune to such marketing. My favorite blend is Old Joe Krantz, and that sounds worse than Todd's Socks.

EDIT: but I will admit...if they rename OJK Tranny in a Tutu, I'm not buying any more of it...it will go the way of Bud Light (but I wouldn't have bought that piss water even before the "woke" bullshit).

Ha ha, see… in my thinking if a tobacco product is using a gimmick name, I’m avoiding it. LOTR, Star Wars, etc… it’s obvious to me, that by itself, without that name, it’s going to be mediocre, at best.

 

[fireground_piper]

I beg to differ.

A friend of mine, a photographer of modest means, has been copyrighting all his work since he began freelancing. On slow days, he'll sit down at his workstation and do reverse image searches on his most popular work. He almost always finds an infringing use, so he sends out a form letter to the offending party, explaining the copyright infraction, and attaches an invoice for the improper use. This invoice does not include statutory fines. If the infringing party fails to pay, he sends it to a copyright attorney. That attorney will pursue the claim, at no up front cost to the photographer, with additional fees for statutory violationsadded on, as allowed by law. The offending party always pays up, eventually, and the attorney collects his portion from the (now substantially larger) settlement.

Does he find all infringing uses? No. But he does collect a good-sized portion of his income from selfish boobs who think that they can steal from him.

Ok. That doesn’t really refute my point that a large organization has the manpower and financial support to crawl more of the world looking for infringement. It’s not that an individual can’t get something taken care of. My point is a large organization can find more infringements, more broadly, all day long. This work is not done on a “slow day”……it is actual job positions whose sole responsibility is to find these things all day, every day….manually and with available tools.

That’s my point on the difference between the individual and the big company.

 

[woodsroad]

Ok. That doesn’t really refute my point that a large organization has the manpower and financial support to crawl more of the world looking for infringement. It’s not that an individual can’t get something taken care of. My point is a large organization can find more infringements, more broadly, all day long. This work is not done on a “slow day”……it is actual job positions whose sole responsibility is to find these things all day, every day….manually and with available tools.

That’s my point on the difference between the individual and the big company.

Yeah, I fail to see a problem with that.