NOTICE Avatars

[sgtsandman]

Not to go against anything said above, but for certain loans, one can do manual under writing to get a loan without a credit score.

I haven't done it, but I have heard about others who have. It probably doesn't work with all loans, but it will with a mortgage. Maybe an auto loan as well.

 

[Rick W]

Take it from someone who has copyrights and knows something about the laws.

Copyright doesn't work like that. You can't copyright your name and prohibit someone else from using it. Something short like that, especially a personal name, cannot be copyrighted. Trying this is essentially another form of "sovereign citizen" nonsense. Turning your name into an LLC doesn't change this. And all Experian would have to do is delete your info and, surprise!, no credit record on file, so good luck getting a loan for your LLC.

Your likeness is technically a different story. But even here there are exceptions, such as your appearance in a media photo of a news event. The principle is that no one is supposed to be able to profit from your image without your permission, but public interest overrides that sometimes as with news events or the cops looking for you because you're a mass murderer.

A trademark registration is possible for a new name for a product, but here again you cannot turn your own personal name into a trademark.

If someone is trying to sue over use of their name, that doesn't work with government agencies. Good luck. The government has much deeper pockets than anyone suing. If private parties are really paying in such suits, it must be simply to throw some money that person's way to make an idiot go away. If such a suit actually made it to court, it would get thrown out as frivolous, and the plaintiff who started the case could face sanctions and orders to pay the defendants' legal bills.

I would have to see a legal citation of a case to believe that anyone won a suit over copyright infringement in use of his name. I'll bet no one here can come up with a citation. Also, BS is common with a lot of these people who claim they won something.

Amen to that. I’ve run the obstacle course on some trademark stuff. We formed the Ivy motorcycle club about 20 years ago, and we wanted to trademark the name. Well, you need a trademark for the club entity, then you need a trademark for clothing, then you need a trademark for cups and such, then you needed a trademark for women’s wear, etc., etc. etc. There is no “one” trademark. You have to get a trademark for every business practice or any piece of merchandise. One of them was about $8000 to start. That was the end of that for writing a little bit of motorcycle fun. Oh, and then you had to decide if you want just a state trademark, or if you want to national trademark, or if you want to start trying to go international. Let no idea go unpunished.!

 

[Broosedamoose]

I would think that anything posted on the internet is considered "public" information. If this is how it is, I wonder if using a picture of a Ford product could be considered copyright infringment. Is my avatar an infringment because it was take in a state park and is therefore state property? WTF people! I'm glad I grew up in a world without this petty BS but, I feel sorry for my daughter who is just becoming an adult!

 

[Rick W]

I would think that anything posted on the internet is considered "public" information. If this is how it is, I wonder if using a picture of a Ford product could be considered copyright infringment. Is my avatar an infringment because it was take in a state park and is therefore state property? WTF people! I'm glad I grew up in a world without this petty BS but, I feel sorry for my daughter who is just becoming an adult!

You realize that she can’t become an adult(tm) without paying the royalty to use the word “adult.”

Patents are usually serious stuff. The patents that fail are too general in nature. They have to be specific to the technology that is special.

Having said that, yes, there are scumbag lawyers (I know, incredible, huh?) who will sue over anything because they know you will settle before you prevail and they’ll get paid anyway, which may not prevail in court.

You rarely have a problem using a trademarked item or a patented item unless you are trying to make money from it. @Jim Oaks is wise to be wary of it, but if the average day-to-day guy is using something trademarked or patented in something like his identification on a website, or at the bottom of the page, or even in a used car lot that sells only Fords, it will be rare that somebody would come after him legally. If the reason he is making money is strongly influenced by the patent or trademark, that’s when somebody will come after him. Otherwise, it’s just general promotion, which usually isn’t frowned upon by the patent or trademark owner.