TRS Legal Saga

[offroadingranger]

I'm glad that Jim Oaks has reached a tentative agreement with a Ford rep that allows him to continue using the domain name and eliminates the $5k penalty fine.

That said I feel that Jim should have disclosed in his member-wide emergency e-mail notification/support request that one of the complaints included in the threat of legal action was that he was using the Ford logo (without licensing) in some decals that he was offering for sale.

I greatly appreciate Jim's efforts making this site freely available.

TRS has become a large community with many contributors helping each-other and it would be a shame if it met it's demise because of small lapse in good judgment.

 

[Captain Ledd]

My first impression was that they were angry about the name "Ranger" as a trademark, not the decals.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I mentioned it in the discussion but the thread was probably moving faster than some were keeping up with. I was prepared to take a beating on that, I just wanted our members to ask Ford to reconsider on the domain name and let me deal with the decal beating as a seperate issue. The letter from the attorney was covering everything from the decals to the use of Ford Photos (which I do have permission to use based on my ford media account) and the word Ranger in the name. I didn't figure that this was going to boil down to selling decals to cover the cost of the site. I thought it was a much larger issue...not that the decals wasn't a legit issue for Ford.

 

[grey ghost]

I mentioned it in the discussion but the thread was probably moving faster than some were keeping up with. I was prepared to take a beating on that, I just wanted our members to ask Ford to reconsider on the domain name and let me deal with the decal beating as a seperate issue. The letter from the attorney was covering everything from the decals to the use of Ford Photos (which I do have permission to use based on my ford media account) and the word Ranger in the name.

maybe at this point ford motor company needs to come to the TRS 10-Year Anniversary July 2009 and see what all the fuss was all about and meet with us to show they really care about the fans they have?

has any of the mods or jim invited them down to the event? it would be great pr....

 

[skippy]

maybe at this point ford motor company needs to come to the TRS 10-Year Anniversary July 2009 and see what all the fuss was all about and meet with us to show they really care about the fans they have?

has any of the mods or jim invited them down to the event? it would be great pr....

They need to bring a v8 ranger 4x4 as a door prize,lol.

 

[Ozwynn]

so does this agreement mean we have to do away with the non rbv tech section?

 

[Rembrandt]

I am very glad all this got sorted out. Great work Jim, big props to you man. Keep up the great work. And you know we are all behind you for anything 100%

 

[grey ghost]

They need to bring a v8 ranger 4x4 as a door prize,lol.

make it a 4 door diesel and i'm there...

seriously doubt it would hapen...
lets be glad they agreed to settle this thing the way it did hapen and move on with the site and make the best of it..

 

[RobbieD]

I'm just glad this situation is over.

I'm very pleased to see Ford coming across as good guys. And I was especially thrilled to see the guy from Ford who signed up to post- would love to see him stick around as a member. FORD HAS MY FULL SUPPORT ONCE AGAIN!

And I was blown away at the support we saw from other enthusiast websites. Thanks all!

Now let's just let things get back to normal around here, OK?

 

[Hanzo Steel]

Glad it finally got settled, there was alot of frustration going in the Ford community because of this.

 

[Jim Oaks]

maybe at this point ford motor company needs to come to the TRS 10-Year Anniversary July 2009 and see what all the fuss was all about and meet with us to show they really care about the fans they have?

has any of the mods or jim invited them down to the event? it would be great pr....

I didn't mention it. I kind of felt like public enemy #1. Probably the same way my kids would feel asking me to do something with them after I just got done having to yell at them for something.

 

[94STXRanger]

But sometimes Jim a good bonding experience is all thats needed! After about six months.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Glad it finally got settled, there was alot of frustration going in the Ford community because of this.

Actually, this was good for the Ford community. I think it gives other enthusiasts sites some insite that Ford isn't going to give them a hard time as long as they don't infringe on license agreements. I would like to have an license agreement for our Ranger banner and FORD tailgate letters, but I'm sure you would have to pay for it and it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[grey ghost]

I didn't mention it. I kind of felt like public enemy #1. Probably the same way my kids would feel asking me to do something with them after I just got done having to yell at them for something.

yes and sometimes it's the mistakes that we make in life that makes us a stronger person for making them { god only knows i've made enough for the whole site in my lifetime}

But sometimes Jim a good bonding experience is all thats needed! After about six months.

verry true it may be water over the dam by then and it never hurts to ask??
{even when you ground your kids for mistakes it's not forever...lol}

 

[prefab08]

i am glad an agrement was reached by Jim and Ford cause i love this site... but what the f*** dont they have anything better to do like fly there jets around and waist more money and run there company into the ground. common i realy couldent care less about legal BS ford wouldent dare make the girl on ford logo sticker they are a F***ing famely company so how the hell am i supose to get it ? i think there legal department is just trying to burn up there money. Jim im just glad this worked out cause i truly dont like the other ranger web site's so keep up the good work.